Hormoz Mansouri has wanted to do something big with a property he has owned for more than 13 years on Buffalo's East Side. Now he's going to get his chance.

Mansouri, owner of architectural and development firm EI Team, received approval from the Buffalo Planning Board Monday night to construct a five-story apartment building with ground-floor retail shops near the former Central Park Plaza just off Main Street. That would replace a vacant former bowling alley at the site.

With the final approval in hand, the developer now plans to obtain permits and begin asbestos abatement and demolition on the site, before starting construction by year-end, if the weather permits. He said he hopes to complete work within 18 months.

The project at 47 E. Amherst St., expected to cost $24 million to $28 million, entails 174 apartments – primarily one-bedroom units of 668 square feet – that were intended for affordable senior housing, but will also be aimed at employees of both University at Buffalo and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

The U-shaped building would also feature 34,000 square feet of retail space. That would include a planned anchor grocery store that would occupy more than half of that, at 18,000 to 20,000 square feet.