Central Park Plaza Sold- Reuse Planned

All too often Buffalo is being victimized by these do nothing out of town land lords

Ah the days of Murphy's, Mr. Seconds, Famous Doughnuts, Bells the little drive through photo booth. Good times.

But this place has long since outlived its usefulness. Demo it and let nature take its course.

The site was a quarry for the Onandaga Limestone that serves as the foundation stones for thousands of Buffalo homes.
BTW...It was a quarry, not a mine...

I'm showing my age, but I used to ride my bike over there many of the stores...Western Auto, Murphy's, Kresges, I.D.S.. Even in the early 70's it was getting to be a dangerous place for kids to ride their bikes.

The City missed another opportunity. $800,000??? Chump change for 29acres. The city should have bought it, demolished it and created another urban green space. Throw some basketball courts here and there, skate park . . . too bad.

Considering location I think its a great price. The Central Terminal was once turned over for a dollar and some back taxes wasn't it? Nothing near $800K. Demo and land bank this plaza.

On another note what was used to fill in the quarry?

The city already owns plenty of property, there is no need for them to buy more.

In 2008 I was scoping-out several sites for the HEAL-6 grant and Central Park was being considered for a primary care center which was to be in the former Rite Aid building (next to the former Murphy’s) and had been renovated for a Baptist Church which had vacated for their new site directly across the street.

There was an on-site custodian at that time who mentioned there were very few problems but, since the entire site was already vacated, I am sure there would be few problems.

I was, literally, welcomed into the hood by one of the local brothers who was interested in what I was doing, plus, being a white guy not looking for drugs or prostitutes and did not drive a BMW must have been an oddity as well.

The proposal was scrapped because Kaleida was proposing to building a similar center only a block away but, to my knowledge, this never happened either.

Shame for the area but it seems to be the eventual fate for the inner city.

The other two sites were Black Rock and the First Ward on Louisiana Street, the latter is the only one that actually happened only because there was already a primary care located at this site.

My former supervisor took full credit for the proposal work even though, after dumping the project in my lap, went on vacation, not once but twice…

Always wondered why the word “plagiarism” is not used in engineering?

"but as a result of the failure of its owners to maintain the site, the tenants left..."

I'm fairly certain most tenants would have left even if the plaza had been kept in pristine condition. It's location (rough neighborhood and awkward to get to) are it's two biggest negatives.

I worked in this plaza for many years, from the time when it was almost fully occupied to 3 years ago, when my company finally closed their location. Reason: the roof was leaking so badly, we had to place buckets around and the plumbing was constantly backing up. The Canadian owners were impossible to contact or ignored calls from our corporation. The potholes in the lot bacame so bad, one had to serpentine through the lot to get to work to avoid flat tires and alignment problems. Once, I was daydreaming, drove through one, and my front bumper was moved two inches.
However, never did we feel as though we were in an unsafe location. Surrounded by the Mahhattan St Post Office and new housing, a rather well kept neighborhood to Leroy St, a newly built mega-church and the Bennett Village Housing, this area could be a major place for development. Just a short walk to Main St and the Amherst Metro Station is also a major plus.
Best of luck to the new owners. $800,000 seems like a steal for this prime piece of property

$800,000 for 29 acres? This is like getting the land for free. I would expect that the developer can do some really nice things with this property.

Huge news for this neighborhood. The blight of that plaza has had a direct effect on the decline of the Leroy/Highland Park neighborhood.

Employment-based uses - back office, flex-space, logistics - should be prioritized over any retail or residential use. In a neighborhood with a 20% housing vacancy and little demand for retail, jobs are what is needed most.

RRRumsey -- It’s nice to see your positive, first-hand experience comments about the CPP area. Too often people malign or discount places from conjecture and possibly unconscious bias.

I lived at 21 Wade Avenue 1946-1949. Notice on Google Earth that the house is decrepit. Is it occupied? Some others nearby seem well kept.

If residential is built there, don't be surprised if it's gated. No big deal, gates and perimeter fencing can always be removed years later, but it's a sad fact that this location will be a hard sell otherwise. The NW corner could be immediately developed as commercial. But again, that could mean anything from fast food to a gated office compound.

I forsee heavy subsidies in developing this area...a risky venture at best....with the violent history of this neighborhood...any one wanting to do anything with this property...retail or resiedential...will really need some heavy economic subsidies for motivation...IDA anyone??