It seems that everywhere you look on Niagara Street along the stretch of the 190, there's construction going on — but that didn't used to be the case.

"It used to be mostly industrial around here, so just like factories. There were a lot of production facilities and things like that," said Jennifer Bohlen, Local Honey Beauty Hive owner.

Bill Breeser now owns several buildings in this area. He says he purchased the structure on 1255 Niagara Street, as well as the business that was in there, about 22 years ago.

"At this time, this neighborhood was not some place you'd want to walk around casually in," said Breeser.

According to Breeser, development in the area started to pick up about six to seven years ago. 

"I like to joke that for the first 50 years of my life, everything was gloom and doom in Buffalo. The factories were closing and people were leaving. They cut down all the elm trees. I think finally it started to turn around. The medical campus probably being the most significant thing as far as creating decent jobs and the spinoff from that," said Breeser.

Breeser attributes the growth on Niagara Street to a number of aspects. First, what he terms, "decent proximity" to the medical campus. And then there's the fact that the Elmwood and Hertel neighborhoods became expansion areas, so people wanting to start small businesses began looking for other neighborhoods where they could afford the space. 

Now this street is quickly changing, with new businesses opening like Company B.

"We opened a few weeks ago, we're still in our soft open phase. It's kind of like an all-day hangout spot. Right now, we have breakfast and lunch, so you can come in and get a great coffee. You can get 10 or 12 different flavors of kombucha," said Jeff Blackman, a Company B Owner.

There are more businesses to come, like the Local Honey Beauty Hive salon.

"I kind of wanted to be in a place where you didn't drive past 10 salons. We're the only one down here. There are a lot of new loft apartment complexes. I feel like these people don't have anywhere to get their hair done," said Bohlen.

Now the area is growing so much that Breeser says big developers have begun buying buildings and the city is putting in money to redo the street.