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.
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Sign upArchitect: 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
Leasing
Residential
This is yet another step forward for Buffalo’s flourishing artistic community, and one that is sure to continue the role Artspace has played in the cultural and economic growth of the city.
