Lauren Kane

One up, 46 more to go. Buffalo Mayor Christopher P. Scanlon, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz, the Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corporation (BENLIC), and partners from Empire State Development and Belmont Housing Resources celebrated the completion of the first homes under the City and County’s joint Infill Housing Program today, marking a major step forward in neighborhood revitalization and affordable homeownership across the city.

Six months after completing the first part of the Wood & Brooks Lofts apartment conversion project, the developer is ready to start the second phase of his plan to transform a former Town of Tonawanda piano-key manufacturing plant into a mixed-use campus.

In 2023, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced his intention to work with the City of Buffalo to invest nearly $25 million to build affordable homes throughout Erie County, with the county and city combining funds to build dozens of homes solely within city limits.

Shea’s Performing Arts Center this week kicked off a $5 million renovation project to transform the interior and exterior public areas of its Shea’s 710 Theatre with a bright new look, more performance space and better traffic flow for patrons.

Shea’s 710 Theatre is getting a $5 million makeover that includes a new marquee, digital signage and a new two-story lounge and cabaret.

Shea’s in heavily investing in its 710 Theatre at the corner of Main and W. Tupper streets. The $5 million project will transform the public spaces at the theater, improving accessibility, expanding performance opportunities, and significantly enhancing the visitor experience.

The Rails at 2939 Main Street is the type of development many hoped would be spurred by the opening of the light rail forty years ago (40!!!). It’s also a preview to what development around the LaSalle light rail station could be if the City ever picks a developer. Project proposals were due in June 2022 (2 years!!!).

Construction is winding down on the Wood & Brooks Lofts, an adaptive reuse project located at 2101 Kenmore Avenue in Tonawanda, on the border of Buffalo’s Riverside neighborhood. Frontier Insulation Contractors Inc. and Thermal Foams Inc. have owned the complex for more than 50 years and the Wopperer family is now renovating the largest building on the site.

As the Fredonia Central School District works through the environmental review process pertaining to its planned $51 million capital project proposal this winter, the District has been evaluating potential fits for the Construction Manager to oversee whatever work could be approved.

Chase Commons, formerly the Lockport Presbyterian Home, opened its doors to city and town officials to show off the transformation from an assisted living facility to a market-rate apartment campus on High Street Thursday morning.

Up to 74 low-income families and young children on Buffalo’s East Side will be eligible to get free day care and preschool education in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood starting in September, after the region’s newest Head Start program opened in the redeveloped former Eckhardt’s Department Store building alongside 28 new affordable apartments.

A push for housing through infill development, new policies

Plans by a West Seneca-based mental health agency to construct a 16,000-square-foot counseling facility on Buffalo’s East Side are advancing through municipal reviews, as Mid-Erie Counseling & Treatment Services seeks a special-use permit for the $7.5 million...