The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) today announced it has finalized terms and signed an initial agreement with a team comprised of The Habitat Company and Duvernay + Brooks. The team can now begin the planning process for the revitalization and redevelopment of Marine Drive Apartments, and was in Buffalo Tuesday for meeting with BMHA officials and a tour of the development. The Habitat/Duvernay+Brooks team was selected as the developer for Marine Drive from a large group of national and local firms who responded to the Housing Authority’s request for qualifications issued in 2020. Based on their experience and their innovative ideas about the future of Marine Drive, BMHA is excited to begin the first phase of this transformative project.
Marine Drive, a 616-unit family public housing development along the Buffalo River, is the last remaining New York State public housing development in BMHA’s portfolio.
BMHA Executive Director Gillian Brown said, “We are so pleased to begin the process of talking with the residents of Marine Drive, and planning with all of the stakeholders in this vitally important area of the City,” said BMHA Executive Director Gillian Brown. “We are confident that – partnered with Habitat/Duvernay + Brooks – we will be able to make Marine Drive an example of our commitment to re-imagining and transforming public housing in the City of Buffalo.”
“The BMHA is poised to begin the largest redevelopment in its history, reshaping the face of public housing in the City of Buffalo, and complements my Administration’s efforts to continuing creating quality, affording housing through the City,” Mayor Brown said. “With this agreement in place, Marine Drive Apartments is a major step closer to becoming a 21st Century public housing development.”
Residents of Marine Drive can anticipate meeting with the developers and planners over the next several months, and participating in planning exercises and public meetings, while various financing strategies and applications are prepared and submitted.