Buffalo Building Reuse Project
The Buffalo Building Reuse Project (BBRP) is a public/private effort seeking to make downtown Buffalo more competitive for private investment in the 21st century.
At the request of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Buffalo Niagara Partnership staff convened and led a team of business leaders, real-estate professionals, economic development practitioners and key municipal stakeholders to complete the BBRP report.
The BBRP report uses a framework for where to direct reinvestment funds. It contains four project recommendations that are then broken down into multiple actionable items. These include:
- Make downtown more attractive to existing and future potential tenants with appropriate space and amenities
- Establish a “smart” development process and management structure
- Develop effective tools that encourage investment and redevelopment (improve existing tools; develop new)
- Communicate the benefits of downtown for live, work, play activities to attract more private investment into downtown
Making it happen
Following a yearlong study, BBRP volunteers crafted recommendations and actionable strategies which are now being implemented. The report identifies more than 400 buildings downtown that are candidates for adaptive reuse and developers are eying many of them.
Key to the successful revitalization of Downtown Buffalo is an ongoing public private partnership between:
- The City of Buffalo
- Buffalo Urban Development Corporation
- Buffalo Niagara Partnership
- The private real estate and development industry
Our Planing Mill adaptive reuse project was physically and financially challenging. Through the BBRP loan program, championed by the Partnership, we were able to obtain critical bridge financing to ensure the completion of the project. As a result, new life has been injected into a once neglected part of downtown.