Calamar celebrates office building grand opening

Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, September 27, 2007

The grand opening of Calamar’s first 38,000 square-foot, Class-A office
building in The Woodlands Corporate Center East is being celebrated today.

Calamar will hold a grand opening celebration today, Sept. 27, to commemorate the opening of the first 38,000 square foot Class-A office building in The Woodlands Corporate Center East, a 120-acre mixed used park located near the corner of Niagara Falls Boulevard and Shawnee Road, Wheatfield.

The Woodlands Corporate Center East opened in August 2004 after the overwhelming success of The Woodlands Corporate Center West, which opened in 2000. The new park currently is home to a 42,000 square foot flex facility along with approximately 25 of the planned 34 patio homes completed or currently under construction as well as construction of three senior housing facilities.

“The completion of this 38,000 square foot office facility in The Woodlands Corporate Center East represents the first Class-A office building in Niagara County in decades,” said Calamar President Kenneth Franasiak. “We are optimistic that it also will serve as the catalyst to rebuild this lost market in Niagara County and attract the professional sector back to our community.”

There basically isn’t any inventory for Class-A office in this area, Franasiak said. “We are confident that this first office building in The Woodlands Corporate Center can revitalize this element to our area.”

The $4 million office building is located on Forest Parkway in The Woodlands Corporate Center East and is expected to create and retain approximately 40 jobs with an estimated payroll of $1.6 million. The building is already 90 percent occupied.

The building was constructed using the CON/STEEL concrete tilt-up method that Calamar has exclusive rights to for all of Western New York. In this method of construction, the floor is poured first and then used as the casting bed for all the wall panels to be formed and poured. An insulated sandwich panel type of construction creates unsurpassed thermal efficiency.

“Couple the amenities and incentives of the Woodlands Corporate Center East, with the thermal efficiency of the CON/STEEL concrete tilt-up system, direct operating costs to owners can be reduced by over 25 percent,” Franasiak said.

The Woodlands Corporate Center East is on track to be one of the largest mixed-use parks in Western New York, Franasiak said. Designed to take full advantage of the natural wooded acreage, the park is comprised of commercial, industrial, office, flex, medical, retail, senior housing and patio homes. The park is being developed to combine these various properties in individual park settings that transition through each section with an abundance of landscaping. Walking trails compliment the park for both residents and businesses and their employees. The senior housing component is comprised of 26-acres and offers approximately 350 units of independent living. The patio home component will be comprised of approximately 34 patio homes, 25 that are already completed or under construction, to create a sophisticated residence community bordering a 6-acre manmade lake.