By JAMES FINK
Business First

A slowdown in the upper-end residential market is prompting one developer to adjust his plans for a Waterfront Village townhouse and condominium project.

Lawyer and developer Carl Paladino said the next phase of his waterfront townhouse development will have revamped units with a slightly reduced price tag.

Paladino plans to ask the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency to extend his development rights for a condominium tower he wants to build as part of the same complex. The agency is expected to consider the request within a few weeks.

He pledged that the townhouses and condo tower will be built, as planned, but on an extended development schedule.

"It's time to do a new market study," he said.

The culprit is this: a sluggish local economy and the potential of 454 upscale condominiums, townhouses and apartments coming on the downtown market within a few years.

"I want to determine the market conditions and see how the high-end market has changed," Paladino said.

Still, he said he remains committed to finishing the 16-unit townhouse complex and building the yet-to-be determined condo tower. The tower will be named the Antonio, after his uncle, and will serve as a companion to a 47-unit tower named the Pasquale that Paladino expects to complete this fall. Thirty-two of the units are under contract, he said.

"It's not a question of if, but when," he said. "The Antonio likely won't go to design until we're a little further along with the Pasquale."

At the same time, Paladino is considering lowering the cost of the units in the next phase of his townhouse project, from about $495,000 to the "lower" $400,000s, he said. The newer units will be a couple hundred square feet smaller than the first units, but still in the 2,000-square-foot range.

Amenities will include large bay windows and a different roof line.

Of the first four townhouse units built by Paladino, three are sold and the fourth is in the final stages of contract talks. He plans four more units in the second phase.

Upper-end residential projects in Buffalo's pipeline include plans by local developer Gerry Buchheit to transform the former Freezer Queen plant on Fuhrmann Boulevard into a condo and hotel complex, with 153 units in the first phase. They will range in price from $350,000 to $1.2 million. Buchheit and his partners, Phil Nanula and Jon Williams, are planning another 140 units in later phases of the project.

Also on the books: 37 units in the Avant building at 200 Delaware Ave. and 68 condos in the 25 Gates Circle project. Both are being developed by Uniland Development Co. A consortium led by McGuire Development Co. is proposing a 26-unit Waterfront Village townhouse/condo complex, and Nemo Development LLC has plans for a 30-unit Waterfront Village townhouse project.