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"Iskalo Development Corp. plans to convert the former Old Editions Bookstore building downtown into apartments and commercial space.
Five years after purchasing the building, the Williamsville-based developer wants to transform the four-story red brick structure and its shorter blond neighbor into the Bookstore Lofts.
Located at 68-76 East Huron St., the project would feature 30 apartments and 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail or commercial space. It would also feature a new 41-space gated onsite parking lot, to be located on adjacent parcels where two other buildings would be torn down.
Moreover, it would play off the ambitious initiative of Iskalo’s neighbor, Douglas Jemal, who is planning to redevelop the adjacent Simon Electric properties and the Mohawk Ramp into 450 to 600 new apartments and retail space, in what both development firms are calling the Electric District.
An existing alley between the Simon block and Old Editions site would be a pedestrian zone, to be called Electric Alley. That will benefit both developers, connecting the projects and giving them the ability to add windows to apartments along the alley, instead of having the buildings abutting each other.
Iskalo’s proposal marks another step in its multi-year effort to make an impact in a highly concentrated area of the city, building upon its prior success with converting the former Niagara Mohawk building into the Electric Tower. .
More recently, Iskalo added Streetlight Brasserie at 5 E. Huron and Big Ditch Brewing Co. at 55 E. Huron. And then it bought Old Editions from Ronald Cozzi, who downsized and relocated his business to North Tonawanda.
“We’re not the biggest developer in town, but this is our pond in the city,” Iskalo Executive Vice President David Chiazza said.
Iskalo paid $1.71 million for the 28,000-square-foot complex, which includes the two buildings dating to 1898 and 1950, and planned to renovate and return them to use. But it has taken much longer than expected.
Plans call for combining the Old Editions properties with 254, 258 and 260-262 Oak, and then redeveloping them as a single 0.6-acre project. Iskalo would first construct a two-story addition onto the two-story blond brick building at 68 E. Huron, matching its height to the neighboring red four-story building at 76 E. Huron.
However, the former Farthing Press building at 260-262 Oak – with a two-story and a one-story section – would come down, to be replaced for now with the landscaped parking lot.
Iskalo noted that those buildings are not listed as “historic,” and are not in a “historic district.” based on the city’s “preservation-ready” survey conducted in 2013 with the State Historic Preservation Office
“There’s no history, no reason to keep them,” he said.
But that is generating controversy with preservationists, as well as critics of more parking.
“We don’t want to see these two buildings torn down,” said Bernice Radle, executive director of Preservation Buffalo Niagara, saying they were designed by the same architect that did the Electric Tower. “The buildings do not have a historic designation, but we think they could be.”
She also urged Iskalo to find an alternative to the parking, suggesting that it is far more than needed.
“There’s already plenty of parking down there,” she said. “We want to preserve the urbanism. We don’t want to make more parking lots.”
Chiazza said the developer eventually hopes to build on those lots, although that could be three to five years out.
“We think this block will eventually become much more dense once Jemal has a chance to advance his projects,” he said. “But right now, we believe the parking is absolutely required for this project.”The $4 million project received three variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday .
But the ZBA denied a fourth variance related to landscaped islands in the parking lot, because board members felt the developer could revise its plan to meet the Green Code requirement.
Iskalo still needs site plan approval, and indicated in its application that it would seek tax breaks from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, as well."
"After four years of municipal review, neighborhood opposition and litigation, construction on a controversial apartment project in the Fruit Belt across from the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is ready to begin.
Symphony Property Management is preparing to start work this month on The Lawrence, a $50 million venture that will bring 132 residential units to Michigan Avenue when it is completed in two years. The company secured $38.15 million in lending for the project through Northwest Bank late last month, plus additional financing from Tompkins Community Bank, enabling BRD Construction to begin work.
“This achievement positions us to break ground in January 2024, realizing our vision of creating an unparalleled living experience in downtown Buffalo,” said Symphony owner Timothy Leboeuf.
Plans call for a 129,000-square-foot complex at 983 Michigan Ave., consisting of a five-story wing on Michigan and a four-story wing on Maple, stretching parallel along both streets, with a small connector between them. The complex would include a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom market-rate apartments, with 78 underground parking spaces and 55 more spaces on the medical campus.
