BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) - The Webster Block has officially been sold to the Buffalo Sabres.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown held a deed signing ceremony this morning at First Niagara Center with the Chief Development Officer of the Buffalo Sabres, Cliff Benson.
The $170 million HARBORcenter project will break ground next month and open in September, 2014.
The complex will include a hotel, 12,000 square foot sports bar, parking and two ice rinks.
"We're hockey-centric - we've got two hockey rinks there but that gives you a wide variety of things that you can do. Youth hockey tournaments on the weekends is going to be a big part of it," said Benson.
Mayor Brown said the first and largest private development in Canalside should help to bring in more private dollars. The Sabres estimate 500,000 people a year will visit HARBORcenter.
"We wanted to move quickly. We wanted to send a message to the people of Buffalo and WNY and to the development community around the country that Buffalo is a good place to do business," Brown said.
