By Nora Kowalczyk
BUFFALO — For the first time since 1982, the city’s development agency controls the restaurant parcel overlooking the Erie Basin Marina, and Buffalo officials are describing the Templeton Landing site as the hinge of a broader redevelopment plan for one of the most visible pieces of the downtown waterfront.
What they have not yet said is when developers will get a chance to bid on it.
The Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency is expected to issue a request for proposals seeking development options for the property, but that RFP “may not be issued for a few months, or longer,” WBEN reported. Meanwhile, a Common Council resolution asking for a comprehensive plan for the site has been sent to committee.
How the city got the parcel back
The property’s longtime operator, California-based Specialty Restaurants Corporation, built the former Crawdaddy’s on the site in 1982. It sued BURA arguing that a 2003 lease-to-own agreement meant the property was now theirs, WKBW reported. The city countered that the company had breached the agreement by running Templeton Landing as a banquet and special-events venue rather than continuously operating a full-service restaurant, and a judge ruled earlier this month that the city retains ownership.
Mayor Sean Ryan described the original deal bluntly at the Council’s Oct. 14 meeting, according to WBEN.
“20 years ago, the city entered an agreement with this restaurant corporation out of California, and they said, ‘If you operate a restaurant here for 20 years, you then get the property free and clear.’ Doesn’t sound like the greatest deal, to me,” Mr. Ryan said. “But when we looked into the fine print and we looked into how the building has been operated, they were not following the rules.”
WBEN reported on Oct. 12 that the lawsuits had been settled, with Specialty Restaurants allowed to honor previously booked special events, including a few weddings. Two days later, Mr. Ryan said the city still had “to wait out the appeal period.” The status of any appeal was not clear from public reports, and The Buffalo Chronicle has asked the city to clarify.
“The first major change”
Mr. Ryan said the parcel matters because of where it sits. “Templeton Landing was in the middle of two sites owned by the City of Buffalo. It would have prevented, if it was owned by the California company, to be able to do a comprehensive plan down there,” he said.
He said the city’s Office of Strategic Planning is cataloging every parcel in the marina area, confirming ownership and identifying private owners who need to be brought into the conversation.
“We’re going to take a 10,000-foot view of this. We’re not going to rush into it. We’re going to make sure we get it right, because it’ll be the first major change in that area since that marina was put in,” Mr. Ryan said, adding that the goal is a balance between public amenities and places “where the private sector could come in with housing, apartments, and restaurants and other amenities.”
Deputy Mayor Thomas Baines said in a statement to WKBW that “BURA is in communication with the tenant to determine next steps,” and that “this property presents a tremendous opportunity for the growth of Buffalo’s waterfront.”
The Council wants a plan
Fillmore District Council Member Mitch Nowakowski, who filed the resolution seeking a comprehensive plan, said the city should not treat the site as a matter of finding a new restaurant tenant.
“I want the City of Buffalo to think big. This is not the time to be parochial,” Mr. Nowakowski told WKBW. “I believe that a multitude of uses such as green space, keeping it open to the public and mixed-use development can completely change that section of the waterfront.”
He tied the site to the residential construction underway at Canalside. “Those individuals are gonna need amenities, and I think redeveloping this parcel can be a contributing factor,” he said.
At the Council meeting, he added: “We need to have urban planners that are going to look at this parcel and see how it can be connected to the marina, and further down our waterfront that is open to the public.”
What the market sees
Commercial brokers see the site as rare inventory. Bob Schell, president of Pyramid Brokerage of Buffalo, told WBEN, “It is No. 1 of all locations. This is an opportunity on a generational scale.”
Mr. Schell suggested it might make more sense to demolish the restaurant and plan development that includes the building’s footprint, while keeping most of the parking lot. “You need a developer with patience and vision,” he said.
Possible uses floated in local coverage range from a hotel to a residential-anchored mixed-use building, apartments or condominiums, or keeping a restaurant on the site. None has been formally proposed.
The Buffalo Chronicle has asked the Mayor’s Office and BURA for an RFP timeline and the status of any appeal. This story will be updated with any response.
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