The project is designed to provide additional housing options for the area, and is partially aimed at medical students and employees of the medical campus institutions. It will include some fully furnished units “with concierge amenities,” and will also cater to the needs of long-term visitors of the medical campus.Construction will take 18 to 24 months.
But it’s been a long and bumpy road to get to this point. “I was confident we would get this deal in the ground once we got the approvals from the city,” LeBoeuf said. “I didn’t expect it to take another three years.”
The project is designed to provide additional housing options for the area, and is partially aimed at medical students and employees of the medical campus institutions. It will include some fully furnished units “with concierge amenities,” and will also cater to the needs of long-term visitors of the medical campus.Construction will take 18 to 24 months.
But it’s been a long and bumpy road to get to this point. “I was confident we would get this deal in the ground once we got the approvals from the city,” LeBoeuf said. “I didn’t expect it to take another three years.”
Fruit Belt resident Elverna D. Gidney and retired University at Buffalo professor Lorna Peterson quickly sued to block the project, claiming that the city agencies had improperly approved many of the variances and failed to consider proper standards, tests and environmental impacts.
A state judge ruled that Peterson lacked legal standing to sue since she doesn’t live in the Fruit Belt, and then eventually dismissed the entire case. Gidney and her attorney, Arthur Giacalone, appealed, but the state Appellate Division upheld the lower court ruling.
Meanwhile, Symphony still needed to acquire one more city-owned property on Maple, on top of 15 parcels it already owned, and the city was now demanding a much higher price after seeing what properties were going for. That was resolved in 2022, with Symphony paying $125,000 for 244 Maple.
Finally, Symphony earlier this year had to demolish a couple of dilapidated houses at 995 Michigan and 240 Maple, which stood in the way.
“It didn’t hamper the company,” LeBoeuf said. “I’d say we learned a lot through the process, faced each challenge that was thrown at us and are ready to start building.”
"After years in the gas station and fuel business, one of the former owners of Noco Energy Corp. is venturing into a new and vastly different arena: housing development.
Four years after splitting off from his brother to form his own retail energy and real estate company, Michael F. Newman is seeking to redevelop a large piece of land on Grand Island that is located behind a gas station and convenience store that he also owns.
Newman Properties – an Amherst-based developer and retail distributor of branded fuel, petroleum equipment and maintenance – wants to reuse 12.9 acres at the northeast corner of Ransom and Stony Point roads, creating 90 apartments and 11 single-family homes.
The site is adjacent to the Grand Island Market and Sunoco gas station at 1441 Ransom. In all, Newman owns 14.3 acres at the intersection, where it acquired the gas station in 2020, followed by the rest of the land. The gas station and convenience store are leased to a business operator.
Plans call for breaking up the empty site into 11 single-family lots – five stretching along Ransom and six along Stony Point, on either side of the gas station and mini-mart – while constructing eight two-story apartment buildings on the landlocked remainder in back.
All of the apartments would have two bedrooms, but five of the buildings would have 12 units, while three would have 10 apartments. Rents would range from $1,700 to $2,400 per month, said Tim Boyle, president of Noco Property Management.
A 2,500-square-foot community building with a rear patio and an adjacent dog park is also planned near the entrance to the complex, which would be off Stony Point next to the gas station. Also, the project will feature 199 parking spaces, including 29 in garages.
The project has been in the works for at least a year, but is a significant reduction from what was unveiled last summer. At the time, Newman proposed 12 two-story buildings with 130 apartments, plus 7,000 square feet of neighborhood retail space in one building along Ransom. The project also would have included 6.3 acres of open space.
But neighbors objected to the density and commercial space, and wanted a buffer between their homes and the apartment buildings, Boyle said.
“It’s a busy intersection with the school buses,” he said, noting that Grand Island Senior High School is down the street. “The neighbors were apprehensive to bring more commercial.”
So Newman removed the mixed-use building and commercial space, as well as three apartment buildings along the streets, replacing them with the two clusters of single-family homes. That brought the apartment count down by 40 units.
