More Apartments Maybe Coming To Downtown Buffalo

Over the past few years, Downtown Buffalo has undergone significant changes in the area. With the creation of a plethora of loft apartments around the city's central business district, we've seen more people living their lives when a majority of downtown would be sleeping after the 9-to-5 businesses shut down. That activity spurred a few new businesses to open up to support those new residents.

However, when the world shut down due to the pandemic, a lot of the gains that downtown saw started to slip away. That's been most apparent in the year or so as several downtown businesses have shut their doors, with more doors shutting.

But the people who are big on downtown aren't giving up, and one of the biggest office buildings on Main Street may be seeing some new life as an apartment complex.

Downtown Buffalo's Bank of America Building May Be Redeveloped Into Apartments

It has been known for years that Buffalo has had a shortage of quality housing opportunities for people who are looking to leave the suburbs and return to the central city. After years of disinvestment, Buffalo has started to grow its population since the last census. To support that, you've seen a bunch more rental units being built in and around downtown, but it hasn't been enough. To help bolster the number of units, it looks like one of Buffalo's big office buildings is getting a makeover.

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According to Buffalo Rising, the 189,000 sq ft Bank of America building at 10 Fountain Plaza, on the corner of Huron, may be home to more than 150 families.

Originally built in 1982 for Liberty National Bank, then Norstar Bank, before becoming Bank of America, it has been a fixture in downtown Buffalo thanks to its unique design. That design helped earn the building a spot on the state and federal Historic Place Registry.

The building's owner, Ciminelli Real Estate, has a proposal to use 170,000 sq ft of the building and convert that space into 160 apartments. That would make this one of the larger apartment complexes around downtown.