The plan for returning cars to Main Street in downtown Buffalo is already beginning to have its desired effect. The city has found a new tenant for a long vacant restaurant in the Market Arcade complex.
A project to rebuild the 600 block of Main so it can accommodate Metro Rail and automobiles is set to begin in September, but that didn't stop Jay Haynes from leasing the former Ya Ya Bayou Brewhouse near Shea's Performing Arts Center. Haynes plans to open Perfetto, an upscale eatery this fall.
Haynes says success with his first restaurant, the Hilltop Bistro in Angola, gave him the confidence to take on a new challenge. He says the fact that three restaurants have failed in the same Market Arcade location over the past 17 years motivates him to prove that a restaurant with the right concept can be a winner.
"We can look at, historically, where people have made mistakes and learn from that," he said.
Haynes says reopening Main Street to vehicular traffic was key to his decision, but he says he couldn't wait for the project to be completed.
"The reintroduction of vehicular traffic on Main Street was paramount in my decision process," Haynes said. "I think once the traffic does come here, this is going to be a hot commodity. I'm putting the investment in here now to build the foundation to embrace that."
Mayor Byron Brown says Haynes' timing is perfect. Brown says a respected, successful businessman investing in the 600 block is critically important because it will stimulate more interest.
"The other thing I think Jay looked at...is the fact that downtown Buffalo, since 2006, has become the fastest growing neighborhood in the city [with] close to 1,000 units of new housing added [and] several thousand people living down here since the last restaurant failed," Brown said.
Vehicular traffic is expected to return to Main Street by September 2013. Brown says construction has been designed not to hurt existing businesses, including the Theatre District.
