Bass: 30 Mo’

The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation held a meeting of its board of directors today to discuss progress on the inner harbor, and to address the Bass Pro situation.

The shorter version: We’ve hired Benderson to come in and do up the “Canal Side” district of Buffalo as a mixed-use Faneuil Hall-like attraction. Bass Pro has 30 days to sign a deal, or else.

Larry Quinn spent most of the meeting explaining the new “Canal Side” project, for which it is claimed funding is completely in place (except for a bridge between the inner and outerharbor). When ECHDC began, its existence was solely to close on the Bass Pro deal. Bass Pro had been querying where the remainder of the city’s plan was with respect to Bass Pro in the Aud, and this prompted ECHDC to get going on a plan, which was essentially unveiled today. The plan needs to be self-sustaining and not be dependent on Bass Pro.

The master plan was designed by Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn, which designed the master plan for Battery Park City way back when.

Bass Pro, which may or may not be coming to town. And has been scaled down to 180,000 SF. Possibly with additional “anchor store” tenants in the Aud.

Main Street will have a “TriBeCa” look & feel to it, involving lots of brick buildings in a loft style. In addition, a portion of the outer harbor has been set aside for a street grid with pretty pricey looking townhomes. This gave me distinctive “Waterfront Village” douche chills.

But the ECHDC was very adamant that everything in the rendering is ready to go. The cities to which the plan was compared are Baltimore, Seattle, and the Beaches district in Toronto.

Mayor Brown then spake saying that it would be good to give Bass Pro a deadline of 30 days, after which there will be either a signed deal, or the city will move on to other options. Brown had told Quinn of some ideas he had for anchor tenants at the Aud, but he declined to name them. County Executive Joel Giambra reiterated that there was no remaining public funding money available beyond what’s already been allocated. He agreed with Mayor Brown that it was time for Bass Pro to, “fish or cut bait”.

Quinn then moved on to the Bass Pro negotiations themselves. He said that the biggest sticking point has involved Bass Pro’s indecision as to what sort of store it wanted to build; every time the road turned, there were new challenges to face. For instance, recently Bass Pro was talking demolition. Now, they’re adamant that they want the Aud. At issue now is Bass Pro’s cost. During the last week or so, Bass Pro gave ECHDC its final renderings and plans for what it wants to build. Now Bass Pro needs to get comfortable with the cost of that plan. He made it clear, however, that the Aud needed asbestos, mold, and lead paint remediation no matter what happens to it, and the money is there to do that.

Mindy Rich said that the ECHDC board was looking into retaining one of two “attraction consultants” to help design a downtown district that will appeal as a destination to people inside and outside the area. She expressed her desire to see a visitor’s center for the whole city that would be akin to a “cultural taste of Buffalo.”

Finally, Quinn indicated that an environmental impact study for the entire “Canal Side” plan would be necessary, and that because of the amount of power authority money coming in, there is a possible need for a financial consultant. Mayor Brown expressed his desire to see cranes in the air by next year.

Quinn declined to get into the scuttlebutt behind Rich Newberg’s report on the Bass Pro deal being dead as of Saturday. Everyone was very clear that the deal isn’t dead, but it seems to be on life support. Higgins reiterated that we have a “waterfront to develop” with or without Bass Pro.

In response to a question, Quinn acknowledged that the public might have been better served had the negotiations between the City and Bass Pro been done out in the sunshine. After all, there are tens of millions of dollars’ worth of public money at stake.

Also, Quinn indicated that there would be controls put in place to ensure that Benderson, the designated developer of the Canal Side project, would not build “Amherst-by-the-Sea”.