That's a huge tree the planted. Must have been $$$, but should save money in repairs. Look at all the problems the city has keeping pools and splash ponds open.
If that tree was there last week and they cut it down and put in a fountain...there would be BR submission about how this tree needlessly was cut down.
Can't win.
There's absolutely no smart reason why the Hyatt should be given even $1 of taxpayer gifts, grants, loans, or targeted tax breaks.
Same goes for all hotels. The marketplace should be allowed to sort out which hotels succeed and which fail. There seems to be an upswing recently in the hotel business in WNY so hotels should be triving on their own. Even if that wasn't the case and they were struggling, it still would be a very bad use of money we pay in our very high taxes - especially when there's so many other more serious needs.
well, the threat of viable competition is on hold for now, we are stuck with a two star hotel as the primary point of reference for business travelers and sports fans who visit the city.
oh and as for the fountain....there shouldnt even be an empty lot there....Genesee Street should be there....so no fountain, no tree, no atrium!
well, the cost of having and maintaining a fountain which is only going to be used 4 months out of the year is huge, it probably did not make sense any more. And fountains do not look that great when they are turned off...this works all year.
have to agree the snyder has been feeding at the trough of the convention center long enough..
he could easily convert the hyatt to mixed use residential and hotel like the dulski and not need these constant subsidies
my prefered place is a rewatering of the ohio basin.
1) its historical and marks the south end of the Erie Canal warehouse district. Its where the Erie which transitioned to the Main&Hamburg Canal finally returned to the Buffalo River.
2) If the convention center goes to close to the wharf district or cobblestone district then its going to be landlocked by development just like its downtown location. A convention center needs access to all the amenities of downtown which light rail can provide but it needs room to grow, it needs access to parking, it needs highway access, it needs room to add a conference center and hotel and parking garage to the convention center.
The best site in my opinion would be digging up the Ohio Basin under Father Conway Park which would reveal 3 sides. One side for a convenion, one side for a conference center, one side for hotel and plenty of room for land parking or a garage.
Plus its light rail accessable and equidistant to I-190, the larkin district, lakeside commerce park, cobblestone, wharf, inner and outer harbor and downtown
Thats got to be the next battle of Buffalo, separating the convention center from the hyatt!
Dagner, yes I know...but with all the expansion those 100 rooms arent going to be enough! They could probably add another 100-200 once the new buidlings go up that are already planned (not including the growth beyond what is currently planned)
Joshua, your right but Genessee Steet is going to have to be a long term plan.
The Convention Centers days are numbered. After the Federal Courthouse is complete ... the entire valuation of the Statler and the Convention Center will change. The Statler will get redeveloped and the site of the Convention Center will be more valuable as office space.
Cant stand Turners location but its not going anywhere for a while but like all things will go eventually and thats just where we should say....genesee street needs to be reopened.
The hyatt needs to stop leeching off the convention center and stand on its own two feet. If it has to go mixed use then it should but the reason the convention center cant expand and has a bad reputation is because snyder is holding it ransom for his hotel.
The lift bridges to the Outer Harbor are already in the process of getting funding
Right now the Buffalo Convention Center is only 100,000 sqft but a new convention and conference center could easily be 400,000 sqft and have a hotel and parking garage. It could have 4x the economic impact at a different location. For me the perfect location is surrounding a rewatered Ohio Basin which was historically the southern end of the South Buffalo Erie Canal Warehouse District. Its a location that is light rail accessible, has access to the larkin district, lakeside commerce industrial park, inner/outer harbor, highways and it wont be choked by development surrounding the cobblestone/wharf district.
Separating the Convention Center from Snyder is going to be a very bloody battle for Buffalo but for thesake of Buffalo it must be won.
It will happen...eventually..some sections wil just happen sooner rather than later.
I have to agree with downtownjunkie, I personally hate the hyatt and I wish they would convert it to mixed use office/residential, get rid of the atrium and reopen Genessee.
There are three perfect places for a large scale hotel.
The first is at the subway station on what is it Best Street or at the subway station on allen because the Center for Life Sciences needs in integrated hotel to support what their doing.
The second place is right where the Senecas are in the cobblestone district
The third is the Statler which I predict is going to become a priority after the Federal Courthouse is completed.
They Hyatt isnt centrally located anymore. Downtown is moving south into the Cobblestone District & Wharf then east toward the Larkin District.
Converting the Hyatt into a multi-use building would be to the benefit of all of downtown.
Oh what is this!? This is not by any means helping our citiscape. How much money does it take to run a fountain that would enhance your hotel and have everyone love it (LOW COST!)? Community Meeting with the Hyatt here we come!
