Uniland Development Company addresses business challenges with real estate solutions. Four of our projects have been named finalists for Buffalo Business First’s 2021 Brick by Brick Awards. The awards recognize the best of real estate, construction, and development in Western New York. From assisting clients with site selection and design to construction and interior design, Uniland’s full-service capabilities are reflected in the projects recognized by the Brick by Brick Award judges.
Uniland’s award-winning project was:
HANSA workspace in the Renovations/Downtown category: In recent years, the nature of work has changed dramatically as more workers and organizations adapted to growing demand for diverse workspace and greater work/life integration. These trends were supercharged during COVID-19 as employees and employers reassess how and where business is conducted. HANSA workspace in downtown Buffalo is addressing this new paradigm with a homegrown approach. To bring HANSA from blueprint to bold reality, the team mapped a complete rehabilitation of the former industrial space into a two-story, 32,000 SF hub of coworking and shared office space, event and meeting facilities, retail, and residential activity. HANSA is Buffalo’s first “Elevated Office Experience” and is powering a new era of productivity and collaboration with broad amenities that promote health, happiness and productivity. Fostering a new level of inclusion, HANSA is the first Universal Design-certified coworking and shared office space in the country. Innovative Solutions in Universal Design (isUD) is an emerging standard for socially responsible design.
Uniland’s projects from 2020 named as finalists included:
Hampton Inn Buffalo – Amherst in the Hospitality/Tourism category: The Northtown Center at Amherst is a leading venue for athletic tournaments and the town’s leading regional attraction. To better compete for events, the Town of Amherst sought a developer to create a hotel at the complex. Uniland’s 107-room Hampton Inn Buffalo-Amherst is a hospitality trailblazer as the first Universal Design hotel in North America and across Hilton’s global portfolio of more than 6,500 properties with over one million rooms in 119 countries and territories. The hotel welcome athletes and their families, corporate travelers, prospective students and alumni to the University at Buffalo, and Western New York tourists. The hotel features special amenities to serve sports teams including a large breakfast buffet, state of the art fitness center, and meeting/banquet facilities for up to 80 people.
UnitedHealthcare’s Buffalo Office in the Renovations/Suburbs category: Since opening in 2001, Airborne Business Park in Cheektowaga has become a preferred destination for businesses to take flight. Centrally located within 20 minutes of 90 percent of Erie County’s population, Airborne is home to notable tenants including M&T Bank, Sodexo, the Visiting Nursing Association, Chubb, Citizens Bank, and Qualcomm. In 2020, Airborne welcomed another major business with a new facility anchored by UnitedHealthcare at 600 Airborne Parkway adjacent to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport and situated near the I-90 New York State Thruway, the Kensington Expressway and Metro Bus routes. As the seventh largest company on the Fortune 500 list of the largest businesses, UnitedHealthcare’s investment in a new Class A facility at 600 Airborne is further proof of Western New York’s expanding role as a leading region for advanced business services and back-office operations. A 6,250 SF suite is currently available in the building. According to Invest Buffalo Niagara, over 60 companies have relocated or expanded their back-office operations in Buffalo since Uniland and local partners attracted GEICO to Amherst’s CrossPoint Business Park in 2005.
People Inc.’s Health Services Building in the Medical New Construction category: As Western New York’s largest non-profit based on revenue and workforce, People Inc. is a multispecialty human services agency that has been assisting people with developmental disabilities, special needs, and older adults to lead healthy, independent, and productive lives since 1970. Initially located farther up Elmwood on the Buffalo/Kenmore border, the original facility was an aging, 13,000 SF facility unable to support its expanding services to a medically underserved corridor within the City of Buffalo. Now located at 800 Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo, the new 33,000 SF Health Services Building provides an innovative system for medical physicians, nurse practitioners, clinical support staff, and social workers to work as a team and provide a coordinated approach to health care delivery integrating behavioral health. Collectively, the Elmwood Health Center has the capacity to provide services to over 7,000 patients. In early 2021, People Inc. announced a partnership with Evergreen Health–a healthcare services firm providing medical, supportive and behavioral services in Western New York since 1983–to deliver primary care services, as well as gynecology, podiatry, and neurology care at the location. Services are also offered by ECMC Dental and People First Mobility at the facility.
The award winners were announced at a ceremony on July 29.
