Credit Union's Redesign Approved

"smoked glass" That's so 1970's. We can do a lot better.

I'm sure it's still going to be surounded by parking, too.

Where is the City's Planning Department? Don't they have any say in this? This is junk, especially for downtown.

but first rate for Niagara Falls Blvd!

kind of amazing that Buffalo Niagara is getting a Yahoo Data Center and now a Solar Manufacturing Plant....both very high tech and both high wage...yet the new story on Buffalo Rising is an addition to a credit union?

Good news!

Great improvement!

LOL! it looks like a Walgreen's with a 24hr drive through pharmacy.

These designs are a reaction to ridiculous architectural guidelines and New Urbanist expectations. What was just quiet apathy(very 1970s), is now absurd placation(very 2000s).

You mean that wasn't a H.U.D. office?

terrific? really... have our collective values really sunken so low that we hang on every morsal of approval from the "planning" board?

lets re-fashion this post, this is a non discript (bordering on ugly) building, that renovated, will not change. Why should we care and comment on this...

Yahoo is breaking ground in ONE month, and they expect the building to be completed by May. If they were looking to do something like this in the city, there is no way they could break ground in even 6 months, what with all they red tape and 'studies' and all the other BS they would have to go through.

It's Buffalo Rising, not Lockport Rising. Remember anything on this site that takes place one foot outside the city line is off limits. You people leave me no choice but to report you to the BRO moderators.

With regards to the design, it looks fine to me, I don't get where you people see the 70's in the new design. The existing building looks more like a product of the late 60's early 70's if anything.

The Planning Department can only enforce whats adopted and on the books, and can make plans for the future and identify implementation strategies to guide the ship. The planning department shouldnt be allowed to willy nilly be armchair architacts and strongarm applicants proposing new development, they might make suggestions. If its a by-right development the developer needs to comply to ordinances and building codes including fire safety etc. If there are no adopted design standards prohibiting things like smoked windows then its a private business decision and frankly i'm ok with that. The last thing we want is such a strict arhitectural design guideline in all sectors of the city. Its understandible in historic districts or in designated overlays but certainly not city-wide. It is what it is, cities are meant to be dynamic and diverse.

Data centers, (its not an "office"), have very specific site and building design requirements to meet energy and security (including earthquake and weather protection) needs.

Check out HSBC's bunker style facility on Park Club Lane in Williamsville. Soil is bermed against the exterior walls. Security fencing surrounds that. They've ameliorated it with landscaping, but its not something you want in a downtown. In a industrial park, maybe.

The Planning Board is made up of citizens, many with little experience with issues like urban design and architecture.
They are the ones that follow the law, and should not be choosing colors (the Pitts' hotel)and windows.

Building massing, design and aesthetic things should be established by the Planning Department. If these standards aren't in place they should be ( I don't think the zoning code allows dark glass, anyway).

The Planning Department,should, in theory, have the expertise that the Planning Board does not have. And they should be helping determine the "look" of downtown buildings.

I'm going to guess this will get finished before, oh - let's say - the Rock Harbor Commons!!

Looks good, def. an improvement.

Can someone explain to me what aluminum windows with smoked glass are? Never heard of it.

Aluminum windows with "smoked glass" are what you see in cheap strip malls, circa 1970.

The dark glass is held in place by hollow aluminum framing that is approximately 2 inches wide.

Unfortunately the dark glass hides what's going on inside, thus setting the building apart from the streetscape and the pedestrian. This is basic urban design 101, but many local architects don't seem to understand this.

The Yahoo! facility is being located in the Town of Lockport Industrial Park which is next to the Delphi Harrion plant which denotes the Lockport City Line (which the city is developed up to.)

I'd have liked to see it in the city but a big source of the building layout is the need for prevailing winds to cool the building etc so I'm not so sure about laying it inside the City of Lockport somewhere. (There shouldn't even be a city with a separate town rung around it to begin with)But for where it is, it is a lot more centrally located than the proposed HSBC data center that was going to go out in Pendleton somewhere.

Lockport is 25 mins from the Galleria. Not all that far away. It is urban with same trials that the city of Buffalo has but on a smaller scale. Luckily though most of the housing stock is still intact and the DT had become more built out over the past 5 years making it ripe for a rebirth.

And yeah, I live there and complain to the mayor about the same urban issues that appear here. ;)

I would like to know if Buffalo and various sites in Erie County ever get considered for projects like Yahoo. When the big ruckus was raised recently about the NYPA's power allotment policies for new development, all the projects that were lost because the NYPA couldn't meet the projects' needs were either in Niagara Falls (Whacker Chemical) or the exurbs of Rochester (Google and the steel manufacturing facility). The solar power manufacturer that was awarded an allotment yesterday by the NYPA is looking for sites in WNY. Does Kucharski and the BNE even bother to show prospective companies the Lakeside Commerce Park or do they just take them directly to James Allen's office?

When you build something, you must follow certain laws and requirements. Call it a "forcible mandate" if you like, but we have zoning laws for a reason: to make sure we get the kinds of developments that are attractive and beneficial to the city.

Buffalo is (finally) capitalizing on its many architectural assets, including its radial plan, historic building fabric, etc. A mediocre building in the middle of a parking lot is not an asset. The Planning Department is supposed to make sure good projects get built. In my opinion, this is not a good project for downtown, and that's why I ask the question: Where was the Planning Department?

It is no coincidence that those places with the most stringent zoning laws are the most vibrant and successful: see Elmwood Village.

Now lets not be so narrow-minded here. We need to understand that the City of Buffalo is part of the Western New York region and not allowing stories on this website just because they are outside the city limits is narrow-minded and idiotic. If Buffalo is ever to successfully revive as a major city, then we have to reimagine Buffalo as not only the 42 square mile city but also its surrounding metropolitan region as well. As for Yahoo.com locating in Lockport, I think that is a great idea and Lockport is an economically distressed city that needs new investment and employment. Putting something like that in downtown Buffalo makes absolutely no sense and why should everything be in downtown Buffalo in the first place? There are other cities and communities in our region that are very needy and economically challenged, not just Buffalo city proper. Saying that Lockport is not part of WNY is the equivalent of saying Niagara Falls is not part of WNY. A development like Yahoo would not be appropriate for downtown Buffalo in the first place because of the type of business operation. It requires a suburban style development in order to succeed. So lets stop wishing ill will upon other WNY cities and communities just because they managed to tap into some economic success.

So is that a genuine second story or not?

This is clearly a much better incarnation than the current one. Kudos to the credit union.

Given the footprint of the existing building, as OutsidetheBox notes, what exactly could they have done which would have been so much more dramatic and creative? I think this is a nice upgrade.