One of the biggest additions to the Elmwood Village in many years is nearing the finish line, with 41 new condominiums offering residents a prominent new home within footsteps of shopping, food and the city's art museums.

After three years years of work, crews are wrapping up construction on the "core-and-shell" of the Eleven-Eleven Elmwood project over the next 45 days. The first five owners will be moving into their new condos by Thanksgiving. Several other units are in various stages of signing purchase contracts.

The Eleven-Eleven Elmwood condominium project, partially still under construction.

And developer Mark Chason couldn't be happier.

"We're getting to the end, finally," said the owner and CEO of Chason Affinity Cos, the developer behind the four-story building on Elmwood just south of Forest Avenue. "It's been a bit of a journey."

The Chason project is also at the higher-end of the market locally, with prices ranging from $568,000 to just shy of $1.5 million. And three of the five homes already purchased went for over $1 million.

The building, constructed up to the sidewalk in accordance with the Green Code, presents an entirely new look for the northern-most stretch of the Elmwood Village, just below SUNY Buffalo State College, the Burchfield-Penney Art Center and the new Buffalo Albright-Knox-Gundlach Art Museum.

A rendering of Chason Affinity Companies’ 1111 Elmwood condo project, at Forest Avenue.

Instead of several smaller and separate structures that used to exist, the new building features two distinct sections – one with a more traditional and classic all-brick design with a mansard roof and double-hung windows, while the other offers a contemporary appearance with a rougher tumbled brick, composite panels and modern windows. They're separated by a glass-curtain-wall connector with a pocket park, and the driveway to the underground parking.

"When people see it, they’re kind of surprised in a way," Chason said.

Construction by RP Oak Hill Building Co. is expected to finish by late October or early November, although each unit still has to be built out individually upon signing of a sales contract.

The $34 million project is the latest example of the growing interest among consumers in condominium ownership in Buffalo, instead of either renting an apartment or buying a single-family home.

Those buyers want to live in the city and own their property, but they don't want the hassles of homeownership and lawn maintenance. And developers have found that demand increasing, after years of little appetite for condos in Buffalo.

Jake Schneider's Schneider Development converted the Historic Warehouse Lofts at 210 Ellicott St. into condos six years ago, and Paul Kolkmeyer's Priam Enterprises is pursuing a similar move with The Glenny and the Marin on lower Main Street in downtown Buffalo. Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. is planning to undertake a conversion of its Bethune Lofts at 2917 Main St.

And Uniland Development Co. - which kicked off the upscale condo boom more than a decade ago with its luxury Avant Building on Delaware Avenue - is now busy selling its new Gates Circle townhomes, on the former Park Lane Restaurant site at 33 Gates Circle, where it built 12 units priced from $850,000 to $1.5 million. All have now either sold or are in the process of being acquired.

"We’ve kind of had to hold people back. The interest has remained high among the people waiting," Chason Affinity President Jeff Birtch said. "We'd like to get to the point where we can close on the first bunch of units."

The building features 34 one- and two-story interior condos and seven walk-up townhomes with front doors facing the street – five along Elmwood and two on Forest. All are build-to-suit for each owner, with either standard options or customized finishes and features. Most have either large balconies or terraces, while seven have Juliet balconies.

"There’s such a wide variety, that we’re going to appeal to empty nesters, to young business people, to all kinds of people," Birtch said.

The condos range in size from 1,071 square feet to 2,805 square feet, not including the wood-deck balconies or porches, some of which have nearly 1,000 square feet extending along the building facade and even wrapping around corners. Adding those, the total square footage ranges from 1,191 to 3,794.

Take a look inside one of the units at Eleven-Eleven Elmwood.

Standard features include engineered white oak hardwood floors, quartz kitchen countertops, stainless-steel appliances including a Bertazzoni commercial-grade gas stovetop with an electric oven made in Italy, a built-in microwave with a power door, a marble fireplace with a working gas insert inside and a television monitor mounted on the wall above.

