The beginning concept for the building, specifically the dual ice rinks and parking garage combo came after Buffalo Sabres chief development officer Cliff Benson led a group of team officials to Washington, D.C. to view the Washington Capitals practice facility, the Kettler Capitals Iceplex.[3] The complex, which is built on top of a parking garage, has seating for 1,200, a training center, proshop, and is home to many area teams. This trip helped the group form their ideas. Originally just planned to be two hockey rinks on top of a parking garage, the hotel and restaurant concepts were later added to the plan by Terry Pegula's wife, Kim Pegula.[4]
Construction of the 20-story Harborcenter began in March 2013,[5] the same month the Webster Block was purchased from the City of Buffalo for $2.2 million.[6] The building was built by Mortenson Construction with ICON Venue Group serving as the project manager.[7] The building's hockey rink portion topped out on June 25, 2014, as the last structural beam for the hotel was put into place. Building construction was completed on the whole building in August 2015.[8] The rinks and restaurants opened on October 31 and November 6, 2014. The hotel opened on August 27, 2015.[9][10]
Operations
Harborcenter was financed by Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula and is owned by the Pegula's company Pegula Sports and Entertainment.[11] The building contains indoor parking for 750 vehicles, and features two NHL regulation indoor ice rinks on the building's sixth floor, one with an 1,800-seat capacity and the other with a 150-seat capacity. IMPACT Sports Performance owned by the Pegulas operates Harborcenter's 5,000 square foot, high performance off-ice training facility located on the building's 6th floor. The building also contains a classroom and RapidShot Hockey Training System.
The development is one of the most expensive for any privately funded single building in the city of Buffalo history. The project is designed to achieve LEED certification, with a goal of LEED Silver. The building was pledged by Pegula and others involved upon obtaining the property to open at the time by September 2014 making it one of the faster projects in the area.
The building contains a 205-room Marriott hotel operated by Shaner Hotels, plus retail and restaurant space.[13] A two floor 716 Food and Sport restaurant opened on October 31, 2014. Also, Harborcenter features a flagship Tim Hortons that pays tribute to Tim Horton, the Buffalo Sabres, and the former Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.[14] The restaurant opened on October 30, 2014. A Statue of Tim Horton was dedicated across the street the same day. The building also contains a pro shop.
The building also has storefronts along Main Street known as The Shops at HarborCanter for smaller street front tenants which are expected to be leased out. The first store that opened in Harborcenter was Red Siren, which is a women's specialty store. It features gifts, jewelry, leather and clothing not currently found in the Buffalo area. Red Siren opened in the Summer of 2015, around the time when the Mariott Harborcenter Hotel opened.[15] Other stores include Modern Nostalgia, Fowler's Chocolates and Clayton's Toys & Gifts.[16] It was announced in July 2016 that Modern Nostalgia would be leaving Harborcenter. They were replaced by Healthy Scratch, a quick-serve restaurant and boutique operated by Kelly and Jessica Pegula.[17] Clayton's, Fowler's and Red Siren all announced their departure from Harborcenter in September 2017, with employees citing slow sales and inconsistent traffic for their departure.[18][19]
In May 2015, it was announced that Advanced Care Physical Therapy would lease space inside Impact Sports Performance, located inside the Harborcenter. This provides a complete range of sports medicine services to athletes and employees who use the facility.[20]
Hockey tenants
The development's two ice rinks, known collectively as The Rinks, is the home of the Canisius Golden Griffins, an NCAA Division Icollege hockey program in Buffalo, as well as the Buffalo Jr. Sabres[21][22] with the Griffins and Junior Sabres playing in the larger rink 1 known as KeyBank Rink at Harborcenter with separate dedicated dressing rooms. Rink 1 is also home to the Erie Community College Kats's of the NJCAA. The smaller rink 2 is known as New Wave Energy Rink under a separate naming rights deal.
The Rinks are also the home to the Academy of Hockey and the Harborcenter Cup as well as serving as the Buffalo Sabres' practice facility. The rinks were opened on October 31, 2014 with the first of back to back games between Canisius and Ohio State which resulted in a 3–3 tie, and games involving the Buffalo Jr. Sabres 16U and 18U teams.[citation needed]
Annually, on the weekend of Veterans Day, the Buffalo Sabres Thunder, a special needs hockey team, hosts a tournament known as the Buffalo Fall Festival at The Rinks.[citation needed]
In 2015, the NHL Scouting Combine was moved from Toronto to Harborcenter under a two-year pact. Buffalo also hosted the NHL Entry Draft in 2016. The NHL subsequently announced that it would continue to hold the combine in Buffalo through at least 2019.[23][24] The 2015 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships were held at Harborcenter.[25]
From June 22 to July 3, 2017, rink 1 hosted a charity event known as 11 Day Power Play, which set a world record for the longest continuous hockey game.[28] It has since become an annual event at Harborcenter.
