Campus Crest Development is not the only developer with an eye towards constructing student housing near Buffalo State College. Plans for a Grant Street residential project by Greenleaf & Company that would cater to Buffalo State students have been revived according to sources.
Greenleaf is dusting off and updating plans it first prepared for a string of residential properties it owns along Grant and Rees streets north of Bradley Street. Greenleaf has been discussing its project with Buffalo State College and City officials in recent weeks.
Buffalo State also owns property along the Grant/Rees corridor and sources say a land swap is being discussed where the college and Greenleaf would construct separate but coordinated complexes catering to upper-level and lower-level students.
Regardless of the talks with Buffalo State College, Greenleaf is said to be “serious” about moving forward and has a master plan prepared to submit to the City and neighborhood residents. The project is expected to include some commercial space along Grant Street.
Greenleaf’s residential properties on the block were acquired five years ago when Buffalo State College invited dorm proposals from developers to help ease its space crunch. The college changed its plans for off-campus dorms and constructed its own complex at Grant and Letchworth streets.
Nearby, Campus Crest is seeking to rezone property at 80 and 100 Forest Avenue and obtain City permits to construct a ten-building, 216 unit student housing complex. The $15 million project would replace a portion of a manufacturing facility once occupied by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Contract Pharmaceuticals.