Loads of Love Project in the Masten Park Area

Brandi Barrett and Jackeysi Benitez feel a lot of love for the East Side and the environment.

And they’re eager to share that with the Masten Park neighborhood along Michigan Avenue and everyone who passes by.

The two fledgling community developers and their minority- and women-owned firm, Barrett & Benitez Development, are bringing a new mixed-use project to the block between Laurel and Riley streets, designed to provide both needed services and additional housing on a small scale and within walking distance.

It’s part of the duo’s mission to revitalize areas suffering from neglect and disinvestment through sustainable development projects. And it comes in the wake of the May 14, 2022, racist attack that killed 10 people at Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue, while also exposing the severe lack of care and services for the surrounding Black community.

Barrett and Benitez met at Daemen University. Barrett began a career in banking at Bank of America before turning to community development after seeing the struggles of displaced people. She worked for the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust as operations manager and commercial district program manager for the state-sponsored East Side Avenues program, where she learned about the real estate development training program.

She recruited her friend Benitez, a licensed social worker from the Bronx and director of Fordham University’s Liberty Partnership program, to join her.

Their Loads of Love project — the first development project for either — will include a locally operated, self-service eco-laundry with wash-and-fold service, a small cafe and five affordable apartments in a two-story building on the southwest corner of Riley and Michigan.

The site includes both 59 Laurel, which is owned by the city but under a designated developer agreement with Barrett and Benitez, and 61 Laurel, which has been owned by the developers since 2012. The vacant properties, which total 1.66 acres, will be combined for the project. On-site parking is also included.

A separate parcel at 102 Riley, also owned by the city and under designated developer status, backs onto the Laurel properties but will eventually be used for a separate project, with plans calling for a two-family home and a carriage house. In total, the combined $2.4 million project totals 0.227 acres of land.

The new 7,130-square-foot building – including a 1,773-square-foot basement – ​​would include 3,419 square feet of commercial space and 3,711 square feet of residential area.

The ground-floor laundromat would have 20 washing machines and 12 dryers in 118 sq m of space, with a small 20 sq m café next door, with seating. There would also be a small mezzanine and lounge, as well as a tiny entrance hall for tenants.

An ADA-compliant studio would occupy additional space on the first floor, with four one-bedroom units on the second floor, all with balconies. The apartments would range in size from 524 to 553 square feet. The basement would contain tenant storage, six bike spaces, a mechanical room and a management office.

Nearly half of the units would be available to households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income, while the remainder would be set at 70 percent of the area median income. Space is also planned for a community garden, meetings and training opportunities.

“This planned development will be a significant part of the investment in Buffalo’s East Side,” wrote Eco_Logic Studio owner Kevin V. Connors, “creating a healthy, thriving and supportive environment for its residents.”

The developers are currently seeking a zoning change for the two Laurel parcels from “residential” to “neighborhood edge” to allow the commercial project. The property had already been zoned to allow commercial use before the Green Code was passed in 2016. The project will also require a zoning variance for side parking, as well as lot combination and site plan approval.

But the company has already received letters of support for a previous “Green Innovation Grant Program” application from Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown, former City Council Speaker Darius Pridgen, Erie County Legislature Chairwoman April Baskin, five state legislators and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

The developers conducted door-to-door campaigns with immediate neighbors and at community gatherings for more than a year, garnering the support of 14 immediate neighbors and 47 community residents.

If the project is approved, work by Buffalo Construction Consultants is expected to begin by the end of the year and be completed in 2025.