Quote:
Originally Posted by DuluthJon
Are any of these places going to be affordable keeping in line with the average income in Buffalo? While it's nice to see these old buildings breathing new life, it's going to be very disappointing if they're built in such a way where, after ten years, hardly anyone can afford to live there and they'll either sit empty, or be rented out to 5-6 college students occupying one apartment.
This is the mistake that happened in downtown Duluth, Minnesota. The ability of the developers to transform old flophouse hotels and rotted out warehouses into beautiful spaces was amazing. But here's where they go wrong: most people here who are unmarried, childless and want to live downtown aren't rich like the downtown residents in Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle and Toronto. They're just scraping by and want to live downtown so they don't need the extra expense of a car and can walk to most places. They don't want granite/quartz countertops! They don't want cork flooring! They don't want a yoga room or any of these amenities that justify charging $1100 a month for a studio. They want safe, clean, accessible and somewhat modern buildings to live in. The only reason these expensive amenities are added is to charge outrageous rents that hardly anyone in the Duluths and Buffalos can afford. Neither is an affluent city, and those with lots of money often don't want to live downtown.
I know these developments are trying to outdo each other with fascinating perks and amenities, but when you consider your local market and their average salaries, all you're building are rehabbed old buildings that nobody will be able to,afford or even qualify to rent.
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Are you just speaking of the loft conversions? Like anywhere else, they follow the laws of economics. The current crop of maybe a couple thousand newer lofts rent for between $800 and $2500. They are building more because they rent out very quickly. Buffalo, probably like Duluth, is normally late to the party when it comes to national trends. So, there's at least a few hundred units under construction currently. That's not really that much. A lot for Buffalo, but not much on a national level. There's still lots of hipsters and young professionals who want swankier diggs like any city.
The city of Buffalo is generally poor, but then you have another million in the suburbs, and maybe another million across the immediate border in the wealthier canadian side. There's areas in buffalo where homes sell for a dollar, then theres many areas where awesome guilded age homes sell for between $300,000 and $1,500,000. It's not a Detroit market.
They will stop converting when people stop renting. Buffalo is far from dead. Lots of folks are misinformed.
There may be other bubbles. 4 microbreweries opening around the same time in the city strikes me as pretty iffy. Also the 5 hotels under construction is iffy as well, but the best ones will survive while the older stock dies. Just what we need, frankly.
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