CLARENCE, N.Y. — Uniland Development and Mountain Development Corp. (MDC) have submitted plans to the Town of Clarence to convert the Eastern Hills Mall into a walkable, mixed-use town center.
"Ultimately consisting of retail, residential, commercial, office space, medical, bringing it all on one site," said Uniland's senior marketing manager, Ryan Weisz.
More specifically, Uniland is currently looking to attract restaurants, breweries and is planning to create 1,000 apartments.
“Our goal is to create one of the most compelling places to live, work and visit in Western New York,” said Carl Montante, Jr., vice president of Marketing and Strategic Initiatives for Uniland. “Restaurants within the town center will have patios offering views of lush landscaping and sidewalks as opposed to parking lots."
"Residents will be able to walk to the grocery store, park, and ice cream shop, and experience movies, concerts, and other events. Office workers will be able to walk to restaurants, fitness centers, and have access to numerous services like healthcare, childcare, and salons. In our market research we wanted to take the best aspects of popular areas in the Buffalo region and combine them in one master-planned 100-acre project. This project is all about placemaking, creating vibrancy and building community.”
Weisz said as for the current mall stores, they will have a home in the future development.
"The mall merchants will play a critical part of the Eastern Hills Mall," Weisz said. "Not only will they be a part of our past success, but we absolutely envision them being part of our future."
Recently Uniland refined the plans to adjust to post-pandemic life, tweaking the renderings to increase more green space and less retail.
"Right now, due to the pandemic, we do envision a little less retail than we originally did 18 months ago but that certainly can change based on market needs," he continued.
The start of phase one depends on the public sector completing certain off-site infrastructure improvements to accommodate the amount of new development envisioned.
Full build-out of the project is expected to take ten or more years to complete.
"If we build the place that people want to be, we believe that will attract new employers to the region and ultimately support talent growth in the region in WNY," said Weisz.
