Developer chosen to overhaul vacant Niagara Falls buildings

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. -- The City of Niagara Falls has chosen a developer for three long neglected downtown buildings.    

Mayor Paul Dyster announced Thursday the selection of TM Montante as the developer for three vacant buildings at the corner of 7th and Niagara Streets right across the street from the Seneca Niagara Casino.

Montante was chosen after a request for proposals was put out last year. The structures and the adjacent vacant lots will be developed into a mixed use facility featuring residential and commercial space.

Dyster says the project is just part of a bigger plan to revitalize downtown Niagara Falls.

"You've got the casino development, the hotel development, development around the hospital, development on Third Street," Dyster (D) said. "We have, in some sense, urban blight surrounded here and we're pressing in now on this neighborhood north of Niagara, south of Pine where we've been putting in a lot of effort recently."

Montante says the multi-phase $5 million project should begin sometime next year.