Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. on Friday completed its $2.325 million purchase of a downtown parking lot between the Central Library and the bus terminal that is slated to become the site of a $50 million affordable housing building with a fresh-foods market and wholesale store.
The Buffalo-based developer bought the 375-space parking lot at 201 Ellicott St., capping off a long negotiating and planning process that has lasted more than two years, since Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown first announced his intention in 2015 to seek a residential, grocery and parking project for the site.
Since then, the project has gone through several iterations and revisions, and it also faced opposition and now even a lawsuit over the lack of new parking to replace what is being lost.
Plans by CannonDesign now call for a 220,000-square-foot complex on the 2.5-acre property. It will include 201 units of affordable housing in a residential building that will rise seven stories along Oak Street and five stories along Ellicott, plus a single-story market of 20,000 square feet – mostly for a wholesale business.
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The market would be operated by Stuart Green, owner of Braymiller Market in Hamburg, with 6,000 square feet for retail.
