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Originally Posted by westcoastperspective
The loft projects downtown are all rental because that is required under the historic preservation tax credit program (five years of rental and then could be converted).
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It seems like there were a bunch of these projects completed during the mid to late 2000's that should be eligible for conversion by now.
I guess they are all just content keeping them as rentals.
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Originally Posted by Tedious
Most of the condos for sale 'downtown' are in waterfront village. There's always at least a dozen for sale it seems, going for between 200k and 700k. They are all pretty damn ugly though, with the Pasquale being only slightly better. To me it's hard to justify paying 200k for a small 1br condo downtown when you can have a nice house with a yard in a good area of the city for less. If they were fabulous condos I might think differently, but no one has stepped up to offer a better product to buy.
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You hit the nail on the head, and I think this is partly what is holding back the condo market in Buffalo. Nobody wants to spend $200k + fees + taxes on a condo that is no better than a $800/mo rental apartment, yet that is what many are. But rent prices have been climbing recently in the city, so that might help boost the condo market.
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Originally Posted by ladsnine
Waterfront Village is also pretty much a suburban development in the city. It's cut off from everything...
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And ironically, they designed it to be cut off from the water too which defeats the purpose of living there. The ones right on the water have direct private access and amazing views, but all the townhouses behind them get no views and no access. They didn't provide any public access to the water so their only option is to walk to LaSalle park (which is severely underfunded and in need of repairs) or walk to the marina which has no real pedestrian connection to the condos.
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Originally Posted by westcoastperspective
We all dream about outer harbor development but it's been 30 years and Waterfront Village still isn't filled in. There's a parcel along Lakefront empty where the neighbors sued to block more townhouses that actually looked better than their own, there's the remaining land at Portside where Casa Luce was going to be built (died)...
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I've been wondering about both those projects recently. The Casa Luce one looked like it was a prime spot with water views. The townhouse one would have been great with the rooftop patios, if the neighbors didn't squash it. Nobody will ever build on that site without allowing some way to see the water.
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Originally Posted by Austinlee
Realistically, as in, not what the developers are saying but, word on the street conversation level, what are the chances of this great projects actually coming to fruition?
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Most Buffalonians have seen Plans, Projects, and Promises come and go for decades with many (most) of them either failing to even start, or starting but failing to complete. So a project like this new one doesn't get a huge reaction from people. Once they start building it there might be a more positive feeling. But given the amount of subsidies involved it won't be considered a success until it starts to grow on its own, which could take years.
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Originally Posted by ladsnine
Buffalo is finally getting a shipping container building!! (assuming it gets through the various city approval boards). Every project Rocco has announced has happened, so I expect this will happen.
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The city really needs to get on that streetscaping project they have planned for this stretch. How long have they been talking about that??
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Sounds like a very cool project. And I agree on the streetscaping. The city needs to start fixing this part of town. All those new office people won't be able to spend any money if they can't cross the superhighways called Oak and Elm.