23-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
North Tonawanda's Mid-City Plaza: Owner's vision starts to take shape
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The Niagara County shopping center is about 80% occupied, up a bit from when it was sold in late 2023.
Story Highlights A Houston-based group acquired Mid-City Plaza for $20.75 million in 2023.
The new owners are aiming to increase occupancy and improve tenant mix.
Renovations are planned that will upgrade the facade and parking lot.
The latest owner of a Niagara County shopping center has a larger vision for the site.
Mid-City Plaza, located at 967 Payne Ave. in North Tonawanda, was acquired in an off-market sale in late 2023 by a Houston-based investment group for $20.75 million through two LLCs — Sky Mid City LLC and BDA Mid City LLC, according to county real property information. Cleeman Realty Group represented both the buyer and seller.
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'As far as leasing is concerned, I think it's a nice central North Tonawanda location,' said Robert Cowing III, associate real estate broker with Pyramid Brokerage Co., which handles leasing for the property while the site owners handle property management. 'There's already a diverse mix of tenants within the space. It makes it nice for us in trying to identify and draw in complementary businesses, instead of competitors, where everyone can thrive in this plaza at once and hopefully stay long term.'
Why it matters: The mixed-use plaza trend has been growing for years across the U.S., but in Buffalo it presents a particular opportunity. It's the game plan used by centers like Mid-City Plaza, and it's part of plans for larger redevelopment projects at the Eastern Hills Mall and Boulevard Mall.
The Niagara County shopping center is about 80% occupied, up a bit from 77% occupancy when the deal closed in late 2023.
Cowing said 10 suites are available with sizes ranging from 2,000 to 9,000 square feet. Suites can be combined up to about 17,000 square feet for larger tenants.
Since the new owners took over, several new tenants have signed leases, including Pizza Hut, which took a 1,200-square-foot space at the plaza and committed to a 10-year lease.
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A look at Mid-City Plaza in North Tonawanda.
Tracey Drury
Cricket Wireless, which used to be a tenant, is coming back to Mid-City Plaza. Also coming: a local video game retailer, who Cowing said he couldn't name yet, but the store should open within the next couple of months. He's also in 'serious discussions' with at least two national retailers that he declined to name until deals are finalized.
Overall, the ownership wants a good tenant mix with existing retailers Tops, Dollar Tree and M&T Bank, he said.
'We're trying to satisfy neighborhood services,' Cowing said. 'There's space for apparel, sporting goods, perhaps cosmetics – retailers similar to that.'
Cowing said the owner also wants to give the plaza a more uniform look. The previous owner left the site looking run down, he said, which presented an opportunity for the new owner to make upgrades.
Façade work started late last year on the Tops side of the plaza and plans call for finishing the rest of it this spring/summer, weather permitting. The parking lot also needs repairs. Cowing said he didn't have an exact estimate for the amount to be invested but he expects it to be in hundreds of thousands.
'They're going to do what it takes to make this plaza what it should be,' he said.
