BUFFALO, N.Y. — According to documents obtained by 2 On Your Side, New York State has given Sinatra & Co. an ultimatum: Finish the Heritage Point project, or they'll take back the land.
Through the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Empire State Development, the state has also begun fining Sinatra & Co. for failing to complete the May 31, 2024 "substantial completion deadline" that the two sides agreed to in December of 2019.
If Sinatra & Co. do not "substantially complete" Heritage Point within six months of July 19, the state will begin the process to take back the property.
According to a letter from ECHDC to Sinatra, the developer must pay a fine of $100 a day for 60 days. After 60 days, Sinatra will have to pay $500 a day until the work is "substantially complete."
In a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Byron Brown, U.S. Rep. Tim Kennedy, and officials with Empire State Development, Sinatra outlined "unrelenting materials cost escalation, unprecedented interest rate spikes, and labor inflations issues."
The company says it needs more money from the state in order to complete the project, which now has an estimated $40 million price tag. Originally, the project was expected to cost a little more than $21 million.
"We propose the following options to offset the significant gap we are currently showing on this $40,000,000+ project: $4,000,000 increase in the Better Buffalo Fund or other New York State-backed funding," the company said.
Sinatra went on to say that they don't want to add to the problem of employers vacating downtown and cited the Buffalo News and Labatt USA as examples.
In a letter by the company, Nick Sinatra says that elected leaders "will not be offering any more state funding."
The plans for Heritage Point call for 57 residential unites, with 10% of those allocated for affordable housing initiatives.
Outlined in a Dec. 8, 2023 letter to the state, Sinatra said "given the geologic and hydrologic soil conditions of this parcel, we have face significant engineering challenges, which have increased costs."
A previous letter to then-State Senator Tim Kennedy, dated Oct. 13, 2023, as a way to fill funding gaps in the projects, Sinatra suggested "New York State or another government agency leasing additional space in the building at 'market-rate' to assist with the project financing."
According to that letter, Sinatra said "this request has the full support of Mayor Byron Brown as well."
In documents provided by Sinatra in their response to ECHDC, the state and ESD have previously contributed $4M towards the project.
2 On Your Side has reached out to Sinatra & Co. for comment, but has not yet received a response.