The state agency charged with overseeing Buffalo’s waterfront is advancing plans for a new Great Lakes cruise ship terminal on Buffalo’s Outer Harbor, with a goal of putting the work out for bid early next year after selecting a construction management firm to lead the project.
State officials want to capitalize on the growing interest in sailing the Great Lakes by bringing some of the established cruise lines and ships to Buffalo as part of their formal itineraries. The goal is to bolster tourism, draw more interest in Western New York, and increase visitor spending locally.
To do so, though, the city needs to construct a terminal to welcome passengers, as well as a U.S. customs facility, since many of the visitors would likely be coming from Canada.
Officials have identified a site along the south berth of Slip 2, on the site where the former Pier restaurant was demolished in 2007. The goal is to begin construction next year and complete it by mid-2027 to start welcoming vessels and tourists – even though some may begin arriving even earlier.
The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., the state agency overseeing Buffalo’s waterfront development, in June approved selection of a design team, which has been working on site analysis and starting the programming and siting elements of the project.
The state wants to convert the former site of the Pier restaurant into a home port and stop for Great Lakes cruise ships, bringing a new form of tourism to Buffalo with a new set of international visitors, while also filling in a sizable gap on the Lake Erie waterfront.
Plans call for the design of one or two small, single-story buildings for customs processing and restrooms. An initial report on seawall shoring, as well as geotechnical analysis, is already underway.
On Tuesday, the agency awarded a contract with a fee of nearly $1 million to Buffalo Construction Consultants, an eight-year old firm that has been winning complicated jobs throughout Western and Central New York.
“This is an exciting next step for the cruise terminal that we’ve been discussing about,” ECHDC President Mark Wendel said.
The state’s Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. is seeking proposals to design and develop a cruise terminal along slip 2 at the Outer Harbor, where the former Pier restaurant was demolished in 2007.
The firm, founded by industry veterans Joseph Mannarino and William Mahoney, previously oversaw construction of the new Gateway Building at Canalside, also for the state agency.
The contract runs from this month through July 2027, and calls for BCC to represent the state throughout the pre-construction, construction and post-construction phases. That includes evaluating the design for “constructability,” obtaining any necessary permits, managing the budget, helping with the request-for-proposals for bidders on various phases of work in spring 2026, and then leading the construction itself. It will also inspect the work.
Already, interest is building among cruise lines and potential passengers. Connecticut-based American Cruise Lines is launching its first venture into the Great Lakes with its American Patriot cruise ship, slated to offer domestic trips that visit only American ports, including Buffalo, starting next May. Its new Great Lakes and Thousand Islands cruise will depart from Oswego and end in Cleveland, and vice versa.
Victory Cruise Lines also committed to begin stopping in Buffalo in 2027.
Reach Jonathan D. Epstein at (716) 849-4478 or jepstein@buffnews.com.
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Jonathan D. Epstein
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State agency picks construction manager for cruise terminal
