Real Estate April 7, 2010 9:30 AM

Our Lady of Lourdes Purchased

WCPerspective 12

Ellicott Development's 9274 Group Inc. bought the Our Lady of Lourdes church at 1115 Main Street yesterday for $40,000 from 1115 Main Street Inc. Last July, the firm purchased the adjacent convent and school from Prayer & Praise Fellowships Inc. for $370,000. The circa-1898 church near Best Street was closed in 1993.

The two-story rectory and three-story school total just under 30,000 sq.ft. on a .63 acre lot. This stretch of Main Street has seen a significant uptick in developer interest lately. The site is on the edge of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and the Midtown areas.

Ellicott's plans for the property are not known, but after purchasing the convent and school The Buffalo News reported the company "plans to develop the property for other uses" and "is working with a couple of possible occupants for the school."

Entry Image: Bing Maps Streetside

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Comments

12 Comments Leave a comment

sho'nuff

April 7, 2010 8:55 AM

Great news for a highly neglected section of Main Street.

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PaulBuffalo

April 7, 2010 9:23 AM

Maybe Mr. Paladino will use the place for his tea party headquarters.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/06/carl-paladino-tea-party-f_n_527645.html

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WisdomFirst

June 21, 2010 7:09 AM

They won't need that much room since there is no real agenda or purpose of the tea party other than to complain.

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On Richmond

April 7, 2010 9:34 AM

The tragedy about this building is the absence of an interior. Every item of any value has been stripped from the interior. Gone are every window & door & their frames. Also, missing is every element of the choir loft, including the stairs to it. Every piece of decorative plaster is gone. Even the marble floors are destroyed from being attempts at removing, square by square. A small fragment of a mural is all that remains of the artwork. What you see on the outside is all that remains.

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Travelrrr

April 7, 2010 9:37 AM

exactly what they are going to do with St. Gerard's.

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replied to On Richmond

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Travelrrr

April 7, 2010 9:36 AM

we are so proud. Can Carl PLEASE fix the whole in the roof of/safeguard the Greystone before taking on more projects?!??!?!!??!?!??

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Chris

April 7, 2010 9:59 AM

List price was almost 200K

http://www.huntcommercial.com/property/detail.php?id=54634

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david(fixBuffalo)

April 7, 2010 11:03 AM

Here's a recent post with pics and links. The interior pics (follow the link) are from the September 2008 auction.

http://fixbuffalo.blogspot.com/2010/01/lourdes-on-main-street-for-sale-again.html

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urban_bmm

April 7, 2010 1:32 PM

After seeing this vacant structure just sit for so many years, I hope something positive comes out of the new development. My spatial focus since moving to Buffalo has been Main Street. Not growing up here, I have never understood why a comprehensive design strategy has not taken root to bring it back. Main Street today serves as a symbol of a divide between East and West. Once the symbol is changed, Buffalo can have a rebirth as a welcoming city and then serve potentially a model for urban renaissance elsewhere.

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Verdan

April 7, 2010 6:53 PM

Some people had hoped the subway would 'revitalize' Main Street, but that didn't work out. Too bad the European transit experts, which the NFTA paid to study Buffalo, were ignored - they advised NOT to build a subway.

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replied to urban_bmm

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tjhorner1

April 7, 2010 9:56 PM

I looked at this building to purchase about 5 years ago, and the asking price was $60k. It was actually listed with a residential Realtor at the time. Funny to hear that it spike to $200k.

The interior of this building was an absolute disaster. I've got a ton of pictures, if anyone is interested in seeing them. Not sure if there is anywhere that I can post them for full public access. If you are interested, just drop me a PM with your email, and I'll send them your way.

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informedone

April 8, 2010 3:53 PM