The project cost is still being determined, but Boyle estimated it at $25 million to $30 million.
Newman is asking the town to rezone the land to a combination of single-family residential, multi-family residential and “general business district.” Besides the rezoning, the project will also require site plan approval and various other town, county and state permits, including for wetlands.
A public hearing has been set for Jan. 16 at 8 p.m.
The project is one of the biggest ventures by Michael Newman since he split off from his brother, James, in 2019, and left his family business, Noco Energy Corp. – originally named Newman Oil Co.
Until 2019, it also used to own 37 Noco gas stations in the Buffalo and Rochester areas, before it sold them all to Marathon Petroleum Corp. That’s when the brothers decided to divide the remaining businesses, with James taking the commercial and industrial side, while Michael kept the retail gas station supply and property management businesses."
"More than two years after winning approval from the Town of Amherst, Marrano/Marc-Equity Corp. is preparing to begin construction on its high-end Stonham Place Townhomes, adding 27 residences just off Main Street in front of the Greythorne neighborhood .
The company, which operates as Marrano Homes, wants to put up the new homes on a 3.5 acres of a 4.2-acre parcel of land east of Youngs Road, at 6286-6300 Main. Originally planned for 38 units in 11 separate buildings along a new street – Stonham Place – the plan has been reduced in scale, but not in features or prices.
The townhomes are expected to sell for prices in the upper $500,000 range, generating total sales of more than $16 million upon completion. Previously, officials had projected pricing at $300,000.
“The design and amenities of these luxury townhomes will make them incredibly attractive,” said David DePaolo, Marrano's executive vice president of land development.
The community also comes with condominium status, yielding annual property tax savings for owners, and a homeowners association financially supported by the homeowners to handle shared maintenance."
"ABlasdell developer is proposing a residential and commercial project in the Town of Hamburg that would add six new buildings with apartments, retail space, offices and a bank branch to a long and narrow strip of land along Southwestern Boulevard.
Liberatore Management Group, owned by Michelle Liberatore, is seeking to develop a 13.1-acre greenfield site at the northeast corner of Southwestern and Howard Road.
That’s currently a tree-filled buffer between the Route 20 thoroughfare and an established residential neighborhood, Marrano Homes’ Sherwood Meadows subdivision and Randolph Academy’s Hamburg campus. It’s across from the Clifton Heights apartments, Gullo’s Garden Center and the Department of Transportation.
Liberatore owns the property, which is zoned as residential and commercial, but is seeking to have it rezoned as multifamily. Back in November, it proposed five identical two-story apartment buildings for the site, with 12 units in each – 10 two-bedroom and two three-bedroom apartments – for a total of 60 residential units.
But that plan has changed radically since then to a diverse blend of uses, after residents argued to town officials that it would destroy woodland and wildlife habitat, decrease traffic safety and raise privacy concerns.
Now, plans call for a pair of two-story apartment buildings with 10 units each, to be located at the northern end of the site, with 42 parking spaces and four garages in between.
To the south, Liberatore would put up three block-shaped commercial buildings parallel to Southwestern, with parking in front of each and in two parking lots between them. The two-story, 15,000-square-foot buildings would have first-floor commercial or retail space and second-floor office space, with a total of 264 parking spaces.
Finally, the southernmost building – next to a winding driveway entrance from Howard, across from Dogwood Lane – would be a 2,500-square-foot bank branch, with a two-lane drive-thru – one for a teller and one for an ATM.
The project would feature 306 parking spaces and four garages, compared to 134 spaces and 55 garages previously.
The site would have a 40-foot setback all around, with an extended oblong stormwater management area in front of the site along Southwestern, a smaller stormwater area at the northern end, and 2.06 acres of wetlands."
"More than $38 million in tax credits and subsidies have been awarded to create 285 affordable apartments in five developments in Western New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday.
They are part of an award of more than $260 million for 1,852 housing units in 29 developments across the state. They include:
- $7.6 million for Playter Gardens at the Market, three blocks east of the Broadway Market in Buffalo, which will feature 73 apartments in 11 buildings, with more than half of them for homeless young adults.
