Ellicott Development Company came under heavy criticism in Sunday's News regarding outstanding code violations on two of its downtown properties. According to Ellicott's Chief Executive Officer William Paladino, the company has development plans for both the Greystone Hotel and Fairmont Creamery. Each has taken longer to develop than the company had intended however.
The future of the Greystone Hotel at 24 S. Johnson Park in the West Village has been a sore spot for neighborhood residents and many Buffalo Rising readers for years. Opened in 1897, the former Berkeley Hotel was designed by Carlton Strong. The columned building is an early example of reinforced concrete construction and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
It was purchased by Ellicott Development in 2002 with plans to convert the complex into a market-rate apartment building. Work came to a halt after a worker fell through an upper floor while gutting the property. Several redevelopment plans for the property have been floated since, including one by developer Rocco Termini, none moving off the drawing board.
Ellicott has revived plans to convert the building into residences albeit with smaller, more affordable units than earlier planned. William Paladino says the company has been working on plans for about a year and has had to redesign the project to "work with what is there" rather than reconfiguring the building's layout to create larger units.
Earlier plans called for 28 upscale units in the building. That plan was stalled by the inability to obtain financing. The current plan is primarily driven by the unique construction of the building. Both the exterior and interior walls are reinforced concrete.
"It's been a process," says Paladino. He says that asbestos abatement work is complete and interior demolition has been performed on several of the floors, saving what's usable. Engineers are currently working on a plan to stabilize the building so that interior demolition can proceed on the weakened upper floors. Paladino estimates that architecture and engineering work has cost about $200,000 to date.
"We expect to have the building lay out complete by the end of March," says Paladino. "Units will be smaller than we usually do. Prices will be in the $1,000 to $1,400 range, not the $1,200 to $2,000 originally planned."
Paladino expects actual construction work will begin by June but adds that the engineers will dictate the timeline. One concept being considered is adding a courtyard on the building's sixth floor where the hole is now in the roof. Paladino says it would not only be a building amenity, it would also lighten the load on the building's structure.
"We got the building in terrible shape," says Paladino noting that the structural integrity of the building was already compromised when it was purchased, worse than the company had anticipated. The building's bad condition and some "poor demolition supervision" by a previous general contractor led to the collapse of the roof.
"We inherited the problems and we're dealing with it," says Paladino.
Fairmont Creamery
Plans for the Fairmont Creamery are less certain. The eight-story building at 199 Scott Street occupies a prominent site along the I-190 in the Cobblestone District. Ellicott has owned the 120,000 sq.ft. property since 2001 and has gutted the property to prepare it for reuse. The former cold storage facility is located across from the stalled casino project and Ellicott is holding off on finalizing plans for the property until the future of the Seneca Buffalo Creek casino is settled.
"We have plans for offices, apartments and potentially hotel rooms in the building," says Paladino. "It's been on hold since work on the casino stopped. The casino is driving the timing of it."
"We think it's a great structure," adds Paladino. "It could go all office, but the neighborhood is not ready for the number of units an all-residential structure would bring."
Get Connected: Ellicott Development Company, 716.854.0060
Really great buildings, both of them. The greystone is an off the beaten path "tucked away" gem off Delaware. Great facade!