WEST SENECA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Rumors are swirling that Costco could be coming to the old Seneca Mall site in West Seneca.
The West Seneca Chamber of Commerce would not confirm or deny rumors of a Costco coming to town but said a "national discount store" will be built.
"There's definitely a lot of excitement," said Cheri Forsythe, Community Development Coordinator for the West Seneca Chamber of Commerce. "We are very excited that there's a developer that's doing something with the property."
That developer is The Benchmark Group. Martin DelleBovi is Benchmark's Executive Vice President and Director of Real Estate.
While there are rumors of a Costco being built at the site, DelleBovi said nothing is definitive yet. He said they are speaking to a number of national retailers.
"We've been waiting for a long time and I think all of West Seneca is really excited about it," said Forsythe. "We can say that we know it's a national discount store that's going in there, but other than that we do not have any definitive information to give out as far as who it is."
Tops is next door, and Wegmans is across the street. Walmart, Target, Dollar General, and BJ's wouldn't make sense as they're all within five miles of the site.
Online public documentsfor the site have traffic reports and mention rezoning to allow for gas pumps and drive-thru options. However, DelleBovi said that's not an indicator of what is coming to the site. They just want to be approved for it so an incoming tenant can have those options.
DelleBovi said there's room for about seven to twelve medium to large retailers, and the goal is to "start moving dirt" sometime between October and November. DelleBovi said it's still very early in the process. Next is a town planning board meeting on April 10 in West Seneca. Site planning will take place after that.
Earlier this week West Seneca Town Supervisor Gary Dickson joined Voices to discuss development plans. You can watch the full conversation below.