- $2.5 million for Thankful Gardens in Buffalo's Schiller Park neighborhood, which will provide 20 apartments in two new buildings and an existing home to assist households experiencing homelessness and substance use problems.
- $13.9 million for Juniper Apartments in Hamburg at Southwestern Boulevard and Rogers Road, which will create 65 apartments, including 16 for the elderly.
- $6.9 million for Silver Creek Senior Housing in Chautauqua County, which will demolish the long-vacant former high school building on Main Street and replace it with 54 units for the elderly.
- $7.2 million for The Nest in Niagara Falls, which will demolish a vacant store and build 73 new apartments, plus ground floor commercial space."
"Developer Douglas Jemal’s company has agreed to buy the former home of The Buffalo News from Lee Enterprises.
The planned deal for The News’ property at Scott and Washington streets consists of an office building, an adjacent production building and a parking lot across Scott Street. The property is under contract, with a proposed closing date of July 1.
If completed, the purchase would enhance Douglas Development’s downtown real estate holdings near Canalside.
The developer already owns the former HSBC Atrium building – which is located between The News’ parking lot and KeyBank Center – and Seneca One tower just up Washington Street.
Lee declined to disclose the sale price for The News’ property until the deal is completed. Jemal did not return a message to comment on Tuesday.
Uniland Development in September 2022 announced a deal to acquire The News’ five-story, 160,000-square-foot office building from The News’ Iowa-based parent.
But Uniland backed out of that deal, for a reported $9.05 million, in February 2023. At the time, The News was still producing the print version of the newspaper on-site, so the production building was not part of that agreement.
The News has since shifted production of the paper’s print version to Cleveland, making the entire property available to a purchaser. The News moved its newsroom and business operations into the Larkin at Exchange building in fall 2022, after nearly 50 years at Scott and Washington streets.
The News building received interest from other potential buyers after the Uniland deal fell through, said Tom Wiley, The News’ president and publisher. The planned deal with Jemal would give the property a new direction.
“I think it’s great it’s going to turn into an active space, with someone like Douglas’ vision, to create more opportunity in what is a burgeoning business and residential district,” Wiley said.
“The fact that it’s someone who understands the authenticity and the nature of Buffalo, and it’s not an out-of-town (real estate investment trust), we should all be happy about that.”
Wiley described The News’ move to Larkinville over the past year and a half as a success, but he acknowledged the history that goes with parting with the old property.
“There’s a meaningful moment for people that spent four or five decades working in that building to say, ‘It’s not The Buffalo News anymore,’” he said.
Wiley said Jemal’s purchase of multiple properties in close proximity to each other reflects the developer’s approach to “placemaking.”
“Just knowing Douglas, he’s going to have some great ideas for how to use these contiguous parcels,” he said.
It is not yet known what Jemal plans to do with the former News property. The region’s office market has faced challenges from workers shifting to hybrid or remote schedules that bring them into the office less frequently. Those trends have prompted employers to rethink how much office space they need.
Jemal’s company acquired the HSBC Atrium in December 2022 for $9 million. The Atrium consists of about 300,000 square feet, which meant Uniland would have bought The News’ building for about the same price, but for only about half the amount of space, had its own deal gone through.
Douglas Development has not yet redeveloped the Atrium. But Seneca One has rebounded under Jemal’s ownership after being nearly vacant when he acquired it, with M&T Bank as an anchor tenant, and Highmark BlueCross BlueShield moving employees there from an office complex on West Genesee Street.
Jemal has disclosed plans to build another building close to Seneca One at 61 Terrace, on a parking lot surrounded by highway loops. That project is on hold."
"The development duo undertaking a conversion of the historic Jersey Street firehouse wants to add two more apartments to the $1.9 million project to make it more financially feasible.
Milestone Development of WNY – consisting of Justin Custer and Eric Zellner – bought the three-story former home of the Buffalo Fire Department’s Engine No. 2 in June 2022 for $400,000, taking over after two prior redevelopment attempts fell through in the previous few years. The 149-year-old firehouse, which dates to 1875, has been vacant for years.
The firm proposed renovating the 12,300-square-foot masonry building at 310 Jersey St. into seven apartments. It obtained variances last September from the Zoning Board of Appeals for exceeding the density maximum and to allow parking in the property’s corner side yard, against the Green Code.
