Historic Tax Credits
$1.1 Million Federal
$1.1 Million State
New Markets Tax Credits
$2 Million
Main Street Revitalization Fund
Total Project Cost
$7.1 Million
Project Partner
Signature Development
Impact
Small Business Support
History
A Piece of Manufacturing History
The factory at 27 Chandler Street in Buffalo, New York, is a three-story factory building located within the Chandler Street Industrial Buildings Historic District. It was originally built in 1902 for the Jewett Refrigerator Company, which specialized in manufacturing home refrigerators and later in medical and industrial refrigerators. In 1929, the company sold the factory at 27 Chandler Street to the Buffalo Davenport Company, a mattress and upholstery manufacturer. The Buffalo Davenport Company remained in the factory until 1958, when the firm went bankrupt. Following this, the manufacturing space was owned by a number of short-term owners before being converted into warehouse space.
The building is a representative example of the light industry that developed in the Grant-Amherst neighborhood of Buffalo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Much of this industry developed near the New York Central Railroad Belt Line, a nineteen-mile loop of railroad tracks that had a significant impact on the development of many neighborhoods in Buffalo’s northern sections.
Revitalization Efforts
A New Community-Based Food Incubator
Preservation efforts were completed in X, and the historic warehouse is now a dynamic space for small business incubation focused on the foodservice industry, as well as training operated by SUNY Buffalo State Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The building houses 16 commercial kitchens, each with range hoods, walk-in coolers, and other food-production amenities.
Since completion, over 20 local businesses have utilized space provided by the project, including an ice cream maker, a chocolatier, a baker, and a small mushroom farm. The space also includes a co-op-style restaurant on the first floor, which reactivated the former industrial corridor and brought additional business and development opportunities.
Several businesses have gone on to open their own brick-and-mortar storefronts, and one has recently been nominated for a James Beard award.
Community Impact
A Place to Grow a Business
The incubation space organized by SUNY Buffalo State’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides local entrepreneurs with an affordable space to grow their businesses, an amenity vitally needed in the Western New York region. SUNY Buffalo State SBDC helps identify small business owners to be housed in the incubator using its network of over 100 food-related business clients.
The project also provides the SBDC with a dedicated office for confidential one-on-one business counseling and state-of-the-art incubation space for one of their most in-need client types: food manufacturers.
During their tenancy, businesses and entrepreneurs are part of the START-UP NY Program, which provides tax-based incentives and innovative academic partnerships to new and expanding businesses. Tenant businesses have the opportunity to operate tax-free for 10 years, and business employees are not required to pay state income tax for up to 5 years.
This was the third historic preservation project made possible through the Irvin Henderson Main Street Revitalization Fund, an ‘Innovative QLICI Use’ program that combined and enhanced both the Historic and New Markets Tax Credit to support projects located in Main Street communities.
15+
Small Businesses Supported
13,000
Square Feet of Historic Space Revitalized
30+
Jobs Created
Check Out Similar Projects Here
Browse all projects
Mercantile Buildings
New Life Breathed Into Library With 10,000 Year Lease
Cleveland Institute of Art
A Hub of Artistic Endeavor in Cleveland
West Side Bazaar
A New Incubator and Cultural Marketplace in Buffalo
Mercantile Buildings
New Life Breathed Into Library With 10,000 Year Lease
Cleveland Institute of Art
A Hub of Artistic Endeavor in Cleveland
West Side Bazaar
A New Incubator and Cultural Marketplace in Buffalo
Want to Discuss Your Next Project? Talk With Our Team Today.
We bring clear insight, deep experience, and strategic focus to every project, whether you're structuring complex capital or shaping long-term, legacy-driven development.
