ProjectBuffalo

Kaleida Health Nursing home

• Architectural firm: Canon Design
• Developer: Kaleida Health
• Building Use: Other
• Project Type: New Build
• Floors: 4
• Cost: $64 million
• Description of Project: Kaleida Health is preparing to build a 300-bed nursing home, another big project connected to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus that advocates say will significantly improve services for the elderly in the inner city. The $64 million building, planned for the block bounded by Michigan Avenue and Maple, East North and High streets, will be the first nursing home built in Buffalo in many decades. It will rank as one of the largest nursing homes in the region and will fill a gap in long-term-care services resulting from the disappearance in recent years of Grace Manor, Nazareth and other facilities in the city. James Kaskie, president and chief executive officer of Kaleida Health, said the project will benefit the Fruit Belt neighborhood, the hospital system and the medical campus. “When you step back and think about the investments that are being made, if you understand facilities, what we’re planning is so much more efficient and improved for medicine than what we have now,” he said. The project will replace two nursing homes operated by Kaleida Health — the 242-bed Deaconess Center on Humboldt Parkway and a 75-bed skilled-nursing unit in Millard Fillmore Hospital at Gates Circle. -From Buffalo News

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AM&A’s Warehouse

• Architectural firm: Carmina Wood Morris, P.C.
• Developer: Signature Development
• Building Use: Mixed
• Project Type: Rehabilitation
• Floors: 5
• Cost: $11 Million
• Description of Project: The Three connected buildings will be converted into commercial space and 48 loft apartments.

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Franklin and Huron urban boutique hotel

• Developer: Mark Croce
• Building Use: Hotel
• Project Type: Rehabilitation
• Floors: 6 / Varied
• Cost: $15 million
• Est. Completion Date: 2010
• Description of Project: From Buffalonews: He already owns the venerable Curtiss building at 204 and 210 Franklin, and intends to incorporate all four properties into a single project that will preserve the historic terra cotta facade while opening a mod-ern luxury hotel inside. “What we’re doing is developing plans for a model ultra-chic, high-end hotel inside a historic building,” said the owner of the Buffalo Chop House restaurant, comparing the new project to the high-end, five-star Hazelton Hotel in Toronto. “It’s going to be something that’s very unique to Buffalo.” The 60,000-square foot project will include a full-service “urban boutique” hotel with about 65 rooms and a three-meal restaurant. Croce said it will also have some retail space and commercial “amenities” tied to the hotel, but will not have commercial space available for general leasing. He declined to elaborate. Croce already controls about 300 parking spaces nearby on Delaware Avenue, “more than enough” to support the hotel project, so the current surface lot will not be used for parking. The Continental property will be used to support the hotel, possibly for drop-off and the entranceway, he said.

Alling & Cory

• Architectural firm: Jake Schneider
• Developer: Jake Schneider
• Building Use: Residential
• Project Type: Rehabilitation
• Floors: 5
• Cost: $15 Million
• Est. Completion Date: 2010
• Description of Project: The project would turn the six-story, circa-1910 industrial building into a mix of studio, one-and two-bedroom units with room for 287 residents. Monthly rents would range from $500 per resident for apartments accommodating up to four students, while the cost of a one-person studio would be $685 per month

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***UPDATE 05/09/09***
Earlier this month, Jake Schneider’s AC Lofts LLC purchased the former Alling & Cory paper storage facility at 136 North Division St. for $1.85 million from AC Eagle LLC. Schneider is leading a group of five other investors who intend to spend $15 million to convert the six-story historic building into residences for nearly 300 students.

The proposal already won approval from the city Planning Board in March, and received $554,000 in tax incentives from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency last month. The group plans to begin interior demolition at the end of this month, and construction in June. R&P Oak Hill is the construction manager.

Schneider is hoping to complete work on the historic red brick and concrete building within 12 months, so it can receive the first student residents by the fall of 2010 — in time for the building’s 100th anniversary.

