BUFFALO, N.Y. — 2 On Your Side learned more from the Buffalo Niagara Partnership about its new headquarters in the Cobblestone District.
The building on Perry Street is owned by the Pegulas, and on Thursday members of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership heard from the new Buffalo Bills and Sabres COO about his vision for the neighborhood.
With Labatt out, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership is moving into 79 Perry St., transforming it into a large co-working space right across from the KeyBank Center.
"We want more in that area, and the BNP coming down to 79 Perry to me just gives some more credibility about why businesses should be a part of it. They're the perfect tenant. They're going to bring businesses down there on a daily basis, and that's exactly what we need to see," said Bills and Sabres COO Pete Guelli.
It will be called "BNP at the Cobblestone" and have a full conference center, cafe, semi-private desks, and more.
"For people coming down, particularly during the day, super easy parking between the arena lot and on-street parking so people will be able to get in and out, and for all of our members who are in the suburbs who do work downtown, they'll have a place to sort of park in between meetings and all of that, so we think it's going to be fully activated and be a place where some really good accidental collaborations can form," Buffalo Niagara Partnership President and CEO Dottie Gallagher said.
The plan is for this to help encourage more downtown development and to inspire more people to work and live in and around downtown Buffalo.
Guelli's vision is to create a destination day and night, and he says the arena will help do that.
"It goes well beyond the team. Can we program that building 150-plus nights a year, and then watch some of the economic development grow up around that facility, and that's what it will take," Guelli said.
Gallagher said she would like to eventually see a multi-use sports facility downtown for amateur athletics.
"Those are huge drivers of tourism dollars, they are recession proof, you know, families will always bring their kids in for swimming, for soccer, for all of those things, and we have a great brand in that space as Buffalo, but I think if it were my money, I'd want to put that into a multi-use facility," Gallagher said.
The Partnership expects to move into the new 11,000-square-foot space in February when construction is done.