Twinned with Historic Tax Credits Real Estate Leasing Business, Savarino DL&W Development LLC and The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) are creating what will be a critical component of Buffalo’s transforming waterfront by redeveloping the historic DL&W Train Terminal into a vibrant and inclusive public space and marketplace. This project spurs economic opportuning through new entertainment, interpretive, retail and restaurant concepts, including affordable kiosk spaces for diverse local vendors to incubate their businesses.

DL&W Terminal

Almost time to say "All aboard!" at the old DL&W. Activation of the long-dormant Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal train shed is finally becoming a reality. It will still be a few years before the entire complex comes into use, but given decades of dormancy, it's fair to commend this much progress. Much like the Olmsted Richardson complex or the Central Terminal, redevelopment of the DL&W is a monumental project. Though the magnificent brownstone terminal once connected to the train shed was demolished in 1979, the 1917 Abraham Bush-designed double-decker shed is distinctive in its own right, with its reinforced concrete columns, Flemish bond brick exterior and skylights. The design of the complex, patented by Bush in 1904, is yet another example – like the now-demolished Great Northern grain elevator – of early engineering innovations in Buffalo.

Higgins expressed his support of historic status for DL&W in remarks on the House floor, saying in part, “Positioned along the Buffalo River at the foot of Main Street in Downtown Buffalo, the massive structure is undergoing a transformation including construction of a new metro rail station on the ground floor. Historic designation will make planned private sector development of the second floor eligible for federal and state Historic Tax Credits. I urge the National Park Service to support the submission of the DL&W Terminal, advancing a critical lynchpin to the revitalization of Buffalo’s downtown waterfront.”

It's going to get a little narrower to drive on South Park Avenue near the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal at the foot of Main Street.

In preparation for an $87 million redevelopment of the two-story building into a new Metro Rail station and upper-level entertainment venue, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority wants to build a glass-and-metal stair and elevator tower on the side of the structure facing South Park at Illinois Street, in front of the brick façade, balcony and railings.

Patrick Kaler, who heads Visit Buffalo Niagara, is enthusiastic about the possibility and hopes to see cruise ships in Buffalo by 2026. He is familiar with the industry as past executive director of Great Lakes USA, a multistate marketing organization that focuses on attracting cruise ship visitors from Germany and the United Kingdom.

"It's absolutely feasible," Kaler said.

Currently, Savarino is hoping that all concerned entities understand the historic importance of this train shed – a significant (and rare) early example of the use of reinforced concrete thanks to DL&W Railroad’s chief engineer, Lincoln Bush* (hence its name – The Bush Train Shed). The structure was designed to accommodate train and steamer passengers. This project has got Buffalo written all over it. It’s going to change the face of the waterfront, virtually overnight. It’s also going to be a world class attraction that will showcase this city in the light that it deserves.

A new downtown music and entertainment venue inside the DL&W Terminal is expected to have a spinoff impact on neighboring bars, restaurants and other Canalside or downtown destinations.

“A new attraction like that is good for everyone,” said Steve Ranalli, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. president.

Developer Sam Savarino plans to turn the second floor of the DL&W Terminal into a waterfront music venue a stone’s throw from where Canalside Live ended its annual summer concert series in 2019.

Savarino plans to employ the site's 40,000-square-foot outdoor deck, which he said can likely accommodate 4,000 to 5,000 people, for the new venue expected to open in 2025. Plans also include live music events inside on the building’s second floor. Working with Project for Public Spaces – which created the "cheaper, lighter, quicker" concept used at Canalside – Savarino also envisions an 8,000- to 10,000-square-foot public market, artists’ studios and food stalls along with a moveable stage for concerts, festivals and special events.

"Our intent is to make a public space in the size and scale and characteristics of great and successful public places in other communities," Savarino said.

Reuse of the DL&W Terminal has been a long time coming.

The lower floor serves as Metro Rail's Yard and Shops complex, but the second floor has been vacant since the last Erie-Lackawanna passenger train left the station in 1962.

After $52 million in preliminary improvements, the NFTA will now use the $30 million to repair and restore the train shed's second floor.

Plans call for covered skylights to be revealed and bricked windows to once again see the light of day. Improved access is planned to the second floor and better walkability around the site. Structural repairs and making the site ADA-accessible are also on the drawing board.

The price tag for all of the work, said developer Sam Savarino, is $30 million – the amount the state is providing.

Savarino, working with Project for Public Spaces – which created the "cheaper, lighter, quicker" concept used at Canalside – envisions an 8,000- to 10,000- square-foot public market, along with artists studios, food stalls and a moveable stage for concerts and special events.

"Our intent is to make a public space in the size and scale and characteristics of great and successful public places in other communities," Savarino said.

