For those who are impressed by the outward appearance of The Grid – Cedarland Development and D&S Capital Real Estate’s five-story building at 1155 Main Street – they will be even happier with with the interior.
The residential amenities at The Grid are bar none (in Buffalo). I recently toured the mixed-use development with Kevin Dagher, Vice President of Cedarland Development Group, who assured me that the residents had everything that they could dream of at their fingertips. To date, with 217 apartments, this is the biggest project that Kevin has brought online. He told me that is was the project that raises the bar for apartment living in Buffalo, and I would have to agree with him. Not that there aren’t some nice places to live these days – there’s just something “next level” with The Grid.
Maybe it’s the VR Gaming Room, or the tech-forward Package Room. Or it could be the sprawling community lounge with demonstration kitchen, or the killer patio with an automated garage door? There’s even a convenient 24-hour Fitness Center, and an elaborate pet washing station. Not to mention the community coffee kiosk, the conference room, a number of places to break open a laptop and chill (including a co-work space), front desk amenities, underground bike storage, and in-unit laundry. It’s got just about everything that anyone could ask for, including commercial tenants Dark Horse Barber Studio and Papa John’s (coming soon). And another “Coming Soon” is the Strive Markets concept – a vending market that will be available to residents of The Grid, founded in Buffalo by NFL Pro Jon Corto and his wife, Jen. The micro market will offer healthy meals and snacks around the clock, for anyone in the building that needs or wants a quick fix. Oh, and there’s an additional 800 SF commercial space available, as an FYI.
As we toured the building, checking out all of the various features, I asked Kevin if he was from Buffalo. He told me that he was born in NYC, and moved to Buffalo with his family in 2003. He attended University at Buffalo (for Urban Planning and Environmental Design). Today, he runs Cedarland Development alongside his father, Dr. Fadi Dagher (see the team).
“The Grid is a dream project,” Kevin told me, who now has over 50 employees that he works with at Cedarland, and numerous high profile projects. “It’s a $33 million project – we wanted to create something very special for Buffalo. The residential units are 95% leased. We designed the project for the young urban professional and graduate students. Being so close to the Medical Campus was key. The site was the former Buffalo Motor Lodge property. Today, the project attracts people who are looking for fully furnished units, which is a new concept for Buffalo.
“Our tenants want a place to study and sleep. They don’t want to worry about the headaches that are associated with furnishing an apartment. They’ve got more important things to consider. This has been a very exciting project for us – we pulled it off with the help of Utah-based Blackfish Investments and Architectural Resources (A|r). The design was inspired by the city’s street grid – the design element can be seen on the outside of the building, as well as throughout the building’s interior. We also liked that the building is situated along the Metro Rail route.”
For me, watching the transition of the former forlorn Motor Lodge site into a beehive of development activity is worth its weight in gold. And now that Kevin (and the Cedarland group) has set the bar high, and proved that people want to have nice trappings, without being weighed down by movables, I can only hope that there are more of these types of developments on the horizon.
Welcome to Buffalo.
Get connected: The Grid | 1155 Main Street | Buffalo NY 14209 | 716-500- GRID
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