Plans for Buffalo River | News

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Plans to enhance Buffalo's waterfront were released Wednesday night at the Old First Ward Community Center.

The topic was the Buffalo River area. The plans included ways to take advantage of already successful initiatives, such as the Buffalo River fest park, and ways to utilize the vacant industrial spots for manufacturing or office space. The ultimate goal of the project is to encourage private investment.

"This money leads to further investment. The ultimate goal, [since] this is an economic development initiative, is to leverage private investment," Brendan Mehaffy, the executive director at the Mayor's Office of Strategic Planning said.

In September, the city of Buffalo will present a preferred development scenario. The city will use feedback from the public, market studies and land use analysis to create their proposal.

There is no time frame for when development will actually begin.

Mehaffy said there are significant environmental issues that must be addressed in order to properly develop the area.

Thursday night, plans for the Tonawanda Corridor in North Buffalo will be unveiled.