Mayor Byron W. Brown and Krog Group Founder and CEO, Peter L. Krog, today announced the $112 million adaptive reuse of the historic TRICO windshield wiper plant, is moving full steam ahead.
The project, one of the largest in the City’s history, was put on hold in March 2020, at the start of COVID-19 pandemic, following the completion of brownfield remediation and partial demolition.
During that standstill, project material costs ballooned by $30 million and the Krog Group went back to the drawing board, replacing planned hotel space with additional apartments, and securing a new investment partner, along with $3.7 million in tax incentives from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA).
“The Buffalo Brownfield Restoration Corp., a subsidiary of the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation (BUDC), safeguarded this structure for redevelopment for nearly a decade, until the Krog Group came along. Fortunately, Peter Krog did not walk away when the pandemic hit and redevelopment costs skyrocketed. For that, my Administration and the residents of Buffalo are extremely grateful,” Mayor Brown said. “The Trico Apartments and the office space this project will create, will be a major enhancement to downtown Buffalo, especially the neighboring Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC), Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Buffalo’s Fruitbelt neighborhood.”
“We would like to extend our gratitude to Mayor Brown, the City of Buffalo, the ECIDA, BUDC, BNMC, and all our lending partners that stuck with us through the pandemic-caused delays. The Krog Group has worked diligently on this project for over five years and we now have all the pieces pulled together to complete this signature project,” Krog said. “We are extremely happy to be back on schedule and look forward to a grand opening at the end of summer 2023.”
Krog Group has added Bruce Wisbaum, of BMW Management, as a project partner, with a 35% ownership stake.
The developer describes the 242 unit TRICO Building Apartments as “eco-conscious and purposefully designed,” making use of the building’s large factory light windows and 14 foot ceilings.
Amenities will include a 6th floor rooftop terrace with a dog park, fire pit, outdoor kitchen station, and club house with a fireplace, lounge, game room, and community kitchen.
The building will also feature a business lounge with private work stations, conference rooms, pet spa, 24/7 gym, SmartHome technology, including smart locks and thermostats, smart package lockers, door-to-door Valet trash pickup, 1GB wireless internet, an indoor parking garage with 240 heated parking spaces, smart phone building access, private resident storage lockers, bike storage, and electric vehicle charging stations.
The mix of studio, one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, with rents starting at $1,250/mo., will range in size from 630 to 2,000 sq. ft. Select units are expected to have 25x11 foot private balconies.
Ten percent of the units will be designated as affordable, ‘workforce housing’.
The apartment community will be managed by LuxuryAptsWNY, which currently oversees a portfolio of 4 multifamily communities consisting of 800+ units in the Amherst/Williamsville/Clarence area. Krog Group will manage the overall building with 60,000 square feet of commercial office space.
TRICO, founded by windshield wiper inventor, John R. Oishei, opened in 1917, at the corner of Ellicott and Washington streets. The sprawling factory has been idle since manufacturing ceased in 2004.
Original source can be found here.
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