After nearly a decade of planning and work, the Cars Sharing Main Street project is starting to have the impact officials predicted.
Sandra Wilkins says four years ago when she and her husband bought 537 Main Street, everything nearby was boarded up and people told her she was crazy. Now, the Wilkins' are preparing to open a casual French restaurant on the ground floor of their newly renovated home across from the Hyatt Hotel.
Wilkins says she is pleased with the newly reopened 500 block of Main.
"I think it's beautiful. I think it's exciting and I think it's going to bring people downtown," Wilkins said. "They're going to come down here."
Mayor Byron Brown says the 400 block is next on the agenda. He says the total price tag of the Main Street project is roughly $84 million.
Wilkins says when they first looked at the building, work on Canalside was still new. Now, she says downtown Buffalo is "another world."