Lafayette Hotel Joins National Register

Any word on when renovations will start? This place is the wedding cake of buildings downtown and will be a huge draw. Rocco Termini's one stop wedding plans for the building will be a clear winner. I would still like to see the original lobby instead of the art deco.

Work will not start until Termini gets the HUGE welfare check from us, the taxpayers. Corporate welfare and cronyism at it's worse. Thank god there is a lawsuit in the wings to stop this project if he does get the welfare grant.

Would someone ask Antoine Thompson, Sam Hoyt, Stachowski, Schimminger or any of the other incumbents where our NYS Star Tax Rebate went? I would like to know if my former property rebate is now financing the get rich development schemes of Rocko Termini and crowd? I cannot prove it but when my tax break disappears and the businessman gets a new tax break, it looks to me like a "quid pro quo." Maybe campaign contributions work for some people but unfortunately not for the homeowner.

Thompson is probably spending money slated for development on his campaign for state senate.

Accusing Termini of waiting for a "welfare' check is idiodic (sally). ASK THE PEOPLE OF ORCHARD PARK, LANCASTER, CALRENCE ETC HOW MUCH MONEY THEY SPEND OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN...

Maybe then you'll realize why anything not funded by taxpayer money would end up as a huge loss no matter what. Taxpayer money should absolutely pay for this renovation because the majority of people who's taxes will go to the project are the reason why the city and downtown are in such dire straits.

Think logically before you post

You can't accuse Rocco for properly going about working the system. If you don't like the fact that the government has chosen to help developers re-use buildings that have a historical and cultural significance within their community, then take it up in November when elections hit. The fact of the matter is that just about every project, new, rehab or re-use gets some type of tax credit, tax break or incentive. That's not the developer's fault.

This is going to be an absolutely phenomenal project once it gets going and is finished. The architecture firm Rocco's working with has done some really cool stuff throughout Buffalo

One step forward... Lets hope that Patterson signs the bill and we can move forward with this project.

I'm suprised the "welfare check" crowd is on today. I would expect them to be at the Glen Beck rally "restoring our liberties" or whatever they are doing today in DC.

What does most of the new development downtown consist of?
Answer: hotel rooms

Do you see any new office buildings going up downtown?
Answer: No, though office space is expanding in the Larkin District.

So who is going to be filling these hotel rooms?

Dont want to kick a dead horse but so many people are complaining of corporate give aways. The role of government is infrastructure and the problem with government is your tax money is going to non-productive patronage and big government civil service unions instead of productive infrastructure ... and the money that is spent on infrastructure is diluted because of sprawl.

The fate of downtown as a retail, residential, office, entertainment, etc..district will not change until at the very least the airport is connected to downtown.

Termini has an excellent record and deserves it. His projects are like resuscitators jump starting dead districts back to life.

You are at the same time saying hotel rooms are not needed then in the next sentance ssyng Terminal deserves our tax dollars to build more rooms. That is just kookie logic.

I am curious: How much money does NYS spend on historic rehab projects? How much in total? How much per taxpayer?

These buildings are more expensive to rehab, generally speaking, than knocking them down and building something modern. Modern structures also usually function more efficiently than old structures. On the one hand, the public, gain something from their rehab. Integrating these aged beauties into our environment enriches, imo. BUT . . .

I am sympathetic to Sally's complaint that the bulk of the benefit from public tax dollars goes to individual developers, the kind of earners who would seem least to need it. Making the rich richer is hardly the ideal use of public resources . . .

Which brings me back to wondering how much it really costs the rest of us. Is it $1/taxpayer/yr? $10? $100? What's the ballpark? Anybody know?

If we're going to call it welfare, I'd prefer to at least see the money used on a project that needs the extra help and can benefit the rest of the city by using it.

The plans for the Lafayette can improve the area and the city. It's a better use of taxpayer money than throwing it at some suburban parking lot strip mall office complex that only benefits the company who builds it. That's the kind of waste that got us INTO this mess!

If a developer can afford the project without help, then incentives are the way to go, not handouts. But if it takes a handout to bring a return on the investment, then so be it. Better than stuffing the money under a mattress in an abandoned building where it won't do ANYbody any good...

As littleacorn said above, NY state has eliminated STAR property tax rebates. Millions of state residents are paying more due to that. Also the state sales tax on clothing was started again in this year's budget deal. Millions of residents will be paying more due to that. Last year NYS raised car registration fees and raised taxes on car insurance.

While broad-based statewide taxes go up and up, some of you want to see even more financial benefits going to a few developers and finance companies they work with.

i'm much happier seeing tax incentives used to put existing assets back into service, such as the lafayette, than to underwrite redundant infrastructure out in greenfields (i.e. suburban sprawl) that a shrinking population cannot support.