It is a promising time for real estate development in the city of Buffalo as public and private projects continue to drive levels of investment not seen in decades. Since 2012, the city of Buffalo has experienced over $5.5 billion in new economic development activity, which is expected to create over 12,000 new jobs. Downtown Buffalo is driving the majority of this investment. This past year, downtown welcomed IBM’s Buffalo Innovation Center and celebrated the completion of the $200 million HARBORCENTER complex, a mixed-use hockey themed complex, located just steps away from Canalside, Buffalo’s popular new waterfront destination. Over one million visitors made their way to Canalside this past summer, putting Buffalo in the spotlight across the country as other cities look to duplicate our success. Downtown Buffalo is quickly emerging into a 24/7 live, work and play destination. With a 97% occupancy rate for rental apartment units, downtown is the fastest growing residential area in the city. By 2018, there will be an additional 2,000 newly completed residential units to accommodate downtown’s growing workforce. To put this in perspective, 2,000 new units means nearly 4,000 new residents living in downtown Buffalo! As mayor of the city of Buffalo and chairman of Buffalo Urban Development Corp. (BUDC), I am committed to building a city of opportunity where all residents benefit from Buffalo’s prosperity. In downtown Buffalo, we put in place a number of strategic initiatives and projects, as well as a powerful set of development tools, incentives and resources that will help us continue the economic resurgence and further enhance the downtown experience. For example, the Buffalo Building Reuse Project (BBRP) Loan Program provides low-interest, gap financing of up to $750,000 for downtown adaptive reuse projects. In addition, a competitive collection of tax credits and incentives, grants, rebates are also available to maximize investments. These tools and incentives have been compiled into our recently released 2016 Downtown Development Guide. This guide highlights downtown’s compelling attributes and profiles projects that are transforming the urban core. Most notably, the guide presents a list of over 20 unique parcels of prime investment opportunity. The 2016 Downtown Development Guide, along with other useful information, is available through the Buffalo Urban Development Corp. by visiting www.buffalourbandevelopment.com. Byron Brown is the mayor of Buffalo and chairman of the Buffalo Urban Development Corp., Buffalo N.Y. Tags: