BUFFALO, N.Y. – Downtown Buffalo’s new Marriott Hotel is officially open for business.
The Pegulas joined city and county officials in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the luxury hotel this morning. The final price tag for the HarborCenter Project was more than $200 million, making it the most expensive dowtown devlopment project in the Queen's City's history.
"Well we're somewhere between the $200 million and $210 million," Buffalo Sabres Chief Development Officer Cliff Benson said. "We're getting some final things done, but it's going to be in that range."
At that price tag, the Harborcenter is now even more expensive than the building it's attached to, the First Niagara Center. Built almost 20 years ago, the First Niagara Center cost $192 million when adjusted for inflation.
In a matter of just two years, the Pegulas have transformed the old Webster Block and now Terry Pegula says he wants to transform the city itself.
“The people who come into this facility and part of the goal was to bring people from Sweden, Finland, Russia and make Buffalo a destination for hockey,” Terry Pegula said. “And we’re just starting.”
Officials from USA Hockey will be touring the HarborCenter’s two NHL-sized hockey rinks, the hotel and other facilities today and tomorrow as the organization considers Buffalo for the Hockey World Juniors Championship in 2018.
Only St. Louis and Pittsburgh are in the running for the event.
"We did it in 2011," Buffalo Sabres spokesman Mike Gilbert said. "We had a great event here and now we've just made this area better in the past five years. Not just this building, but the other hotels that are in downtown and the waterfront.