BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Harry Stinson, the owner of the Buffalo Grand Hotel, tells 7 News he has secured financing to reopen the hotel, which has been closed since a fire in December 2021.
According to Stinson, he has secured the financing from an investor out of Tampa, Florida.
This comes as the April 29 deadline Stinson was given to prove he has secured financing by Mayor Sean Ryan's administration looms.
WATCH: Buffalo Grand owner says he has secured financing to reopen the hotel as a deadline looms
When 7 News' Holly Kirkpatrick spoke to Stinson earlier this week to ask him about the deadline, he remained tight-lipped but said he expected to have "good news to announce soon."
Speaking earlier this month, the mayor said he was prepared whether Stinson met the deadline or not.
"If the information we requested and the financing is secured, that's fine. If not, we go forward in another way," Ryan said, alluding to the abandonment proceedings.
WATCH: Deadline looms for Buffalo Grand owner to secure financing
The city started legal proceedings to claim the building in December 2025 under former Buffalo Acting Mayor Christopher Scanlon. In October 2025, Scanlon said Stinson owed the city more than $300,000 in unpaid taxes and sewer fees. The city said they are working to confirm if those numbers are still accurate.
Stinson separately owes Erie County more than $80,000 in unpaid taxes. In 2022, Erie County also filed a tax warrant to try to recover more than $43,000 in unpaid hotel occupancy tax, also known as "bed tax." That money is still outstanding, according to the Erie County Comptroller's Office.
In 2023, Stinson, who lives in Canada, was cited by the Ontario Securities Commission for breaking Ontario securities law while raising money from investors to redevelop the hotel. Stinson and Buffalo Grand were ordered to jointly repay the $13.5 million they raised from investors and pay a $600,000 administrative penalty and $166,000 in costs. Stinson fought that ruling, but a tribunal stood by the original order in November 2025.
In a statement earlier this week, Buffalo Deputy Mayor Thomas Baines said Stinson had so far provided monthly written updates on financing progress after the city mandated him to do so. Baines added: "...to date the City has not received a fully executed financing commitment, which is the key requirement to demonstrate meaningful progress."
Stinson purchased the building in 2018 for $12 million, then promising a huge makeover for the 10-story, 450-plus-room hotel.
An independent market study released in February said downtown Buffalo needs a full-service hotel with at least 400 rooms near the Buffalo Convention Center and found that Buffalo has lost an estimated economic impact of over $57 million over six years due to insufficient hotel capacity.
