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Crews will renovate the structure as a boutique hotel, with event and conference space, and the Buffalo Architecture Center.
The project targeting the Towers Administration Building and two adjacent ward buildings will be a three-year effort, the state announced Friday morning inside the building.
Speaking during the announcement, Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy outlined the funding breakdown.
"This aspect of the project is $56 million. I think all the money is about 64-million dollars total in state funding for this effort," Duffy said.
The three year project is comprised of an eight-month design phase; an eight-month construction-document production and bidding phase; and a 20-month construction phase.
The project is funded with $37.4 million in State funds and $19 million in Historic and New Market Tax Credits. In addition, Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) approved grants for preconstruction, stabilization and re-greening activities. In total, this project is assisted by $64 million in State funding.
This first phase is estimated to create 545 construction jobs and a $24.4 million payroll. Once completed, the project will create approximately 75 to 90 permanent full time jobs with an annual payroll of $2.7 million.
It's leveraging private investment and creating more than 500 construction jobs and up to 90 permanent, full-time jobs, the state said.
Duffy also announced the architects, construction manager, and the hotel operator.
The architect team of Buffalo-based Flynn Battaglia Architects, along with Deborah Berke Partners and Goody Clancy, has been selected to design the boutique hotel, event and conference space, and architecture center, and LP Ciminelli has been selected as the construction manager.
"INNVest Lodging, also based right here in Buffalo. They're going to be the preferred operater of the boutique hotel. It'll be beautiful," Duffy said.
A re-greening of the complex landscape is also planned.
Work on the South Lawn, along Forest Avenue, will be completed this summer for a public space that will showcase sustainable design, including narrative plantings and rain gardens for storm water drainage.
Crews will plant more than 125 trees, creating open and canopied spaces for gathering and recreation. The design builds upon Olmsted’s original intent while conserving existing resources, preserving the fabric of the space, and creating connections and purpose. A new second entry with a roadway and landscape improvements will be created on the north side of the complex.
A heavy construction schedule is planned during 2014 and 2015.
