Niagara Hotel project set to be restarted after pandemic kills funding

Ed Riley was sure his $42 million effort to revive the historic Niagara Hotel was ready to go four years ago.

He already had a deal to buy the century-old building in Niagara Falls from the state agency that owned it.

He had all the government and regulatory approvals he needed to renovate the historic structure. He had obtained tax breaks for the project.

And he had planned the financing.

“That’s how far along we were with the project,” the Syracuse developer said.

At the end of the month, the Covid-19 pandemic was worsening. Within weeks, lockdowns were in place. The economy was teetering on the brink of uncertainty, the hospitality sector was struggling, and lenders and investors were pulling back.

Soon after, Riley’s funding dried up, and with it, any hope of the project getting off the ground.

It took almost four years before Riley got a second chance.

“No one was watching anything, because we had our ups and downs during the pandemic,” Riley recalls. “Hospitality was so affected that no one knew what was going to happen.”

In the meantime, Riley did not lose hope and conditions finally changed about eight to ten months ago. Since then, he and his team at Brine Wells Development have been working to rebuild his Humpty-Dumpty financing.

(RELATED: Photo gallery of the Niagara Hotel in Niagara Falls)

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