Renovation work is set to begin on one of downtown Buffalo's historic buildings. The 20-story Tishman Building on Lafayette Square is covered by scaffoldings as work moves from the pre-construction phase to the construction phase. The building was purchased in December by The Hamister Group.
Company chairman and CEO Mark Hamister says plans call for a multi-use facility.
"When complete, this project will include a 124-room Hilton Garden Inn occupying the first 14 floors. It will include 18 market rate apartments occupying the next three floors and it will include office space in the top three floors," Hamister said.
The Hamister Group will also move its corporate headquarters from Amherst to the newly renovated building once the project is complete.
"Our company and our team is thrilled, as a group, to be contributing a small part to the rebirth of downtown Buffalo," Hamister added.
The Tishman Building was opened in 1959 and was designed by the same people who designed the Pan Am Building and the World Trade Center in New York.
The building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, will also house a restaurant and banquet facilities. Rep. Brian Higgins says the project is an example of how the nearby medical campus can spur other development.
"The great growth of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is creating a residential demand right here in downtown Buffalo. That's creating a commercial demand, the combination of which is creating a dynamic, eclectic new economy in Buffalo and Western New York," Higgins said.
"This project is really going to add to the tremendous momentum and growth that we're seeing in downtown Buffalo," Mayor Byron Brown added.
The project is expected to be completed by October 2014.