BUFFALO, N.Y. — Last April, Empire State Development awarded the development rights of the North Aud block at Canalside to the firms Pennrose, MSquared and WEDI.
The $160M project aims to bring 360 housing units, retail space, and an underground parking garage to the site of the former Memorial Auditorium.
On Friday, during their regular Regional Economic Development Council awards announcements, the state awarded $2.5M to the developer, specifically MSqaured, for the project.
"That money will be used for really bringing this project to life, activating the commercial unit uses at the site, activating the Plaza," said Natalie Hunter, associate at MSquared. "We're hoping [it] will drive a lot of visitors to the site in addition to the residents who live in the community."
MSquared and their development partners are planning on breaking ground on the project sometime in 2025. Hunter couldn't say for sure when in 2025, that would be contingent on financing for the project.
"Right now, we are intending to submit a tax credit application. And in order to get the financing, we need to support the affordable units this summer," Hunter said. "So 2025 is still the target timeline sometime."
Right now, construction has halted at the Heritage Point location at Canalside.
The $40M Sinatra Development project ran into financing issues, according to the Buffalo News, and construction hasn't progressed for several months.
Given the scale of the North Aud project compared to the Heritage Point project, the developer didn't rule out needing additional assistance from the state.
"That's to be determined," Hunter said. "Once we finalized the different aspects of design and have an input from construction consultants and potential general contractors, we'll have more clarity on that."
MSquared says they believe affordability will be the main focus of the North Aud project. Hunter said that 80% of rent prices at the complex will be restricted between 40% and 110% of area median income.
"We're hoping to take a really innovative approach in this mixed income execution and really connect this Canalside area to downtown Buffalo," Hunter said. "There are so many amazing amenities and resources in the area and we think this will really just activate the final vacant parcel in Canalside.