The City of Buffalo has reduced the number of redevelopment proposals for the Mohawk Ramp site from six to three. According to a selection committee, the three proposals that best met the evaluation criteria were:

• BFC Partners and CB Emmanuel Realty
• Douglas Development
• SAA EVI, McGuire Development and Passero Associates

The following were excluded from the review:

• Gold Wynn and Colby Development
• Savarino and 34 Group
• Development of Uniland

The 629-space parking ramp, built in 1959, occupies a 1.1 acre site along Mohawk Street between Ellicott Street and Washington Street.

The finalists:

BFC Partners and CB Emmanuel Realty

Components:

• 203 affordable units
• 23,113 sq.ft. commercial space
• Mix of restaurant, fitness center, flagship store or coworking space
• 285 parking spaces
• Mohawk Street Visual Activation
• Long-term parking for GO bikes
• Partnership with GO Buffalo Niagara / Go Bike Buffalo

Douglas Development

Components:

• 600 residential units in total on several sites
• 200 new apartments and 300 new parking spaces above the existing parking lot, 10% of which are dedicated to affordable housing
• 1,500 sq.ft. cafe along Mohawk Street
• 1,500 sq.ft. R&D lab on the ground floor that will cover the future of mobility in Buffalo
• 1,500 sq.ft. ground detail along Washington Street
• More than 800 parking spaces in total on the site
• Redevelopment and adaptive reuse of Simon properties near the Mohawk ramp site offering 400 new apartments including 10% dedicated to affordable housing and additional retail businesses on the ground floor

SAA EVI, McGuire Development and Passero Associates

Components:

• 233 apartments; 168 will be subject to income restrictions
• Existing parking structure removed
• 268 new parking spaces on three levels
• 6,500 sq.ft. shop on the ground floor
• Mohawk Commons Incubation Hub will focus on M / WBE start-ups
• 2,300 sq.ft. 13th floor restaurant
• The mobility lane along the northern boundary of the property creates an east-west mobility backbone to promote foot traffic on the site
• Courtyard located in the center of the building

The criteria for evaluating the proposal include:

A. Quality of the plan

• Must integrate transportation and justify usage choices that reflect a strong demand for access to downtown public transit and downtown life
• Preference for proposals that integrate housing, including affordable housing
• Diversity and inclusion must be mainstreamed and must demonstrate a plan for meaningful participation of certified MWBEs, workforce participation or sheltered mentoring opportunities at all levels of the project (funding, management, design and construction

B. Experience and qualifications

• Experience working and partnering with communities, neighbors and business stakeholders
• Neighborhood economic development and job creation
• Diversity within the development team

C. Financial considerations

• Complete budget, sources and uses and a reasonable development budget
• Financial feasibility based on reasonable development and operating proforma
• Demonstrated financial capacity to carry out the project

D. Competitive preferences

• Preference given to mixed-use developments that integrate affordable housing
• Proposals that consider creative and cost-effective solutions for structured parking transport hubs will be favorable
• Submissions with strong community engagement plans that meet or exceed MWBE targets will be more favorable
• Submissions that consider a street level activation and increase urban dynamism while facilitating a pedestrian and cyclist friendly streetscape will be more favorable
• Submissions that consider the overall improvement of the public domain will be more favorable

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