Through 30 years of talk about redeveloping the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal at the foot of Main Street, planners have envisioned a bustling public space and transit hub on a resurrected Buffalo waterfront.

They forecast shops, bars, restaurants, meeting spaces and business incubators thriving in a historic trainshed that stands as an attraction in itself.

But nobody ever provided the key ingredient to make it happen: money.

Now the new state budget provides $30 million – sought by State Sen. Timothy M. Kennedy and others – for the project, enough to turn all the talk into the reality of a revived DL&W by 2025. It allows Samuel J. Savarino, CEO of Savarino Cos. and the project developer chosen by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, to pronounce that the recent influx of state and federal funds means the project will happen.

"It really is an investment in the building to get it in shape to accept occupancy," he said, listing a host of restorative projects to ready the structure for the business and programming to come.

Exactly three years ago, transit planners were forced to scrap grand plans for a skywalk linking the redeveloped Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal to KeyBank Center across South Park Avenue.

An unanticipated maze of underground utility lines at the base of a planned support tower suddenly made too expensive the idea that thousands of Buffalo Sabres fans could leave Metro Rail trains at a new DL&W station in a "coatless crossing" to the arena. And as Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority efforts to seek federal money for resurrecting the historic terminal continually failed, it appeared the concept of a direct rail-arena connection faced long delays.

But at least some federal money for the skywalk and a host of other waterfront and transit-oriented projects has finally arrived.

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand and Rep. Brian Higgins gathered outside the DL&W Terminal near the Edward M. Cotter fireboat to announce $10 million for everything from new electric buses and related charging infrastructure to the proposed Riverline project through the Old First Ward.

WASHINGTON – An Erie Basin Marina that doesn't look like a relic from the 1970s, but one that teems with visitors wandering down an expansive new boardwalk and visiting a new low-rise building with retail shops and maybe even affordable apartments.

A new waterfront park where the U.S. Coast Guard's facilities are now.

And new ways to get to the waterfront: parkways along Louisiana Street and Tifft Street.

Those are among the main components of Rep. Brian Higgins' vision for the next phase of Buffalo's waterfront development. They're part of a $189.5 million plan Higgins is proposing that also would revive the DL&W Terminal, build the Riverline pedestrian and bike access way in South Buffalo and install public art on the Buffalo River grain elevators.

The new $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed in the House of Representatives Friday night.

The new package will provide funding for highways, bridges, water lines, electric and other infrastructure updates across the country. Congressman Brian Higgins said the outer harbor, canalside, and the DL&W station could be included.

“These projects that have brought support within the community but the resources haven’t been there and finally for the first time. In decades there will be a lot of federal money available to buffalo to make those projects that vision a reality,” said Higgins.

Ever since the last intercity passenger train left the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal in 1962, Buffalo seems to have wondered what to do with the cavernous train shed at the foot of Main Street.

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority found a partial solution in the early 1980s, establishing its Metro Rail yard and shops on the first floor. Since then, all sorts of nebulous plans for developing its vast upstairs have come and gone.

But now a new study commissioned by Savarino Cos. – the firm chosen by the NFTA to develop the DL&W Terminal – may have settled on a vision for the 104-year-old structure's next role. A 62-page report issued by the Project for Public Spaces consulting firm, based on input from throughout the area, foresees a facility with no single purpose like shopping mall or food court. Rather, its extensive survey confirms public enthusiasm for a multi-use community asset with a "sense of place."

In its survey process, the developers have rediscovered the DL&W Terminal as an architectural gem they hope will encourage transit-oriented development above the $52 million Metro Rail station now taking shape on its first floor. The report by PPS, which since 1975 has helped 3,500 communities around the world create such gathering places, envisions a project with far-reaching potential on the Buffalo waterfront.

Long before the coronavirus pandemic upended much of upstate New York’s economy, the plan to transform the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal into a Metro Rail station and commercial center was slowed by a lack of funding.

Work on the $52 million Metro Rail station on the first floor is underway, but it remains to be seen if developer Samuel J. Savarino can realize his plan to make the second floor into a viable public and commercial space. In Sunday’s Buffalo News, he presented a vision that begins that task in a hopeful way.

A consulting firm’s report, commissioned by Savarino Cos., argues for “an inclusive place where the arts, food and music bring people together in a unique multi-use gathering place for the region.”

The report, prepared by the Project for Public Spaces, projects a price tag of $20 million to $30 million, doubling or tripling Savarino’s original estimate for the project. It’s a big investment, but one that Washington may be able to help fund. Savarino and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, which owns the building, need to show that the return on such a large public investment would justify the cost.

