The soon to open Genesee Gateway complex at the corner of Genesee and Oak streets has landed its first tenant.  Congressmembers Brian Higgins and Chris Lee, joined leaders from Genesee Gateway, LLC and the U.S. Department of State, to announce that the General Services Administration has signed a lease for approximately 10,000 sq.ft. to house a diplomatic security office and the first Passport Office in Western New York. 

The Trustees of The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, Janet L. Day, Robert J. Kresse, and Thomas D. Lunt, which provided the major innovative financing which made the $10 Million redevelopment project possible, are pleased that the anchor tenant will provide the kind of retail presence to the development and the public with the opportunity to conveniently apply for passports or passport renewal.

Congressman Higgins said, "This placement will not only provide a vital service to local residents but it will create activity along an important corridor within our urban core."
 
"With a one-stop shop passport office located right in our community, Western New Yorkers will be able to more easily acquire valid travel documents while not having their need to conduct cross border business negatively influenced," said Congressman Lee.  "I'm pleased the State Department heeded our call to locate a passport in Western New York and I look forward to its opening this fall."
 
The office will assist U.S. citizens living along the border comply with travel document requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.  Residents, particularly those travelling in 14 days or less, may now be able to obtain a passport that same day.

 

Genesee Gateway encompasses 60,000 sq.ft. of office and retail space stretching from 85 to 123 Genesee Street.  The architectural firm of Flynn Battaglia is the project architect and Young Wright Architectural LLC is the architect for this specific tenancy buildout.
 
"I think the entire community understands the importance of redeveloping this block and the promise that these buildings hold," said Doug Swift, a principal of Genesee Gateway, LLC.  With tenancy by the GSA we're one step closer to finally realizing that promise."

(L to R) Genesee Gateway Principal Doug Swift, Congressman Higgins, Congressman Lee, and U.S. State Department Passport Center Regional Director Tyrone Shelton.