Urban design advocates want much more expansive development at Queen City Landing

In March, developer Gerald Bucheit killed a South Harbor development project called Queen City Landing, which has been long delayed by preservationists’ lawsuits claiming that the 23-story residential tower would interfere with ‘migratory bird patterns’.

Nonsense litigation aside, urban design advocates across Western New York want to ensure that the formerly industrial parcels are developed into a high-density mixed-use neighborhood and a premier waterfront destination.

Waterfront development advocates are calling for 7,400 residential condos, a new marina, repurposing of the old Freezer Queen building into a public market, and a series of one-story commercial storefronts lining pedestrian promenades that run along the harbor’s edge.

The new high-end housing supply — with sweeping waterfront views — will alleviate demand pressures in the Elmwood Village and North Buffalo, where rising rents concern longtime city residents.  More supply, they explain, will make rents more affordable across Western New York.

Some have been calling on the Common Council to transfer the ownership of the NFTA owned parcels to a newly chartered urban development corporation that can work directly with the private sector.