Rep. Brian Higgins told The News that he believes federal infrastructure money and historic tax credits would make enough money available to fund much of the project. Higgins and State Sen. Tim Kennedy, a fellow Buffalo Democrat and advocate for the project, will need to convince other lawmakers that the millions they are asking for will be well spent.

Funding supports a critical next step in NFTA’s vision for historic structure

New York State Sen. Chris Jacobs announced he has secured $1 million in state funding to support the redevelopment of Buffalo’s Delaware, Lackawanna ad Western Terminal Railroad station on the city’s waterfront.

“I have always been excited by the potential for the DL&W Terminal to become a major destination again at the foot of Main Street,” he said. “Transforming this massive and historic building into a first-class recreational, commercial and economic development site is an expensive proposition, and I am pleased to have been able to secure such a meaningful investment of state resources.”

The funding secured by the senator will support the construction and installation of the stair tower and elevator that will enable public access from South Park Avenue to the second floor of the terminal. This access is necessary for the NFTA and project developers to be able to begin moving forward with emerging plans for phase two of the larger development project.

“We are very appreciative of Sen. Jacobs’ support,” said Kimberly Minkel, NFTA executive director. “This funding will help our efforts in the ongoing development of the DL&W, which will build on the continued growth and development within the Canalside and Cobblestone district.”

Jacobs’ 60th Senate District is bordered by more than 40 miles of waterfront that he has long believed has held great recreational and economic development potential. In prior state budgets, he has secured a combined $1.5 million for waterfront development projects at Explore & More – The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Children’s Museum, the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, and the Buffalo Heritage Carousel.

“I applaud the vison of the NFTA and project developers for a large public gathering space that will become a major part of the Metro Rail’s new station, and I am pleased that they are committed to gathering public input on the final details of what is built,” Jacobs said. “I am confident the final project will increase metro rail ridership, improve NFTA customer’s experience and add significantly to the quality of life for everyone in our community.”

Long before the coronavirus pandemic upended much of upstate New York’s economy, the plan to transform the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal into a Metro Rail station and commercial center was slowed by a lack of funding.

Work on the $52 million Metro Rail station on the first floor is underway, but it remains to be seen if developer Samuel J. Savarino can realize his plan to make the second floor into a viable public and commercial space. In Sunday’s Buffalo News, he presented a vision that begins that task in a hopeful way.

A consulting firm’s report, commissioned by Savarino Cos., argues for “an inclusive place where the arts, food and music bring people together in a unique multi-use gathering place for the region.”

The report, prepared by the Project for Public Spaces, projects a price tag of $20 million to $30 million, doubling or tripling Savarino’s original estimate for the project. It’s a big investment, but one that Washington may be able to help fund. Savarino and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, which owns the building, need to show that the return on such a large public investment would justify the cost.

Rep. Brian Higgins told The News that he believes federal infrastructure money and historic tax credits would make enough money available to fund much of the project. Higgins and State Sen. Tim Kennedy, a fellow Buffalo Democrat and advocate for the project, will need to convince other lawmakers that the millions they are asking for will be well spent.

Buffalo’s Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal is on the way toward reclaiming its legacy as a bustling center of waterfront activity.

Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority commissioners on Thursday awarded "pre-development rights” to the Savarino Cos. of Buffalo for redeveloping the second floor of the cavernous train shed at the foot of Main Street. Savarino and the NFTA now begin a partnership they hope will transform its 130,000 square feet into a downtown attraction that “fosters commerce, social gathering, community and a sense of place.”

“It’s a good proposal,” said NFTA Executive Director Kimberley A. Minkel. “I’m excited about this, what it can mean for the public, and for the first time in many years, engaging that space.”

Vacant since the last Erie-Lackawanna passenger train departed in 1962, Savarino Cos. President Samuel J. Savarino has long eyed the terminal as ripe for development. Indeed, he lives across the street in redeveloped property at 95 Perry St., and is now eager to implement his vision for a “diverse public space engineered for active public use.”

“With the new Metro Rail station soon to be completed at the terminal ... such use represented proper and complementary transit-oriented development,” Savarino said. “Our team is very pleased that the NFTA has endorsed our idea.”

Two years after the NFTA awarded Savarino Companies pre-development rights to redevelop the second floor of the DL&W terminal along Buffalo's waterfront, owner Sam Savarino had a vision - to bring life back to this historic landmark.

It's a vision that his team, including Courtney Cox, the company's vice president of development, says the entire team shares.

"We see it as an opportunity to become a community and cultural asset, " Cox says. "We've seen for years now a wave of new residential development, mixed-use projects, and now more commercial space coming online so we see this a little bit differently."

The terminal has been vacant since the 1960s. Hopefully, that won't be the case for much longer.