FOCUS: BUFFALO WATERFRONT PLAN
Buffalo's Canal Side harbor vision unveiled today
A master plan displayed this morning pulls together a series of retail and residential attractions aimed at turning the Canal Side redevelopment into a tourism mecca
Buffalo waterfront planners today took the wraps off a $325 million master plan for Canal Side, an expansive, Erie Canal-themed downtown development.
"We are going back to the future," said Jordan A. Levy, chairman of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation, which is overseeing redevelopment of some 20 acres along the downtown waterfront. "This is the most exciting and ambitious project in Buffalo's history."
The plan, which is an updated and significantly more detailed version of the Canal Side vision proposed in October 2007, transforms Buffalo's Erie Canal Harbor neighborhood into a canal-laced destination for shopping, playing, living and working.
“The vision for Canal Side is, and has always been, to create something attainable and extraordinary,” said Larry Quinn, vice chairman of the Harbor Development Corp.
The long-awaited project blueprint sets aside more than 725,000 square feet of development sprinkled across the 20-acre waterfront site, which stretches from the foot of Main Street, north to the I-190, with Pearl and Washington streets serving as west and east boundaries.
As in earlier versions of the master plan, a 150,000-plus-square-foot Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Retail Store, resembling a canal-era warehouse, will be built where Memorial Auditorium now stands.
But in the fleshed-out plan, Bass Pro would be joined by several major new developments including:
• A Donovan State Office Building transformed into a hotel, apartment and office complex, with first-floor retail.
• An underground Great Lakes-themed museum covered by a large public green.
• A four-story boutique hotel fronting the Buffalo River.
• A public market tucked under the Skyway.
• A recreated Prime Slip, lined with small-scale buildings filled with a collection of shops and cafes.
• A string of mixed-use buildings along Main Street’s Webster Block, housing commercial and residential tenants, with an 800-car integrated parking ramp.
And meandering throughout the various Canal Side “districts” will be a network of canals.
“The canals will be the unifying, signature feature,” Quinn said. “The canal theme celebrates our local history and will create a place that is unique to Buffalo.”
The canals, some of which will be 10 feet deep, would provide opportunities for paddle boating, kayaking and ice skating. Plans also call for installation of a “water tube” — a subterranean corridor where visitors will be surrounded by water as they walk between the Bass Pro store and the museum.
Plans also call for demonstration locks and a water wheel as part of Canal Side’s watery experience.
Levy said he has no doubt Canal Side will become a place that draws local and regional visitors on a year-round basis.
“The phrase ‘If you build it, they will come’ was never truer than it is with this plan. We will create a truly special place that will draw millions of people for many, many years to come,” Levy said.
The detailed master plan and a corresponding three-dimensional model will be critical vehicles for the harbor agency to push its concepts toward reality. The development team, which also includes Benderson Development Co., will now launch a nine-to 12-month-long environmental review process, with the goal of starting the first phase of construction by this time next year.
Both Levy and Quinn said that while the master plan and model offer a glimpse of where development will take place on the seven-block site as well as potential uses, it is not set in stone.
“It’s a work in progress. It’s going to be tenant-driven, so we can’t predict the exact size, shape and use. But I can tell you there will be a conforming architectural style, and all the development will be in keeping with the canal district guidelines,” Levy added.
Under the current timetable, the Aud will be demolished by late spring and the Bass Pro store, along with a 21,000- square-foot museum and a 27,000-square-foot retail structure, will debut in late 2010 or early 2011.
Simultaneously, transformation of the Donovan building and construction of a 1,000-vehicle parking garage at the corner of Scott and Pearl streets, will take place.
“The idea is to bring those pieces to market within 12 months of when we get the approvals. The public and private dollars we need to do that are in hand, and we can’t wait to get going,” Levy said.
The first phase of construction is expected to cost more than $200 million to execute, and will be paid for through a combination of New York State Power Authority licensing settlement funds, previously secured federal project dollars, and private investment by Bass Pro and Benderson.
Additional development on the parcels situated south of Scott Street is anticipated to unfold over the following two to five years. The price tag for those additional projects is expected to cost at least $125 million.
Bass Pro President James Hagale said the Springfield, Mo., retailer is eager to break ground.
“This has been a very long process, but when you look at the master plan, it’s clear it was worth the wait. We think the overall plan is just terrific,” Hagale said.
Bass Pro, which has run hot and cold on a Buffalo waterfront store since 2002, no longer has any doubts, according to Hagale.
“We’re excited and committed,” Hagale said. “Even with the current economy, we have a retail model that works, and we have confidence in the long-term sustainability of what we will be bringing to the Buffalo market.”
In addition to a massive array of outdoor products and a huge inventory of boats, Bass Pro also plans to bring an entertainment venue to the Aud site. The retailer will open either an Islamorada Fish Co. restaurant or a Fish Bowl, a concept that combines dining and bowling.
Benderson Development, which is responsible for all the privately funded sites within Canal Side, said it has refocused its tenant targets from primarily retail users to a broader mix that emphasizes restaurants, bars, entertainment, office and residential.
Benderson’s Eric Recoon said visits to urban developments in Kansas City, Denver, Baltimore and elsewhere over the past year showed greater viability for projects that went beyond shopping.
“There will be a great mix of recognizable national and local retailers and restaurants, but you’ll also be able to work and live at Canal Side. It will be a true neighborhood,” Recoon said.
In addition to Bass Pro, there will likely be at least two more “junior anchor” retailers in the 50,000-to-75,000-square-foot range, plus a couple of high-profile restaurant chains. The developer declined to name names but said his firm has a continuing dialogue with several potential tenants.
“There’s a core group of folks who have maintained their interest over the past 18 months, and once the Aud comes down and this all becomes more tangible, we’ll be in a position to lock them in,” Recoon said.
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