But seven units wasn’t enough in the face of spiraling costs and higher interest rates. So now they’re planning nine apartments, and received variances from the ZBA on Wednesday for the additional units and side-yard parking on the 2.3-acre site.
“There will be no undesirable change produced in the character of the neighborhood,” the application to the ZBA said, asserting that there are no viable alternatives to its plan. “This proposal will revitalize a corner building that has been vacant for an extended period of time.”
Milestone, which already owns 100 residential and commercial units, bought the building after previous owner Project X Holdings abandoned its 5-year-old plan to put a microbrewery and restaurant into the building. That $1.6 million microbrewery proposal had faced stiff neighborhood opposition, and was ultimately rejected by both the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals. A previous owner had also proposed apartments, but never followed up.
Also at the Zoning Board on Wednesday, HVAC contractor AG Roehrig & Son is planning to put up a one-story steel storage and flex building of 3,136 square feet on the east side of its main building, located on its half-acre property at 225 French St. It will serve as a storage building for HVAC equipment."
"Nearly four years after residents fended off an Amazon mega-warehouse, the fight over large-scale development on Grand Island continues.
The Town Board is considering a zoning change that would subject plans for massive warehouses and distribution centers to heightened scrutiny.
However, Erie County officials have come out against the proposal, arguing even the latest, less-restrictive version of the zoning amendment could have dire economic consequences.
“It would still hinder the town and county’s ability to attract and retain businesses and would potentially prohibit the largest existing firms from expanding, impacting hundreds of jobs and the town and county’s tax base,” Thomas Baines, deputy commissioner of the county’s Department of Environment and Planning, wrote March 7 to Town Supervisor Peter Marston Jr.
The county isn’t alone. The town Planning Board also recommended against approving the amendment.
The Town Board for months has weighed making a zoning change, arguing projects of this scale aren’t a good fit for the island. The proposal came after the owner of the Amazon site returned with a plan for another large warehouse that, again, stirred up objections from neighbors.
The board voted Monday night to set up a meeting with the county officials to address their concerns.
“They’re looking at it from the county’s view. And we’re looking at it from a much more local view,” Deputy Supervisor Thomas Digati said during the work session before Monday’s board meeting. “And I think that our law gives us – it doesn’t preclude anything but it does give us an opportunity to have a little more control over what goes on the island and an opportunity to mitigate the impacts to our community.”
Acquest Development has owned a 207-acre parcel on Long Road, near the Niagara Thruway, for years.
A developer working with Amazon in February 2020 submitted plans for a five-story, 3.8 million-square-foot distribution center for the e-commerce giant.
However, the proposal ran into opposition and, in August that year, the developer pulled the plug on the $300 million project now slated for the Town of Niagara.
In response, in December 2020, Acquest came back with a proposal for a single-story, 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse on the Long Road site.
The Acquest warehouse, estimated to cost $120 million, also has run into concerns over traffic, pollution and its environmental impact.
While the Amazon project required rezoning the property, the Acquest warehouse fits within its light-industrial and research, or M-1, zoning.
Then-Council Member Michael Madigan last summer proposed a six-month moratorium on any new warehouses or distribution centers.
However, other Town Board members went further, proposing to amend the zoning code to remove warehouse and distribution facilities from the allowable uses in M-1 districts. They could have proceeded if granted a special-use permit but only up to 300,000 square feet in size.
The change also would apply to the related M-2 zoning district.
Within a month, however, the Town Board adjusted its proposed zoning amendment to cap warehouses at 100,000 square feet. Then, board members proposed another change that would cap the size of all new buildings at 65,000 square feet.
Now, the Town Board is considering yet another version. This time, it would bar distribution centers in M-1 and M-2 districts while allowing warehouses up to no more than 75,000 square feet.
A property could host more than one warehouse but the total square feet of the structures is capped at 150,000 square feet. This cap also would apply to structures on a multibuilding “business campus” on one property or contiguous properties.
Digati, the deputy supervisor, said construction of a distribution center could proceed with a rezoning or use variance while a larger warehouse would require a special-use permit.
