New development in downtown living
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An old Allentown building has a whole new look after a multi-million dollar renovation. Our Ryan Burgess took a tour of a downtown development project on Virginia Street to find out if there's a market in Buffalo for loft style living.
BUFFALO, NY - It's the newest development in downtown living. The four-story Allentown Lofts on Virginia Street are ready to rent.
"We kind of brought New York City to Buffalo. We've done this in SoHo and Tribeca," said Scott Lacasse, executive vice president for The Kissling Interests.
The building has been completely renovated into ten lofts, with rent starting at about $1,700 a month. The building used to be owned by a casket company.
"It's kind of eery, but we kind of created a whole new life here," said Lacasse.
Property managers call the lofts "live-work spaces," meaning the units are set up for tenants to live and work from home.
"We've created an area where people can come downtown and combine their working and living expenses to operate a really efficient business," said Tom Barrett, the development director for The Kissling Interests.
One of the keys to downtown residential development is the nearby medical campus. Jobs there are providing the foundation for growth in the housing market, just a few blocks away.
"By UB looking at the downtown corridor being a prospect for them, and there's actually movement toward it through the Buffalo-Niagara medical corridor, it's a huge component to our city's growth and future. A project like this is just an offset of big developments like that," said Barrett.
The Kissling Interests is holding an open house at the lofts for the next two weekends.