It seemed more than inevitable that Benderson Development would win the request for the rights to the Donovan Building. For what it’s worth, no other RFP was submitted in the process. The more important piece of this pie will be what effect the development has on the greater Canalside development. Update: Buffalo News story on Canalside. I will comment on this at a later juncture.

Here are the basics (per Buffalo Rising):

• Benderson will invest $30 million into the site, plus a $1 million deposit that they will start work by December (thanks Buffalo News)
• Phillips Lytle will occupy the top four floors of the building
• There is going to be nearly 12,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space on the ground floor, plus a two-story parking garage
• All of this will go into a re-skinned version of the building which marks the first private investment into Canalside

THE. FIRST. PRIVATE. INVESTMENT. IN. CANALSIDE. Let that simmer for a moment. The grass huffers who shelled out all that dough to the triangulation and power of 10 seminar are getting their wish. This form of investing falls into the lighter, quicker, cheaper mantra of the anti-big box retailer gang. Well, at least it is following their theory of allowing the development to occur organically. Continue reading →