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Downtown Buffalo grocery store "moving forward"

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Mayor Byron Brown says plans for a new grocery store in downtown Buffalo are "moving forward."

It's been three months since Brown announced Tops Markets as the preferred operator for a grocery store at 201 Ellicott Street. Ciminelli Real Estate was selected as the developer for the mixed-use project in the same announcement in February. 

In one of the first updates on the project in weeks Mayor Brown told 7EWN that "there have been meetings that the city has participated in with Tops and the developer. We believe those conversations have gone well. Things continue to move forward. We are confident there will be a grocery store at 201 Ellicott." 

A spokesperson for Ciminelli Real Estate sent this statement to 7EWN Anchor Jeff Russo on Thursday: "Ciminelli Real Estate is working with the City to schedule the Designated Developer filing with the Common Council within the next few weeks. The draft Development Agreement will be issued with that filing and is based on the terms in the RFP."

Requests for comment from Tops were not immediately returned on Thursday. However over the last several weeks a spokesperson for Tops has continued to say that there was nothing new to update. 

Tops Markets originally tempered enthusiasm for the project when it was announced in February. In a statement the company said that it hadn't entered into formal negotiations and that Tops would only "explore the feasibility of a grocery store at the location."

The mixed-use project is also expected to include a residential component and parking. 201 Ellicott Street is currently a surface parking lot near the Hotel Lafayette.