Benderson to develop 88,000 s/f Kohl's - $3.4 million project

"The city of Buffalo is very happy to welcome Kohl's, a leading national retailer and Fortune 500 company, to the city's growing list of exciting development projects that continue to strengthen the diversity of investment throughout Buffalo," said mayor Byron Brown. "This is another example of the excellent work Benderson Development is doing in providing the opportunity for national businesses such as Kohl's to open their doors in Buffalo and provide greater shopping options for our residents." Plans for the proposed 88,000 s/f department store located at 2232 Delaware Ave., were recently filed with the city's planning Board. Kohl's will be the latest addition to Benderson's Delaware Commons project, joining Tim Horton's, IHOP, Summit Federal Credit Union and the Fleet Feet store.  "We are thrilled that Kohl's has chosen Delaware Commons as the location of its first store within the city of Buffalo," said Todd Benderson, regional president for the development company. "They are a perfect fit for the location and will provide a wonderful shopping option for the densely populated Delaware-Hertel corridor and surrounding areas." "Kohl's decision to open this new store represents another important piece to the puzzle that's coming together in Buffalo," said North District City Councilmember Joseph Golombek. "It is clearly a step in the right direction and shows that we can attract significant, nationally-based companies to the city." Operating in 47 states, Kohl's launched a five-year strategic growth plan this past October with the goal of opening 1,400 stores by 2012 (they operate 929 stores nationwide).  "Kohl's decision to come into the City of Buffalo is further evidence of outside investors' growing confidence in our market, " said Mayor Brown. "This announcement moves our total citywide development projects to over $4.4 billion and growing.  I will continue to encourage businesses, developers and investors to see the value of investing in Buffalo and recognize that our market can support and sustain these important investments." The $3.4 million retail development project (which includes the demolition of the former Ames) is expected to be completed and opened by the end of 2008.