The draw of Buffalo’s Larkinville district has caught the attention of a Rochester developer. Park Grove Realty is proposing to turn a long-vacant Exchange Street building into market-rate apartments.
For Rochester-based developers Park Grove Realty, more apartments mean more opportunity in Buffalo’s still-growing Larkinville district.
The company plans to invest $15 million to convert a former manufacturing complex at 619 Exchange Street into the Iroquois Lofts Apartments. The 81,500-square-foot building dates back to the early 1900s. Plans call for 64 units—a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments.
Park Grove’s project is the latest in a wave of residential developments in Larkinville, including the 70-unit Millrace Commons and the 10-unit City Club.
For Fillmore District Councilman Mitch Nowakowski, it’s another sign of confidence in the area, and Buffalo’s real estate market as a whole.
"Oftentimes, people in the city of Buffalo and who have vested interests have to make the first move, like the Zemsky's," said Nowakowski. "But if you make the first move and you put down the infrastructure and start building it out you start seeing those outside dollars come in, and that's really a signal that what you did was right."
Larkinville’s transformation began with Buffalo businessman and civic leader Howard Zemsky.
He took an overlooked section of the city’s industrial past and turned it into a vibrant, modern neighborhood—now filled with apartments, offices, restaurants, and attractions.
Now, other private developers are following suit. As Councilman Nowakowski put it.
"We don't oftentimes need to just throw up a new building on a vacant lot. That's important, but we also need to adaptively reuse the structures that are either under utilized or abandoned," he said. "And so when I seen adaptive reuse of a structure that's already built, not only is it keeping the integrity of our urban areas in our city vibrant, it's then putting a under utilized building back in the tax rolls to productive use. Which benefits us all.
Park Grove plans to start work on Iroquois Lofts this summer. The building is expected to be move-in ready by next year.
