Developer Harry Stinson has shelved plans for apartments in the Buffalo Grand Hotel and is now proposing to keep all of the hotel rooms and construct a condo tower on the site. The 25-story tower would include 400 units and cost $105 million according to Buffalo Business First. It would be located at Lower Terrace and Charles Street and is contingent on securing a significant number of pre-sales.
Last year, Stinson announced plans to convert 200 of the Buffalo Grand’s 484 hotel rooms to apartments. Stinson bought the Adam’s Mark hotel in 2018 and has been undertaking a number of upgrades to the property which opened in 1980. The residential conversion turned out to be more complicated than envisioned and Stinson has decided to retain the hotel rooms.
Stinson has hired Lauer-Manguso Associates to design the tower. From Business First:
“For this type of project, I want a design that is quite striking,” Stinson said.
The condo tower will have a lobby and underground parking, but tenants will be able to use some of the Buffalo Grand amenities such as the indoor pool. The tower would have a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom condos. Sale prices tentatively will range from $200,000 to $500,000, depending on market conditions.
The project will begin pre-sales once the state Attorney General’s office approves the condo offering plan which is at least six months away. A design is expected to be ready this summer with plans submitted to the City shortly thereafter.
Meanwhile, Stinson says he is continuing with plans to renovate the Grand’s hotel rooms and meeting spaces and construct a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired wedding chapel.