Changes to the tenant mix at the former Buffalo Envelope Co. building in downtown Buffalo have prompted the developer to swap out a planned 100-space parking deck at the site for a "lean-to" steel structure that would just shelter the existing surface lot.
Ellicott Development Co. received city approval in April 2019 for its conversion of the six-story building at 270 Michigan into office and residential space. That approval included construction of the single-level parking deck at the west end of the 2.38-acre site, just off the Niagara Thruway ramp to Seneca Street.
Work on the building renovation is underway, but the developer reconsidered the parking because of a new tenant and its demands for secured and indoor parking, said Director of Development Tom Fox, in a letter to the Buffalo Planning Board.
Ellicott now proposes a 14,274-square-foot steel structure that would jut out from the building and cover part of the current lot. And it would construct a 45-foot-wide concrete ramp into the existing metal warehouse at the property's west end, allowing cars to drive in.
People are also reading…
The combination would provide 66 secured parking spaces – 52 under the lean-to, and another 14 in the warehouse building. There's also still an additional 70 surface parking spots that will not be covered.
As Carl and William Paladino tackle their latest redevelopment project in downtown Buffalo, they’re looking for help from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency. The father-and-son owners of Ellicott Development Co., together with investor Nancy S. Krieger, are seeking sales and mortgage recording tax breaks for their historic renovation of the former Buffalo Envelope Co. building. Located on 2.38 acres
The Planning Board will consider the request on Jan. 11 at 4 p.m. If approved, the $340,000 change will take about three months to erect.
Meanwhile, the rest of the $6.6 million project by Ellicott and investor Nancy S. Krieger is continuing. The 47,000-square-foot complex includes a three-story base of 35,450 square feet throughout the site and a six-story section on part of the building. Constructed in 1890, it was home to Buffalo Envelope from 1900 to the early 1980s.
It has been partially occupied by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and other offices, but also had significant vacant space that Ellicott wanted to reuse.
Plans by the developer – through its Michigan-Seneca Group – call for 10,000 square feet of office space on the first three floors, followed by six market-rate apartments on floors four through six with 11,550 square feet. The apartments – three one-bedroom units of 1,272 square feet and three three-bedroom units of 1,837 square feet – will rent for $1,250 and $2,400 per month, respectively.
The project is supported by $1.15 million in state and federal historic tax credits, as well as tax breaks from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, $2 million in developer equity and $4.67 million in bank financing.
The Planning Board will also hold a public hearing and consider a proposal by Sonwil Distribution to put up a second massive warehouse facility at 283 Ship Canal Parkway – in the Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park. Plans call for a 329,405-sqare-foot building to be constructed on 21.3 acres of land adjacent to the company's current 308,000-square-foot center, at 315 Ship Canal.
Sonwil Distribution's 308,000-square-foot warehouse at Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park, pictured in 2008.
A rendering of Sonwil Distribution's proposed second warehouse facility at 283 Ship Canal Parkway in Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park.
If approved, construction on the $36 million project – $21 million for construction, $15 million for racking and infrastructure – would begin in the spring and finish by spring 2022. Four clients are already lined up.
This map shows the location of Sonwil Distribution's proposed new warehouse facility at 283 Ship Canal Parkway in Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park.
Also in Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park, Donald Finkle's RCR Yachts wants the city to rezone his 14-acre property at 9 and 11 Ship Canal as industrial, restoring the designation they had prior to the Green Code. The 40-year-old company uses the land for boat storage, docking, service and sales. The company plans to put up a "modest-sized building" to display and store boats inside.
Additionally, the Planning Board will review a request by Uniland Development Co. to combine seven parcels at Elmwood and Hertel avenues into two larger parcels for easier development in the future. All of the land is zoned as "secondary employment center."
One parcel, at 1984 Elmwood, would consist of 6.9 acres, including the northern part of 35 Norris Ave., 107 Norris and 125 Norris. The second, at 33-35 Norris, will include 4.5 acres, consisting of the southern part of 35 Norris, 15 Norris, 19 Norris and 742 Hertel.
