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Planners weigh $80M medical campus project

Business First - by James Fink
Date: Tuesday, December 21, 2010

A proposed $80 million, privately-funded medical office building in the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus received a warm welcome from the Buffalo Planning Board.

While planning board members had a few minor and technical questions Tuesday morning, for the most part the board seemed pleased with the proposal by Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. The company wants to construct the seven-story, 350,000-square-foot building along Main Street between High and Goodrich streets. The building will include three levels of underground parking with room for approximately 300 vehicles. The building is slated for where a motel once stood.

As many as 1,500 people could, potentially, work in the building.

“It looks like a great project,” said James Morrell, planning board chairman.

The building has the potential to serve as one of the key anchors for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

“It could be huge for the campus,” said Michael Hughes, Kaleida Health spokesman.

Originally slated for a different parcel in the medical campus footprint, it was moved to Main Street to accommodate its new design.

“As the structure got a little larger, we moved it out to Main Street,” said Marc Romanowski, a partner with Harter Secrest & Emery and one of the point men for the project.

With several city reviews underway, officials hope to start construction this spring and have the building completed by fall 2012.
A public comment period on the project and its impact on the medical campus and surrounding neighborhood runs until Jan. 7. The planning board will likely consider voting on the building in mid to late January.

Tim Vaeth, Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. vice president, confirmed that UBMD will lease 60,000-square-feet in the building and Kaleida Health has committed for at least 65,000-square-feet and possibly another 20,000-square-feet if it moves three MRI operations into the structure. Kaleida may also lease space for some pharmaceutical functions.

Vaeth said Ciminelli is negotiating with other prospective tenants including the University at Buffalo.

“It’s really open to any one,” he said. “The building provides a tremendous opportunity for Kaleida, UBMD and UB to further their collaboration on the medical campus. We’re very pleased to be a part of the process.”

While some preliminary site work will begin this winter, the actual construction is slated to begin in March once all the Buffalo approvals are in hand.

Kideney Architects has been retained to design the building.

LPCiminelli will serve as construction manager.

“The idea is to fast track this as quickly as possible, especially with the demand,” Vaeth said.

Ciminelli acquired the property more than two years ago. It is one of several it controls or has an interest in around the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus complex.

“A project of this size and magnitude shows our commitment to the medical campus,” Vaeth said.