Walk-in closets include built-in wood shelves and metal hooks. Bathrooms include Calacatta Viola or heated Opal White marble bathroom floors, a towel warmer, walk-in showers, a deep soaking bathtub, large mirrors, multiple sinks, and West Elm vanities. Light fixtures are American-made, from Rejuvenation. And upgrades are available, if the customer wants to spend up.

"We're giving a budget, a build-out allowance that includes most of the finishes and a few upgrades," said Brittany Brennan, Chason's sales and marketing coordinator for the building. "You can use it however you want to use it. If you want to go bananas and change everything, we're not limiting anything."

Each unit gets two parking spaces in the underground garage, which also has electric-vehicle charging stations. The building also has super-high-speed Internet and cable. And the building is staffed 24 hours a day, with a concierge available in the wood-paneled lobby from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily - an uncommon feature in Buffalo. "It's definitely a little bit of a New York flair," Brennan said.

Outside, the pocket park will feature turf and exposed aggregate concrete with little tables and benches, five trees and some lighting, behind a brick knee-wall with a decorative black-metal railing in front, next to the driveway into the parking.

"It’s been really positive," Brennan said of the reactions from prospective tenants and the community, despite the prices. "A lot of people have asked for more like this in the city of Buffalo, just a building that’s newer."

So far, the company has been marketing the units quietly, without actively putting them on the region's multiple-listing service. "With all the delays in supply and so on, we weren't really sure. We couldn't guarantee completion dates until recently," Chason said.

Now, though, officials plan to "step that up," he added, saying sales are "kind of on track."

"We’ve always thought this would be a couple of years to sell it out, and what we’re seeing is that there are a number of people who have looked and are really waiting to see it more complete," Chason said. "There’s good interest, and we’re comfortable with the pace."

Meanwhile, Chason Affinity has deliberately not started to market the first-floor retail spaces, although officials have some ideas of potential users.

"We wanted to get the building more complete," Chason said. "We think that there's some retail tenants that are kind of missing in the Elmwood Village that would be nice additions, but we really haven't focused on it yet."

A lighting fixture in the kitchen in one of the townhomes.

A view of a completed balcony from the adjacent balcony on the fourth floor at the Eleven-Eleven Elmwood condominium project.

The living room and staircase of a townhouse staged for sale.

The dining area and kitchen of a townhouse staged for sale.

A Bertazzoni range in one of the townhomes.

The sink and mirror in the downstairs half-bath in one of the townhomes.

A brass burner on the Bertazzoni range in one of the townhomes.

The downstairs half-bath features calacatta viola marble flooring in one of the townhomes.

A view of the dining area and kitchen from the stairwell in one of the townhomes.

The back bedroom in one of the townhomes.

A view of a lighting fixture and stairwell from the door of the back bedroom in one of the townhomes.

A lighting fixture in the front bedroom in one of the townhomes.

The front bedroom in one of the townhomes.

The tub in the bathroom off the front bedroom.

Double sinks in the bathroom off the back bedroom in one of the townhomes.

A view of the back bedroom from its connected bathroom in one of the townhomes.

The lobby area is under construction at the Eleven-Eleven Elmwood condominium project.

An open-concept front area, under construction on the fourth floor at the Eleven-Eleven Elmwood condominium project.

The corner apartment, still under construction, on the fourth floor at the Eleven-Eleven Elmwood condominium project.

The view from the corner apartment on the fourth floor at the Eleven-Eleven Elmwood condominium project.

The Eleven-Eleven Elmwood condominium project, partially still under construction.

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I've been a business reporter at The Buffalo News since 2004, now covering residential and commercial real estate and development amid WNY's resurgence. I'm an upstate native, proud to call Buffalo my home, and committed to covering it thoroughly.

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The Eleven-Eleven Elmwood condominium project, partially still under construction.

A rendering of Chason Affinity Companies’ 1111 Elmwood condo project, at Forest Avenue.

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