By Gina Castellani
NIAGARA FALLS — Two Main Street buildings that have been boarded up since at least 2007 are slated to become housing for 100 Niagara University students. City officials are calling the project the centerpiece of their effort to bring back a corridor that has been left to decay for decades.
Developer Abe Bose of Niagara Development Partners outlined plans Thursday for a $25 million redevelopment of 2010 and 2018 Main St. The two historic buildings would get student apartments upstairs and retail at street level.
“It’s not just about replacing blighted structures with modern premium student housing and ground floor retail. It’s about creating an economic engine that brings foot traffic and daily activity back to this block,” Mr. Bose said, according to Buffalo Toronto Public Media.
The timeline
Mr. Bose said construction could begin in April or May 2027 and take about two years, with an opening in May or June 2029. The units would mix studios with two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, and the final layout will be shaped by student feedback.
The project will be financed with private investment, construction loans and historic tax credits. Niagara University is collaborating on the plans but is not a financial partner, Mr. Bose said.
Developers plan to keep the facades and much of the interior, including the high ceilings and cast-iron columns. They may also add two stories, which would need state and federal historic preservation approval. Mr. Bose acknowledged significant deterioration, including roof damage, but said it is manageable.
‘Linchpin’ of a bigger bet
Mayor Robert Restaino’s administration has spent two years assembling property on the strip. The city’s Urban Renewal Agency now controls 38 parcels between Ontario and Michigan avenues, bought from absentee owners to be resold to developers through incentive deals.
“In a short span of about a year and a half, we now have projects with total projected investment of nearly $50 million in private investment here on Main Street,” Mr. Restaino said.
Deals are in place for a little under half of the 38, he said, according to WKBW.
“I would say we are at least in the 20s of properties we still have that we’re looking to develop,” Mr. Restaino said. “And now, what was the initial, I would say, linchpin or centerpiece of what we hope to do on Main Street is happening.”
Other projects on the corridor, according to city Director of Business Development Morgan Genovese:
- 2109 Main St.: under construction as a mixed-use building with six apartments and ground-floor commercial space.
- 1708 Main St.: the former Jenss Department Store, with plans being finalized for 32 two-bedroom market-rate apartments and a ground-floor commercial bazaar.
- 803 Division Ave.: construction underway on a short-term rental property.
- The former Rapids Theatre: part of the redevelopment push, with officials hoping that renewed entertainment activity can draw other businesses.
Public money is in the mix, too: about $10 million from the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative for streetscape work between Ontario and Pierce avenues, including a plaza outside the Main Street Library and better walking links to Niagara Falls State Park. Empire State Development also put $2.5 million toward buying long-dormant buildings.
“It’s still a long walk to develop the entire property, and no one’s fooled that our job is done here. But we think that our start is an excellent one,” Mr. Restaino said.
Student housing politics at City Hall
The announcement came a day after the City Council once again pushed back a zoning rule meant to bar student rentals in the DeVeaux neighborhood near the university campus. That rule has been a sore point for neighbors and landlords alike.
On Wednesday, the council voted 3-1 to delay implementing the rule, with Council Member Vincent Cauley opposed. Instead of a flat one-year delay, the council tied reconsideration to substantial construction becoming evident on the new Main Street student housing, Niagara Express reported. A Niagara University representative told the council the school supports the plan.
The same short-handed meeting, with Council Member Jim Perry excused, left other business stalled. A $537,251 change order for Trautman Associates’ engineering contract died without a second. The contract was awarded at $804,000 in January 2024 and has already grown to $2,038,643 through three earlier change orders. It is funded with federal American Rescue Plan dollars, the paper reported.
The skeptics
Residents have heard Main Street promises before. Mr. Bose acknowledged that skepticism and argued that the university partnership sets this project apart from earlier attempts that stalled.
The biggest projects still have to clear financing, approvals and construction before the street sees their full effect. If the timeline holds, the first Niagara University students would move in during the 2029-30 school year.
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