Plans announced this week by Resurgence Brewing to convert an old industrial building in the First Ward of Buffalo into a new brewery, beer garden, and the restaurant doesn't change any plans for the Ellicott Station project in Batavia, said developer Sam Savarino.
Savarino said the Buffalo projects and the Batavia projects are very different and Resurgence has continued to move ahead with plans to occupy space in Ellicott Station for a restaurant and brewery that will specialize in sour beer.
Financing for construction should close at the end of March, Savarino said, with the first shovel in the ground within 30 to 60 days. The Resurgence space in the mixed-use complex, which includes apartments and offices, should be completed by the end of the year, if not the first quarter of 2019. It will be up to Resurgence, Savarino said, when they want to move in and get started with their preparation work to open the business.
He said he didn't have any specifics from them on their plans at this point. Attempts to reach Jeff Ware, one of the co-owners of Resurgence, were unsuccessful this morning.
Julie Pacatte, economic development coordinator for the BDC, is traveling but did send a text message saying that Resurgence's expansion in Buffalo has not changed the company's plans for Batavia.
Development of Ellicott Station is being mostly funded by private investors but includes financing through tax incentives and grants because of the environmental remediation necessary at the site. It will be a 64,000-square-foot complex with 51 market-rate apartments in a five-story building next to the restaurant.
The new complex in the First Ward of Buffalo will provide Resurgence with 25,000 square feet of space. They will share the building with a microdistiller and a rock-climbing gym.
"It's right around the corner from where I live and our office," Savarino said, "so I'm happy."
