Expertise guides Buffalo’s DL&W project.
Local and national experts working together.
A vision for the DL&W’s second floor development includes a fresh food marketplace.
Savarino DL&W Development’s vision for the terminal station leverages its local team, as well as national experts in historic preservation, placemaking, design, engineering, food and beverage, event production, immersive storytelling, and finance. These consultants provide the skills and experience to deliver a final project that is both visionary and achievable. Their combined work ensures that the former DL&W train terminal will be restored as a civic landmark and made ready for public use with lasting community benefits.
Grounded in community input.
From the start, the DL&W project was shaped by community voices. Project for Public Spaces (PPS), a nonprofit known internationally for its leadership in placemaking, guided this process. PPS has worked in more than 3,500 communities worldwide, always placing the people who use a space at the center of planning.
At the request of Savarino DL&W Development, PPS conducted interviews, focus groups, and surveys that asked residents, entrepreneurs, cultural organizations, and everyday users about their expectations for the building. The results were compiled in A Community Vision for the DL&W Terminal, which was completed in 2021. That report provides the foundation for what Savarino’s DL&W Development’s second-floor vision for the terminal will offer: flexible public space, a food market and small grocer, a restaurant, cultural performances and programming, community gathering places, and inclusive opportunities for a range of entrepreneurs.
Preserving historic integrity.
Buffalo’s DL&W terminal is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which makes compliance with preservation standards essential. KTA Preservation Specialists provided technical expertise to the project when it came to Savarino’s application for historic status for the remaining terminal structure. Over several years, KTA guided the project through successful Part 1 and Part 2 approvals from the National Park Service. This certified the building’s historic significance and confirmed that Savarino’s rehabilitation plan for the building meets federal preservation standards.
Founded in 1999 by Kerry Traynor, KTA Preservation Specialists has a record of helping projects navigate the complex requirements of historic tax credits. Savarino and KTA have worked together on several historic restoration and adaptive reuse projects.
Shaping the experience.
Food is central to the DL&W’s future for many reasons. To artfully consider this component of the project, Savarino DL&W Development turned to Colicchio Consulting. Since 2005, the Manhattan-based global firm has advised some of the best food halls, hotels, entertainment venues, and mixed-use projects in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.
Led by Phil Colicchio, the firm creates strategies to secure its clients’ long-term success. For Savarino DL&W Development, Colicchio Consulting’s work informs the integration and placement of multiple commercial uses as well as market analysis and financial modeling. Its national reach and longstanding connections in the hospitality industry bring deep insight to the food, beverage, and entertainment strategy, ensuring efforts such as Savarino’s DL&W project are designed for long-term success.
A live performance at Buffalo Iron Works.
Activating through performances.
Twenty6 Productions, a Buffalo-based firm with national reach, is advising the DL&W on event strategy. Its leadership team, consisting of Grace Vesneske and Josh Holtzman, serves as strategic advisors to the project. Twenty6 Productions has created events for notable organizations, including Coca-Cola, the Buffalo Bills, and the Buffalo Sabres. Their role in the DL&W project will ensure the terminal is a vibrant year-round destination. From concerts to family events, Twenty6 Productions provides the expertise to program the building’s indoor and outdoor event venues. As operators of Buffalo Iron Works, they are well-versed and experienced in Western New York’s live music and events scene
Designing for people.
Savarino DL&W Development engaged Eimer Design to lead architectural and experiential design for the DL&W’s second floor. The Philadelphia firm has a wide range of experience designing food, market, entertainment, and hospitality projects.
Under the leadership of Ed Eimer, the team produced the DL&W’s design strategy to align potential uses with the building’s structure. This work confirmed that spaces for the food hall, market, cultural uses, and indoor/outdoor event programming can all be accommodated while preserving the building’s historic character. Eimer Design’s approach to the terminal’s design considers how people will actually move through, use, and enjoy the space. Additionally, Eimer is utilizing Buffalo-based Azar Design Co. as a sub-consultant for design, engineering, and local approvals.
The DL&W’s second-floor development offers food and drink, entertainment, shopping, workshops. and other opportunities.
Bringing stories to life.
Local Projects is nationally recognized for its immersive and experiential projects. Its work integrates storytelling, technology, and physical design to create memorable experiences for visitors. Museums, cultural centers, and civic projects across the country have relied on its expertise to translate heritage into interactive, engaging formats.
For the DL&W project, Local Projects contributed to the planning of experiential uses that are soon to be announced. These aspects of the project will showcase the building’s significant role in Buffalo’s history while interpreting it in ways that connect with today’s audiences. This approach positions the DL&W as a destination for meaningful learning and community connection.
Informed financial modeling.
Large projects succeed only when the underlying economics are sound. Plante Moran, based in Michigan, is one of the nation’s largest accounting and consulting firms. More than a century old, the firm has supported Savarino DL&W Development with financial modeling and income/cost feasibility analysis. Its team specializes in structuring deals that involve New Markets Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits, both of which are central to this project. Plante Moran’s efforts provide baseline projections to confirm that the DL&W project can operate sustainably once it is open. Savarino and Plante Moran have worked together on other projects involving Historic Tax Credits and New Market Tax Credits.
Successful tax credit structuring.
The DL&W’s layered financing includes New Markets Tax Credits, which require expert structuring and compliance. Denver’s S.B. Clark Companies brings this expertise. The firm has facilitated New Market Tax Credit transactions nationwide, helping clients secure allocations, negotiate financing structures, and meet compliance benchmarks.
For the DL&W, S.B. Clark’s financing strategy is central to aligning the project’s funding with its public mission and bringing third-party investment and financing to the project.
More valuable experts.
Additionally, Savarino DL&W Development’s efforts on the terminal’s second floor rely on the counsel of Cannon Heyman & Weiss LLP for tax credit, transaction structure, and legal services, Lumsden McCormick LLP for accounting and cost/revenue analysis, and Phillips Lytle LLP for legal services and representation.
Expertise drives the DL&W forward.
An extraordinary group of local and national experts supports Savarino DL&W Development’s project. Each brings specialized knowledge, from preservation approvals and food strategy to immersive cultural design and complex financing. Together, they strengthen the project and assure its readiness.
This team’s combined experience supports the vision for the DL&W’s future as a public landmark, a civic asset, and a place created for Buffalo to meet up, eat well, and spend time together.
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