With the Hampton running on all cylinders and the Embassay Suites on deck we are 1-2 more hotels away from making the Hyatt and Adams Mark less significant. Competition will force the guys to give up or get serious. The Seneca project and the Statler would have done it. We still need another 300 room (Westin would be nice) and maybe another boutique and an Elmwood property. The opportunity is just sitting there for someone. Maybe the new owners of Adams Mark will turn that into a Sheraton, but that property is an ugly duckling no matter what it is called. Our hotel scene is improving however.
once the embassy opens up at 200 delaware, snyder's gonna need a lot more than what he got to stay open. i see a mixed use development in the works!
The overall condition and service at that hotel leaves a lot to be desired. Check a site like tripadvisor.com for travellers opinions. Lots of comments like "I can't believe this is a Hyatt", etc.
In the last year alone, the city of Buffalo has forgiven a loan of $8 million to the Hyatt; the ECIDA approved $1.6 million in tax breaks for the hotel; and a funding package of more than $5 million from New York State was granted to the Hyatt to renovate its rooms. This despite the fact that anyone I know who has stayed there in recent years will never do so again.
A pine tree/fountain swap is the least of it.
Oh what is this!? This is not by any means helping our citiscape. How much money does it take to run a fountain that would enhance your hotel and have everyone love it (LOW COST!)? Community Meeting with the Hyatt here we come!
boy that tree sure would be warm for the winter. maybe they are offering some kind of survivor man suite?
Buffaloweiner, the fountain/tree issue relates to the FRONT of the Hyatt, the corner of Huron and Pearl. While I agree Genesee should be brought back, you are on the wrong side of the building.
that looks awful. Like they yanked it out of the woods behind my house. The Hyatt is terrible. That atrium on the main street side is disgusting. There is a nasty film on windows. And there was plywood on the doors forever. Makes main st. look even worse than it is. I really hope he invests that money wisely.
End the worthless subsidies for this excuse of a hotel and tear down the damn atrium already!
City leaders should have demanded with the renovation incentives that teh Hyatt reconfigure there atrium to allow a reconnection of genesee st from main to pearl. Pearl and Main are in desperate need of some life around the hyatt.
BuffWeiner: The medical campus is served by a DoubleTree Club hotel on High Street. It has 100 rooms.
I like trees too...but to replace a nice little fountain with a rough looking pine tree is a little odd (as the photo proves). The Hyatt should really take care of cleaning up the inside of their hotel. I hear the NHL teams won't even stay there because the property is in such bad shape. Don't even get me started on the public money that was thrown at Paul Snyder - what a crook. First he doesn't spend any money upgrading his property, neglects it for years, then asks the public to bail him out. Not good.
There are many building and properties that are in the way that will probably never be torn down in order for Genesee St to be opened up. 1) Parking lot for the Downtown Post Office; 2) Turner Parking Ramp; 3) Buffalo Convention Center; 4) Hyatt.
The road could be rebuilt at the western end, by tearing down the Turner Ramp and rebuilding it across S. Elmwood Ave behind St. Anthony's, making it taller. That's about it. Don't count on the Convention Center or the Hyatt being torn down. Unless millions of dollars come to Buffalo to build a new Convention Center on the Outer Harbor and a bridge connects downtown for pedestrian and vehicular traffic, I'm sorry it ain't going to happen.
Because the Hyatt is connected physically to the Convention Center, it's existence is why many conventions come to town. Or, better said, without it we would lose more convention business. So it is being publicly subsidized much like the convention center is. What should be in the planning stages now is a new location for the convention center, even if doesn't get built for 10 years. Then the Hyatt is on it's own and it'll turn into a Holiday Inn or something. A new site could be behind the HSBC Atrium near the arena, waterfront and casino(?).
Or a non-casino could turn into a convention center?...
Hey - we taxpayers only gave Snyder $14 million for $13 million of renovations.
People I work with who have stayed at the Hyatt and Hampton say the Hampton Inn is orders of magnitude better than the Hyatt. Yes, they were surprised.
While fountains are pretty to look at, they attract a certain amount of nastiness. The constant upkeep must have bothered these people. Ultimately, this hotel was tied to the outdated convention center and Main St. circa 1979, which still had shopping,eating and entertainment destinations within a short walk of the Hyatt's front doors. All that has changed and this property neither changed alongside nor moved others to come back into the 'nabe. In the end, it should be an all suites for the CBD business community and a new convention hall should be built with a new convention hotel. Genesee should be reopened and dotted with lofts and small shops.
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