Buffalo personal injury attorney Stephen Barnes has purchased one of the two penthouse condominiums at Carl Paladino’s Waterfront Place project for $1.07 million.

Barnes bought the smaller of the two penthouses, at 2,728 square feet. It’s a three-bedroom condo, with a 510-square-foot patio and two parking spaces, and views of both Lake Erie and the city.

“I like living in the city of Buffalo and it’s convenient to work, and I think my kids will like it there,” said Barnes, half of the public face of the Cellino & Barnes law firm. “I like the view.”

The larger penthouse unit, with 3,633 square feet, is also under contract, for at least $1.1 million, though the final cost is expected to be higher after upgrades.

Million-dollar home sales are still unusual and noteworthy in Buffalo, which is known for the low prices and affordability of its housing when compared to most other large cities. The median sale price here topped out at $114,500 in June, much lower than the national average.

However, new projects like Waterfront Place and Uniland Development Co.’s Avant building are making such deals more common, especially downtown.

Located at 132 Lakefront Boulevard and in view of the Niagara Thruway and overlooking the Erie Basin Marina, Waterfront Place has 49 units, with 31 either under contract or already sold, and three leased. They include one, two or three bedrooms, and range in size from 1,300 square feet to the penthouses. Prices start at $295,000 for one-bedroom condos, $344,000 for two-bedroom condos, and the upper $700,000 range for three bedrooms.

The units offer Jacuzzi tubs, steam showers, granite counter-tops, hardwood floors, nine-foot or 10-foot ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows.

Meanwhile, Paladino’s Ellicott Development Co. has started gutting another downtown edifice, the Coffee Rich building at 199 Scott Street, near Michigan Avenue and the Niagara Thruway.

The firm is completing demolition and removals in the 120,000 square-foot building, but does not yet have a plan for development. Paladino bought the former refrigerated storage facility in 2001 at the city’s “in rem” auction for properties with unpaid taxes.

“We’re working a few prospects,” he said. “We don’t have a project for it yet.”