The Cooperage

• Architectural firm: Clinton Brown Company Architecture
• Developer: Ben Obletz
• Building Use: Mixed
• Project Type: Rehabilitation
• Floors: 4
• Description of Project: The Cooperage project is the rehabilitation of the historic former E & B Holmes Machinery Co. barrel-making machinery complex on the Buffalo River waterfront in downtown Buffalo, NY into genuine residential lofts and commercial spaces. The location is on Buffalo's downtown waterfront that is rapidly transforming from industrial to recreation, hospitality, and culture uses.

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Elmwood & Forest

• Architectural firm: Charles Gordon Architecture
• Developer: Chason Affinity Cos.
• Building Use: Mixed
• Project Type: New Build
• Floors: 8
• Cost: $25 Million
• Description of Project: Eight-story hotel/condominium complex at the northern gateway to Buffalo’s Elmwood Village. The ambitious development would include a 125-room, four-story boutique hotel; ground-floor retailing; a restaurant; and three levels of condominiums, including a pair of 4,000-plus-square-foot penthouse units.

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448 Elmwood Ave.

• Developer: FJF Development LLC
• Building Use: Mixed
• Project Type: New Build
• Floors: 3
• Cost: $3.4 million
• Est. Completion Date: Fall 2009
• Description of Project: “Prime medical/professional office/ commercial retail” complex, with nearly 7,600-square-feet of Class A space available on the second and third floors.

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Prime Retail/Commercial/Medical/Professional Office building in heart of Elmwood Village. Planned occupancy December, 2009. Anchored by upscale Toronto-based Coffee Culture Cafe. Owner will build to suit.

Elmwood Village named “Top 10 Great Neighborhood” in America by the American Planning Association for its vibrant mix of world-class residential and institutional architecture, broad spectrum of cultural and social assets, prosperous commercial district of over 200 shops and restaurants, four large colleges and universities and high community standards.

** UPDATE:**  2/17/09
FJF Development LLC has purchased the former KFC for $425,000.

Kaleida heart/vascular center and UB research facility

• Architectural firm: Cannon Design
• Developer: Kaleida Health
• Building Use: Other
• Project Type: New Build
• Floors: 10
• Cost: $268 Million
• Est. Completion Date: 2011
• Description of Project: Construction on what’s being called the global vascular institute is expected to start in March, next to Buffalo General Hospital at Goodrich and Ellicott streets. The opening would be in 2011. The project consists of two related multimillion-dollar pieces, according to details unveiled this week by hospital officials: Kaleida’s $150 million center to bring together its heart, vascular and neurosurgery services in one location, as well as to provide a new, expanded emergency department, replacing the one at Buffalo General and allowing for the closure and reuse of the hospital system’s Millard Fillmore Hospital at Gates Circle. UB’s $118 million research facility.

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Canal Side

• Architectural firm: Benderson Development
• Developer: Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp.
• Building Use: Mixed
• Project Type: New Build
• Floors: Varied - See photos
• Cost: 325 Million
• Est. Completion Date: Market Driven
• Description of Project: Proposes more than 700,000 square feet of new retail, entertainment, residential and office space across more than 20 acres of the downtown waterfront.

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33 Gates Circle

• Architectural firm: Diamond + Schmitt Architects
• Developer: Uniland Development Co.
• Building Use: Residential
• Project Type: New Build
• Floors: 22
• Cost: 60 Million
• Description of Project: Uniland Development Company assembled an award winning architectural team to design and site the residential building. Toronto’s Diamond + Schmitt Architects partnered with Buffalo’s Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects to design the building, with internationally renowned du Toit Allsopp Hiller in the role of landscape architect. The 22-story residential tower combines natural materials and green concepts with 21st century design. "History is not frozen in one time, but is created every day," said Montante. “One way to respect history is to contribute to it. We asked our architectural team to both reflect the technology of today and continue respect to the surrounding neighborhood.”

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