Tag: Canalside

Oct 29

2014

Sabres score big subsidies at HarborCenter

Published by

The Buffalo Sabres like to point out that HarborCenter, which opens later this week, is privately financed to the tune of $172.2 million. Left unsaid is that the complex is also publicly subsidized, enjoying an estimated $57 million in local and state tax breaks. That makes HarborCenter one of the most heavily subsidized downtown development projects in recent history. The project – which includes two ice rinks, a hotel, two restaurants, shops and a parking ramp – is projected to employ the equivalent of around 425 full-time workers. The $57 million in tax breaks works out to about $134,000 per[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 1

2013

Q&A: Robert Gioia

Published by

Robert Gioia is one of Western New York’s consummate insiders. At present, he holds two key positions, president of the John R. Oishei Foundation, Western New York’s largest philanthropic organization, and chairman of the Erie Harbor Canal Development Corp., responsible for developing Canalside and the Outer Harbor. Gioia’s career has straddled the public and private sector. His family operated the Gioia Macaroni Co. and he was a principal with the Food Group of Strategic Investments and Holdings Inc. from 1992 to 2007. On the government side, he chaired the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority during its construction of the new airport terminal in Cheektowaga[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Oct 22

2012

Q&A: Larry Quinn

Published by

Larry Quinn, once a boy wonder, turned 60 earlier this year. He’s a couple of years removed by his tenure as managing partner of the Buffalo Sabres and membership on the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. During his carrer, he served as development commissioner under Mayor Jimmy Griffin and later oversaw the construction of what is now First Niagara Center. His tenure with the Sabres won him both praise for helping to rescue the franchise out of bankruptcy and implementing a number of innovations, and criticism for the loss of popular stars including Pat Lafontaine and Chris Drury. He’s now[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Oct 20

2012

Interview: Larry Quinn

Published by

Quinn, a former development official and managing partner of the Buffalo Sabres, talks about the NHL lockout and what he termed the “misdirection” at Canalside. He also discusses a dubious distinction Buffalo holds among large cities.

Posted 11 years ago

May 7

2012

Byron Brown’s bridge over troubled water

Published by

Momentum is building to do something with the Outer Harbor and just days after a group of  community activists called for developing its 120 acres into a park Mayor Byron Brown make a pitch for City Hall to play a role, perhaps a big one. The Outer Harbor is state land, controlled by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. The NFTA wants to get out of the real estate business, which has begged the question, who would assume responsibility for developing the property? Some think the task should fall to the Erie Harbor Canal Development Corp., a subsidiary of Empire State[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 4

2012

Larry Quinn on Sabres, Canalside, HSBC

Published by

To quote Frank Sinatra, Larry Quinn has “been up and down and over and out,” perhaps moreso than any public figure in Buffalo over the past generation. He’s been a boy wonder city development whiz under Jimmy Griffin and a Manhattan developer. Managing partner of the Buffalo Sabres not once but twice and now involved in an effort to build an Irish Olympic hockey program. Hailed for building the downtown arena and later working with Tom Golisano to save the team from bankruptcy. Lambasted for the departures of Pat LaFontaine and Chris Drury. Lauded as a visionary planner and reviled[...]

Posted 12 years ago
Investigative Post

Get our newsletters delivered to your inbox * indicates required

Newsletters *