What’s happening this week in Buffalo Niagara business?

Buffalo contractor James Panepinto is seeking City of Buffalo approval Monday for a proposed 9,750-square-foot warehouse, to be constructed on the quarter-acre back corner of a larger property he owns at 132 Dingens St.

According to plans submitted by Frank J. Burkhart Jr. of Advanced Architecture and Planning on Grand Island, Panepinto’s Pinto Construction Services would construct a single-story facility on the 13.2-acre site, which already contains other warehouse space.

The $600,000 building would be fully insulated and heated, and would be designed “to meet the requirements for most warehousing storage needs,” Burkhart wrote. Its façade would feature a cream-colored metal panel system with a red metal roof, matching other warehouses on the site. It would have a sloped roof, with 20-foot-high side walls, and a maximum height of 31 feet.

Panepinto does not have a tenant signed up yet. 

The project requires Planning Board approval and building permits. If approved, construction – including repaving, site and utility work – would be completed this year.

The Buffalo Planning Board on Monday also will consider a rezoning request by Amy King, who purchased a 14.6-acre property at 14 Shepard St. last year. King wants the property reclassified from single-family residential to “neighborhood-edge” to allow her business to construct a bigger warehouse on the site to accommodate its inventory needs.

The board also will consider special-use permits for cannabis sales for:

• Matthew Krupp’s Canterra, to set up its first store at 451 Elmwood Ave., in a suite in the Pardee Building, which Ellicott Development Co. and Sinatra & Co. Real Estate constructed as part of their Elmwood Crossing redevelopment of the former Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo campus. Canterra is currently based in Tonawanda.
• Janique S. Curry, for her Secret Garden 716, to be located at 1363 Delaware Ave., in the former Fawn & Fox hair salon space, adjacent to Hutch’s Restaurant and a law office.

SUNY Buffalo State University is hosting a presentation by Fred “Mr. Eclipse” Espenak, astrophysicist emeritus at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the university’s Rockwell Hall.

Espenak will preview the April 8 total eclipse with eyewitness accounts of totality from great astronomers of the past as well his own recent experiences. Tickets are $10 at the door or in advance at planetarium.buffalostate.edu/experiencing-totality-great-total-eclipse-2024

Welcome to Buffalo Next. This newsletter from The Buffalo News will bring you the latest coverage on the changing Buffalo Niagara economy – from real estate to health care to startups. Read more at BuffaloNext.com.

Why prices are changing on many menus.

Labor and union leaders push for higher Medicaid reimbursements.

There’s a new push to help entrepreneurs and startups on the East Side.

It’s time for the Super Bowl and a new William Mattar ad.

Work on the McCarley Gardens is complete, but an expansion is still up in the air.

Douglas Jemal is buying another downtown building.

A big Wyoming County emploiyer is cutting 945 jobs.

Low natural gas prices are hitting National Fuel Gas.

An NLRB judge ruled that Starbucks illegally dismissed 10 Buffalo workers over union activities.

An Allentown church could have a new owner, who wants to turn it into apartments

Local Ford workers are getting big bonuses.

Plans for a South Buffalo film studio are on hold.

A wave of state grants are flowing to Western New York.

A Town of Tonawanda manufacturer is cutting 40% of its jobs.

Tesla’s employment in Buffalo has taken a step backward.

Shopping for a new Tesla soon won’t require a road trip to Rochester.

Apartments are coming to a vacant Niagara Street building.

Evans Bank cashed in on the sale of its insurance business.

A troubled Williamsville nursing home could get new owners.

Why the sidewalk around the AM&A’s building downtown is partially closed.

Five reads from Buffalo Next:

1. What Top Seedz’s big expansion will mean for the artisan cracker maker.

2. The state’s slow rollout of its legal cannabis market is moving even slower.

3. How Buffalo Niagara’s startup ecosystem has changed – for the better.

4. What does the future of health care look like? A new report offers a glimpse.

5. Glass half full or half empty: The divergent signs on the state of the Buffalo Niagara job market.

The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the region’s economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Buffalo Next Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to get the latest in your inbox five days a week.