New York Construction Report staff writer
After halting work due to the pandemic’s impact on the hospitality sector, the Krog Group is preparing to restart construction on the Trico project in downtown Buffalo without a hotel.
With new financing in place, Peter Krog, CEO of the Orchard Park-based firm, says work on the enormous former windshield-wiper factory conversion will resume in mid-December, with a goal of completing the project by late 2023.
Because of the delay, the project is expected to cost about 27% more, impacted by material cost increases and design changes to eliminate the extended-stay hotel.
The redevelopment project was suspended in October 2020 – with demolition already in progress and the hospitality sector crushed by the pandemic. The revised plan drops the original plan to build a hotel and increases the number of apartments to 243 along with 250 parking spaces and up to 70,000 sq. ft. of commercial space.
Vacant since 1999, the Trico complex was placed on the State Historic Registry in 2000 and the National Historic Registry in 2001.
Prior to stopping work, Krog demolished the center of the plant, the former ice house of the Weyand Brewing Company, opening up the complex and creating more usable floor plates. Due to rising materials costs, the project price tag has risen from $82 million to $108 million.
