Pilgrim Village developers scaling back project near Medical Campus

The developers of a proposed new mid-rise apartment building on the Pilgrim Village site just north of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus are scaling back their project and rearranging their parking plans to reduce costs and address problems they encountered with the previous design.

Pilgrim Village owner MHT Holdings Inc. and partner McGuire Development Co. have cut back the first phase of their Campus Square redevelopment of the 90-unit, affordable-housing townhome complex, which was originally built in 1980 on 12 acres at North and Ellicott streets. That phase had called for demolishing 25 townhome units and replacing them with an eight-story, 380,000-square-foot structure on the southwest corner, with 60,000 square feet of first-foor retail space and 190 residential units.

Instead, plans now call for six stories and 152 units in an L-shaped, 260,000-square-foot building, including 62 affordable apartments for senior citizens and 90 market-rate units, with some designated for graduate students. The retail space is unchanged. And the parking, which was supposed to be underneath the building, will now be contained in a separate, four-story, 85,000-square-foot parking ramp with 210 spaces, attached to main building in a U-shape.

The changes were necessitated as part of the normal process when evaluating a project and making sure it makes sense, said attorney Marc A. Romanowski, who is representing the developers. The cost had to be manageable, he said, and the developers also realized that the underground parking would hit the water table, which in that area is only 12 to 14 feet underground. We had to really look back at it and re-engineer it.

Romanowski and McGuire Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey P. Lehrbach explained the changes in a presentation Tuesday to the Buffalo Planning Board, which had previously approved the earlier concept in December. City planners agreed that the changes were significant enough to warrant a new public hearing and board consideration at the next meeting April 21.

Lehrbach estimated the new cost at $65 million to $70 million.

Weve been right-sizing the project based upon coming with an economical project but still having the aesthetics and integrity that are so important for it, he said. Plans call for breaking ground this summer and finishing in the first quarter of 2017.

The concept for the new Campus Square, at 905 Ellicott, ultimately envisions 17 mostly residential buildings and a maintenance building, with hundreds of new mixed-income and intergenerational-living units, as well as some mixed-use commercial and retail space. The first phase will include a bank branch, a grocery store, a coffee shop, a music school and a dance school, as well as possibly medical or dental services. Lehrbach said that all but the bank branch are finalized, and hes encouraging the grocery store to carry prepared foods, fresh produce and basic medicines.

A second major construction phase involves 300 units for students, medical staff and conventional housing, with at least 20 percent of the units slated for below-market rents. Remaining townhomes will be renovated. In all, the project could cost about $200 million when completed.

In other matters, the board:

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Pilgrim Village developers scaling back project near Medical Campus