Cordish calls it quits on Canal Harbor project

By SHARON LINSTEDT News Staff Reporter 2/28/2002

The Cordish Co., a nationally recognized development firm specializing in entertainment-driven urban revitalization projects, apparently is no longer involved in efforts to resuscitate Buffalo's Erie Canal Harbor.

Once touted as part of a "dream team" that included Adelphia Communications and Buffalo's Benderson Development, Cordish is not expected to be part of plans for the Erie Canal Harbor Urban Entertainment District, according to Alan DeLisle, president of the Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corp.

"Their future participation is not likely," DeLisle said. "While they certainly bring strength to projects of this type, they are not the only developer who can make the Inner Harbor plan a reality."

DeLisle declined to discuss specifics of Cordish's apparent exit, but hinted another developer might be able to give the project more time and attention.

"We want to be at the top of the list for the developer, an around-the-clock commitment," DeLisle said. "That's a big priority for the city, county and state, who are partners in this effort. Cordish has an awful lot on its plate right now."

Cordish, which has received accolades for its redevelopment of Baltimore's harborfront, is continuing that effort. It also recently has taken on a huge project in downtown Houston and earlier this month was picked to develop a multi-block retail effort in Atlantic City.

The company also is leading a Hampton, Va., retail project, whose centerpiece is a massive Bass Pro store, the same destination retailer that local planners hope to hook for the old Memorial Auditorium as a cornerstone of the Buffalo project.

Cordish Executive Vice President Joe Weinberg, who pronounced the Buffalo plan "a world-class project" at its unveiling in 1999, said he still thinks it has a lot of potential. He tied the company's departure to a general lack of progress that has stood in the way of finalizing a contract to officially create the private-public development team.

"No final agreement was ever reached," Weinberg said. "Negotiations have gone on for a long time, but because there are so many moving pieces to this project which have yet to be defined, we couldn't get to a final form."

The developer cited issues involving project infrastructure - such as parking, waterside improvements and creation of an intermodal transportation center - as among the undefined pieces of the project.

Another wild card is funding. Until public funding sources are nailed down, private-sector commitment is difficult at best.

At this time, $48.2 million of an estimated $75 million in public funds have been identified for the harbor, parking and transportation center pieces of the project. No public-private breakdown of the approximately $60 million in retail-related costs at the Aud has yet been done.

DeLisle acknowledged that plans for the project have been vague to date, but said that is about to change.

"For a few years now, we've talked about the project in mostly conceptual terms. Over the next few months, we'll be looking for very specific information which will give real structure to what we're looking to do," DeLisle said.

That study, which will get under way by late March, will flesh out costs, engineering issues and historical and environmental concerns. Its findings should lead to a six- to nine-month design phase, and start of construction in 2003.

That work will include redevelopment of the Aud as a retail complex/intermodal transportation center and construction of an adjacent parking structure.

Conversations also are continuing with Bass Pro, targeted to anchor the Aud portion of the project with a 125,000-square-foot store.

"They remain interested in Buffalo, and we're certainly interested in Bass Pro. They'd be a perfect fit," DeLisle said.

While he declined to discuss what developers are under consideration to take Cordish's place, he said a decision will be made shortly, ahead of the start of the feasibility study. Sources familiar with the decision process said the Renaissance group has reached out to a veteran developer who has worked with Bass Pro in the past.

Cordish's interest in development of the Buffalo waterfront dates to the 1970s, when the Erie Basin Marina was still in the planning stages. At that time the company floated the idea of a waterside retail complex.

In the late 1990s, that interest shifted to the Inner Harbor and Cordish teamed up with Adelphia and Benderson to produce a 1999 study on development possibilities. The three released a joint report that detailed a slate of "synergistic" projects, including construction of a skyscraper to house Adelphia's national operations center, conversion of the mothballed Aud into a retail showplace and development of ancillary retail and entertainment venues to make the site a regional destination.

To date, while physical evidence of the grandiose revitalization plan remains scarce, some elements have fallen into place. In recent months, Adelphia has advanced its planned $125 million office tower by selecting an architect and conducting soil borings.

On the waterfront side, the Empire State Development Corp. is pushing ahead on relocating the Naval and Military Park and has signaled commitment to incorporating the Commercial Slip into creation of public water access. The state agency recently signed a $3.1 million contract for underwater work related to the Naval Park's ships.

Local officials hope the 2002-03 state budget will include funds for work on the remainder of the waterside improvements.