Governor Kathy Hochul wants to figure out how best to continue development and growth along Buffalo’s waterfront over the next ten years. So, her administration is launching a strategic planning process that will lead to a plan for investment and further transformation.
The planning effort, according to the Hochul administration, will bring in local stakeholders and unite them under a shared strategy. But first, the process calls for bringing in a consulting firm to study and determine what is needed.
“What’s that next vision? What's that next development? What's that next public-private collaboration that we want to see move forward that helps sustain what has already been established?” said Mark Wendel, president of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation.
He noted that works currently in progress include residential buildings. He also pointed to the DL&W Terminal, which after years or work has opened.
“So now, what's that next vision as we get a little bit further away from Canalside, Erie Basin Marina, Cobblestone District? What's going to be that next kind of inspiration that's going to help support what we already have established?” he asked.
The first step in the project is to secure a consultant who would conduct a study for up to six months, then provide recommendations. The area to be covered within the strategic plan spans from the Cobblestone District to Erie Basin Marina, with KeyBank Center and Sahlen Field included within the project boundaries.
KeyBank Center, which opened 30 years ago this fall, is in need of maintenance and repairs. Could those be included in a future strategic plan?
Nothing is confirmed in this embryonic stage of the project, but nothing has been ruled out.
“I think we're not going to ignore what the built environment is in this study,” Wendel said. “It's more about, if there are improvements for whether it's KeyBank or maybe even Harborcenter, or in the Cobblestone District, what would be the best recommendations?”
Empire State Development will retain the consulting firm, according to the Governor’s office. The plan would provide ESD, ECHDC, Erie County, the City of Buffalo, and other public and private stakeholders a strategy to guide future state investment in the neighborhood.
It comes at a time when work continues on Pennrose’s mixed-use North Aud block redevelopment, work has resumed on Heritage Point on the South Aud block, and the development of the Golisano Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship at Washington and Scott Streets in the former Buffalo News headquarters.
