It should be clear to everyone who attended yesterday's Public Meeting on the Braymiller Market, that downtown residents do not want Braymiller's Market to be the temporary home for Buffalo Police B district, they want a full service grocer. It was further noted, on more than one occasion that the grocery store should also include personal care items and a pharmacy (at the very least pharmaceutical supplies).

They also want full repayment of the most recent loan ($561,000). This money could be used instead as an incentive for the new grocer.
Admittedly, it's a heavy lift. The building was overpriced to start and ill-conceived. There was little creativity or flexibility designed into the space. A single -use building that can't easily be subdivided was far from the best choice for an untested downtown grocery store.

I'd have preferred to see a multi use-building with three storefronts and aparments above. Braymiller (or anyother small grocery model) could have started in one storefront and expanded as demand allowed. Better yet, a co-op style market could have started in an existing storefront, to demonstrate proof of concept, and then expanded once a successful model had built a base of support. We saw this similar approach with the Lexington Co-op.

Braymiller's is an example of trying to hit a home run. We need a more creative approach to downtown development. We need base hits, not home runs. Small wins. Use available spaces, start small and create a diversity of options in close proximity. A focus on place-making, community, recreation, art, and food options.

When we overpromise and underdeliver the neighborhood and surrounding residents lose out. Hundreds of downtown residents have relied on the Braymiller Market to meet their immediate food needs. Now they're left scrambling after a failed public/private partnership and millions of dollars in public funds invested.

At this point, the City of Buffalo owes it to downtown residents to make this right. They need to quickly pursue options to bring food and services to that space. There should be an architectural/code review of the space to assess the feasibility of subdividing the commercial space to accommodate more than one tenant. I'm confident a smaller market could be more feasible and still meet the needs of residents and downtown workers looking for some interesting options for lunch.

In summary, when building capacity at the neighborhood level, whether it be downtown or in our surrounding communities, we need to think more creatively and be more nimble. Take one of the best examples of business/neighborhood development in recent years, the Five Points Neighborhood. Five Points is probably one of the most desirable, liveable, walkable districts in the City. It was created with a few determined residents, who were frugal, creative, and worked hard to create some amazing community assets. You can visit Five Points during the Summer and hear some jazz, grab a coffee with a friend, visit some small shops, and pick up garden supplies. It's an inviting, creative, vibrant corner and it brings people together. We need to be smarter Buffalo and learn from the example of what has worked.