If anything has annoyed me the most in the exciting and gleeful world of Buffalo development, it would most certainly be the uprising and backlash against the construction of a parking garage on what is currently a surface lot for Marine Drive residents.

So I offer an alternative: The Webster Block, the surface lot directly in front of the HSBC Arena.

This is a most perfect site for a mixed-use, “intermodal”, Canal Side parking garage. In some cases, it might even be better than the currently proposed one.

Retail facing Main and Perry with delivery and car entrance/exits facing Washington

Restaurants would do great, seeing as some people have been to Peal Street Grill too much and that Morrissey’s and Benchwarmers might not have a full enough menu or be interesting enough to a more high brow audience attending an arena event.

Retail spaces would also face the Canal Side project and the facility could serve as a sort of Park N Ride for commuters who already park at the southern end of downtown and take light rail closer to their place of work.

Throw in residential, office, and even hotel space at the top and you have great downtown spaces with great waterfront views (as well as views of relieved residents of Marine Drive). It would be like an extremely modest Maple Leaf Square with a heavier focus on parking.

There might be an argument that the Webster block could be used in a more valuable way (sans parking) as well as official future plans on the part of the ECHDC but based on this block’s history and its inability to be developed even after the construction of the HSBC Arena, it would seem like this would be a good spot for a mixed-use parking garage and a good catalyst for further Inner Harbor development.

*Top image courtesy BuffaloRising