There has been enough development in downtown Buffalo that projects are starting to feed off each other.
The Genesee Gateway complex is right across Oak Street from the new headquarters for Catholic Health, bringing 700 people into the neighborhood. That's good news for Doug Swift, a developer and partner in the Gateway project.
New apartments are just about to go into marketing, along with offices in the buildings. Swift says Genesee Gateway isn't a cookie-cutter set of buildings and that slows leasing.
"Genesee Gateway has got some very historic and interesting spaces that aren't conventional compared to a lot of more modern buildings and they are smaller spaces generally speaking, no large footprints...floors the way a lot of tenants are looking for. So, it's happening gradually. We didn't expect it to fill up right away. But we're over half-filled," said Swift.
Swift says the market for downtown housing continues to expand, not only with Catholic Health across the street, but with the nearby Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
It's also providing tenants in increasing numbers as it expands a bike or subway-ride away from many new apartments in old and renovated structures.
Swift says the downtown market now will absorb 200 new housing units a year and there doesn't seem a limit right now.
