Two proposals for a vacant parcel in Waterfront Village have been received by the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency. Ciminelli Real Estate and a team comprised of Forbes Capretto Homes, Impacto Consulting and McGuire Development are each seeking to develop the 2.4 acre site at 240-260 Lakefront Boulevard, a vacant parcel located between the Marina Park and Portside complexes. Proposals were due August 1.
Buffalo Business First has the scope of each project:
Forbes/Impacto/McGuire
The project, which could cost more than $30 million to develop, will feature between 14 and 16 townhouses and a mid-rise condo building, no more than four stories tall, that could house between 12 and 15 units. The townhouses come with attached garages and a small, private garden area. The townhouses will have two-bedroom and three-bedroom models, ranging in size between 2,000-square-feet and 2,300-square-feet.
This would be the first market-rate Buffalo project for Forbes Capretto. For a short time the builder teamed with MJ Peterson to construct subsidized single family housing predominantly in the near East Side.
Ciminelli
The Ciminelli proposal calls for 10 townhouse or single-family homes to be developed on the site along with a 20-unit apartment building that, in preliminary drawings, will be no higher than four stories. The project will include such amenities as an outdoor pool, exercise room and, for the apartments, underground parking.
Penman [Ciminelli executive vice president] pegged the development cost in the $20 million to $25 million range.
The project would include the first rental building in Waterfront Village and would mark a return to Waterfront Village by Penman. In the mid-80’s and 90’s Penman spearheaded the pioneering 56-unit Rivermist project for MJ Peterson Real Estate.
BURA expects to name a developer for the site this fall. The City has tried without success to get the site developed in recent years. Most recently, Waterfront Medical Professionals, LLC was named ‘designated developer’ for the site in 2008 but could not carry out its plan. It was to include eight townhome units and 18 condominiums in an eight-story mid-rise building.