Signs of life continue to spring up in downtown Buffalo. The latest involve the Cobblestone District and plans by Samuel Savarino, of Savarino Construction Services Corp., and Christopher Jacobs, of Avalon Development, to breathe life into vacant industrial buildings.

This is a $15 million project that will remake the vacant Benlin Distribution Services complex, which consists of five buildings located along Mississippi Street, between Perry Street and South Park Avenue, a block east of HSBC Arena. The phased project will begin with the conversion of a five-story warehouse building at Mississippi and Perry into a 30- to 40-unit luxury apartment or condominium building. Plans are to turn the first floor of the residential structure into a restaurant. And the one-story building directly behind on Mississippi Street will be torn down to create private garages for the residents.

Later, a four-story building a few doors away will be converted into an office complex, and a dilapidated loading dock will be converted to an enclosed parking structure for the office workers. And a one-story brick building in the middle of the block is set for retail use.

This area of the city has seen its share of plans that never come through. HSBC Arena was supposed to have spawned development, but that never happened. And while Buffalo is used to seeing plans that sound good but seldom reach fruition, this may not fall into that category.

For one thing, other than the usual tax enticements for locating in development zones, this project is not based on an infusion of government money. For another, both Jacobs and Savarino have built solid records for developing sites in and near downtown. In addition, the expected

entrance of Bass Pro to the neighborhood adds to the excitement and, even though the developers have said that it did not influence their decision, the prospect of possibly 5 million people traveling to the area doesn't hurt.

Other developers have found success downtown in recent years, and there is every reason to believe that Savarino and Jacobs will follow suit.