BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — On Victory Monday, Buffalo Bills fans from Toronto, Jerome Madden and Carol Wells, stopped by Canalside before heading home.
As season ticket holders, they visit Buffalo several times a year to support both the team and the city.
“It’s just a nice place to stroll around and spend a couple of hours,” the couple said. “A small-town touch and the friendliness… the tone of Buffalo is really enjoyable.”
Canalside has long been a draw for visitors near and far, but some returning patrons have noticed stalled development, most notably Sinatra and Company's $40 million mixed-use Heritage Point project, which has sat idle for more than a year.
WATCH: Heritage Point project at Canalside set to resume construction 'in the coming weeks'
“At this point, our focus is on getting this project restarted and the effort that’s been put in to get this moving,” said Mark Wendel, president of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation.
Directors of the development corporation met Monday to discuss Heritage Point’s path forward. Wendel says developers are finalizing financing and are looking forward to construction starting within the next few weeks.
“I want to see this thing get done,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said. "It needs to move forward.”
But Heritage Point is just one part of a larger effort to revitalize Buffalo’s waterfront. City leaders stress that consistent development is crucial to keeping downtown active and appealing.
“It’s important that we realize that if we’re going to continue to move forward as a community, we have to have these developments," Poloncarz said. "We cannot have a stagnated downtown Buffalo. We have to have things that make people want to come downtown."
WATCH: Heritage Point construction to restart soon as leaders outline plans for Canalside
Other projects, including renovations at Marine Drive Apartments, are also contributing to a growing momentum in the area.
“I think we’re starting to see that build up, and we’d like to see it go a little further,” Wendel said.
He hopes that, with the completion of Heritage Point and other projects on the horizon, Canalside will remain a destination while also evolving into a neighborhood.
“I think we just got to work collaboratively to really try to connect all these spots and make sure that it’s a working, continual waterfront,” Wendel said.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