Acquest CEO Michael Huntress declined an interview request. Grand Island officials had previously said the proposed zoning changes aren’t aimed at any particular project.
Town Planning Board members on Feb. 12 reviewed the latest version of the zoning amendment and recommended against its approval. Members expressed concern about its effect on efforts to grow the town’s commercial base and whether it could limit expansion plans at existing businesses, meeting minutes show.
The county, for its part, pointed to numerous issues including confusion and legal challenges if one project is deemed an allowable “warehouse” and another is considered a “distribution center” that isn’t allowed.
Town officials at Monday’s work session said the amendment would allow for case-by-case scrutiny.
“Maybe there’s some distribution facilities that wouldn’t be all that problematic. But if there’s something along the lines of what’s on River Road in Tonawanda with, you know, hundreds of Amazon trucks coming and going all day, every day, that’s a real problem for us,” said Digati, referring to the company’s delivery station in that town.
Three residents spoke Monday night at a public hearing on the zoning amendment.
Cathy Rayhill, who leads the Coalition for Responsible Economic Development for Grand Island, said she found the town’s “convoluted” approach to reviewing and modifying this amendment perplexing but she urged its passage in some form.
“As we have already seen with the businesses on Staley Road, the impact of these massive facilities has a negative impact on surrounding communities and the health and safety of our residents,” said Rayhill, referring to the life-sciences companies on Staley.
Liz Lutnick said islanders shouldn’t be made to feel bad for opposing large-scale developments.
“We currently enjoy traffic density, and a population density that is manageable. Currently,” Lutnick said. “Thirty years ago I lived in Amherst and development has become absurd. Just take a drive on Main Street and Transit and see for yourself.”
"The University of Buffalo engineering professor who wants to develop an "upscale rural" indoor golf center in the Town of Aurora has increased the size of his proposed building, as he now seeks an approval from the town to construct his project.
Harrison W. Kelly III of West Falls and his wife, Jill, are proposing to bring indoor golf simulators, indoor and outdoor mini-golf, a restaurant, and, eventually, an outdoor driving range to a 14.4-acre plot of vacant land on Olean Road, just outside the village limits.
They have obtained a rezoning of the property and are now moving to the next stage of municipal approvals for what they are calling the EA Golf Barn, which they describe as a family entertainment center that will combine the "upscale rural vibes with state-of-the-art golf experiences."
The couple plans to construct a 20,000-square-foot raised-center barn building at the center of the the site they bought in 2019 at 600 Olean Road, just north of the Aurora Expressway. Previous plans in the fall called for 12,000 square feet.
The facility would include professional golf simulators that mimic PGA-level courses and an 18-hole "immersive indoor mini-golf course" in the first phase, along with a quick-serve restaurant and bar.
Phase 2 would introduce an 18-hole outdoor mini-golf course that will combine "traditional elements with vertical play," while creating eight to 10 jobs. Kelly has previously mentioned a possible third phase, for an outdoor driving range with 20 tee boxes and nine holes, but that was not listed in the new application.
"Our goal is to be the go-to destination for families and golf enthusiasts alike," Kelly wrote in his application to the town.
The Aurora Planning Board will review the proposal on April 3, as well as an unrelated special-use permit application by Ronald R. Bartsch, owner and president of Bartsch's Auto Service in Elma, to open an auto repair and undercoating business in a 4,499-square-foot building on 0.44 acres at 420 Olean Road. That's where Bartsch is buying the former Shanley Collision auto body shop, to expand his business.
Separately, the panel will also evaluate special-use permit applications by Robert N. Hopkins of West Falls to host events and overnight camping at the sprawling former Alpine Recreation Center property that he bought in 2019 at 298 Ellicott Road.
Hopkins – who also owns an adjacent business and property at 145 Ellicott Road – bought the large property five years ago. Now, he wants to open that up for events such as birthday or graduation parties, weddings and family reunions, according to his application.
And he also wants to allow limited overnight camping, using four campsites that have access to existing sewer hookups. The other campsites are on an open field, for "dry camping," but "there is no desire to restore and renovate all 88 campsites."
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