Two to tackle on Trinity

What's the deal with the "for sale" signs from two different real estate agencies on the glass block building? I see that in Buffalo a lot; signs from two or more agencies on a commercial building.

To get information on these properties, try a Google search on their addresses: 42 Trinity Place Buffalo NY and 44 Trinity Place Buffalo NY. The asking price on the corner property is $150,000.

The corner building may be a tough sell but I suspect the second building, with its Eastlake details, may be appealing especially with the former commercial building, located directly across the street, as an example of what could be accomplished.

Is this a dual package deal?

The brick house is amazing...great street with alot of potential

Does anyone know if this is considered Allentown and subject to any preservation restrictions? As much as those restricitons help preserve neighborhoods (which I'm for) it also deters would-be buyers. It can be a double edged sword but given this prime locale I would imagine this little stretch willsee some investment in the near future.

The asking price is probably too high too given the work needed. The only way my house was feasible 2 blocks south is because the last owner was realistic in her asking price given the work needed.

It does surprise me that this street is still so un-touched when you have so much investment happening just west of Richmond. I would think this street would have see that resurgence before there.

These are both one property and are connected. I used to live on the street and have been inside.

buffaloroam is correct, the houses are connected. if midtown mike is correct you get both addresses for $150,000. the property has been for sale a minimum of 21/2 years. i know of one potential buyer who passed when he found out that 44 was part of the deal.

brownteeth- yes and yes, trinity is considered part of allentown and subject to preservation restrictions. west tupper, one block south, is not.

Brownteenth ─ info in Buffalo Preservation's E-newsletter states that the Allentown District has been expanded. It mentioned the increase in the amount of properties that are now included but did not indicate the street names of the new boundaries.

The BP mentioned that ". . . for over 30 years, there have been two Allentown districts: 1.) the Buffalo Historic District and 2.) a subset that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 2009, the Allentown Association has been leading the effort to make the Buffalo and National Register historic district boundaries the same: One Allentown.”

Back to your question ─ it had been previously reported that Virginia was one of the boundaries. However, that might be only the portion of Virginia at Elmwood Ave. The part that curves toward Niagara St., I think, was excluded.

If Virginia/Elmwood is the case, Trinity falls a guesstimate of 200 feet or so shy of the old borders.

They have actually been for sale for at least 4 years now. I went through them before moving on to another project. The way that the glass block building is setup on the corner requires a total gut on the inside and would be difficult to divide for either housing or several different business'. The house isn't in much better shape, the inside has already been reconfigured from the original layout and has a lot of damage throughout. The roof is in need of a total tear off including some of the rafters that are broke. The properties are owned by Salvatore Buscarino of Sammy's Auto who also owns the vacant land next to them.

RE: asking price.

Sometimes the asking price for a property is closely related to the selling price. Other times, not so much.

If the asking price for whatever property you're shopping is too high, offer whatever you want instead. What's the worst that can happen? Someone can say 'no'. Big deal.

preservation standards remind me of the classic "onion" story:

"98% of u.s. commuters favor public transit for others".

everyone likes standards when they apply to the guy next door. no one likes them when they apply to you.

When we talk about historic districts being expanded, I feel like a lot of people don't realize what that does or does not imply, so I want to mention it here. Allentown is a local and a national historic district. Being a local district can be limiting in the sense that you have to go through the Buffalo Preservation Board for changes, though that can be a good thing because the neighborhood is kept from changing in unexpected ways so property values are kept stable, if slightly lower in some cases because people are hesitant to buy there. National district status actually carries no limitations on how a building can be changed by a private owner, and it automatically qualifies the owner for a rebate of up to 40% of the renovation/restoration costs from the state and federal governments, though there is a lot of paperwork involved and some restrictions on how the building can be modified if you go that route.

These aren't being bought because, as several people mentioned, this area is already very pricey. The owners don't want to take into account the properties aren't worth the cash when compared to the amount of money that would need to go towards renovations. They would rather let it sit ugly and empty for a decade than sell it for something more reasonable. I see this all over Elmwood Village and Allentown, more so with store fronts people are unwilling to compromise the rent on even though few tenants could afford to keep the business open just starting out in a slow economy. In five or ten years Amherst in Black Rock will be like this. Right now everyone can snatch up a great building at such a low cost renovations aren't a big concern, but the hipper it becomes the more people will ask for until it's no longer reasonable to fix the thing after you've paid the purchase price. It's a sad side effect of gentrification.