Nichelle Bulls, Site Manager • nbulls@belmonthousingwny.org • 716.884.7791 ext. 325

Artspace Buffalo Lofts

An Economic Engine for Midtown

1219 Main Street Buffalo, NY, 14209

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Overview

Like many other American cities, Buffalo has long sought ways to spark economic development in the aging neighborhoods around its central business district. In 2004 the City invited Artspace to redevelop the historic Buffalo Electric Vehicle Company factory, which was built in 1911 and played a role in the thriving automobile industry. Artspace Buffalo Lofts now provides 60 units of affordable housing for artists and their families, with 36 in the previously vacant factory and 24 in six newly constructed fourplexes, built on vacant land behind the factory. The project also includes commercial space, a gallery, and the Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology, which offers after-school visual arts programs for historically underserved urban high school students and health sciences career training for under-employed and unemployed adults. 

Architect: Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects (HHL)

Development Partner: Belmont Shelter Corporation

Funders: City of Buffalo Office of Strategic Planning; Economic Development Initiative; Housing and Urban Development Appropriation; Empire State Development Corporation; M&T Bank; New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation; New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal; RBC–Apollo Equity Partners; The Community Preservation Corporation; The Baird Foundation; The Cameron Baird Foundation; Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo; Peter C. Cornell Trust; M&T Charitable Foundation; National Trust for Historic Preservation / HGTV Restore America Program; The John R. Oishei Foundation; Seymour H. Knox Foundation; Margaret L. Wendt Foundation; and the Zemsky Family Foundation

est. 2007

Type of Development:

Mixed-Use Housing and Commercial

Number of Units:

60

Total Square Footage:

118,000

Commercial Space Sq. Ft.:

14,548

Types of Units:

Efficiency, One-, Two-, Three-Bedroom

Total Project Cost:

$17.6M

Features:

Resident Gallery; Green Space