Posted Oct 24, 2006, 7:52 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 1,557
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Some of the details are off, but here it is:
Statler owner ready to build
The downtown Buffalo landscape could see a dramatic change with the new owner of the Statler Towers proposing to construct a 48-story mixed-use tower along Elmwood Avenue.
Plans for the $361 million, privately-financed project are expected to be announced at a news conference, set for Wednesday morning. The tower will be the tallest in downtown both in terms of number of floors and square footage -- potentially 1.3 million square feet.
The building is proposed for a parcel at the corner of Mohawk Street and Elmwood Avenue that is currently used as a surface parking lot.
Bashar Issa, the Manchester, England businessman who earlier this year acquired the historic Statler Towers and is in the early stages of an $80 million restoration of the Delaware Avenue landmark, said he hopes to start construction on the tower within the next two years. The tower will top the HSBC Center by as much as 10 floors.
"We want this building to be a beacon for downtown Buffalo," Issa said.
The project is the latest in a series of developments either planned or underway for the Delaware Avenue spine in downtown Buffalo. Delaware Avenue projects include the new corporate headquarters for New Era Cap Co. Inc., which is expected to open later this fall; a 120,000-square-foot multi-tenant building that Uniland Development Co. is constructing next to WGRZ-TV; a redevelopment of the Dulski Federal Office Building by Uniland and Acquest Development and a new federal courthouse that overlooks Niagara Square.
"This past year has seen an amazing amount of investment and development in downtown Buffalo, notably Delaware Avenue," said Mayor Byron Brown.
The 1.3 million square foot project will include a mix of Class A office space, a 300-room hotel and upscale condominiums.
George Hamberger, a broker with RealtyUSA Commercial Real Estate and Issa's local real estate specialist, said he has tentative contracts for 100,000-square-feet of the proposed 600,000-square-feet of office space.
Hamberger said he will be reaching out to non-local firms to help fill the building's tenant roster.
"Our focus is on new jobs and new tenants for Buffalo and not stealing tenants from other (downtown) buildings," he said.
Construction won't start until the building is at least 40 percent pre-leased, either with office tenants, condo buyers or a hotel chain in hand. Any combination of tenants that brings it to the 40 percent mark will trigger the construction, Issa said.
The dramatic building, with a tinted glass skin, is being designed by Cannon Design of Grand Island. It is designed to play off the planned new federal courthouse, which will virtually neighbor the tower.
Issa has already reviewed his project with Mayor Byron Brown and top members of his administration. Formal plans for the project will likely be filed with Buffalo planners within the next few weeks.
"This underscores how attractive downtown Buffalo is, right now, for investors and developers, whether they are local or from out-of-town," Brown said.
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