Article via Buffalo Business First
by Jim Fink
Buoyed by the success of a nearby project, Ellicott Development is moving ahead with plans for a mixed-use complex that will sit in the shadow of the University at Buffalo campus.
The Buffalo-based development company is working with Amherst officials on plans to build a four-story hotel along with a 12-unit apartment building on a series of vacant parcels on Rensch Road near Sweet Home Road. An early 1900s house on the property will be preserved and renovated, as well.
Development plans will be reviewed during the April 21 Amherst Planning Board meeting.
The still-to-be named project will be a companion, but separate, from the Exchange at University Place that Ellicott Development and Bevilacqua Development jointly built. That project features a Staybridge Inn hotel, apartments and such restaurants as the Blue Bull Tavern, In & Out Pasta and Mighty Taco.
Ellicott Development is building the new complex by itself and may be investing as much as $12 million on the project.
“The Exchange was such a success, it made sense for use to move forward with this,” said William Paladino, Ellicott Development president and CEO.
Besides the success of The Exchange, Paladino said the growth of UB is playing a role the decision to move forward with the project.
“UB’s expansion has caught our attention,” Paladino said.
The hotel, which Paladino said, will be limited service and affiliated with a national brand, will have 105 rooms spread over its four floors. It will be the 10th hotel that Ellicott Development has either built or has in its pipeline.
Plans call for the residential component to feature mostly apartments, but some townhouse units may be incorporated into the project, Paladino said.
The site will only host the hotel, apartments and renovated house, which will be leased out.
Pending various Amherst approvals, construction could start later this year.
