The Lafayette Hotel and Brisbane Building have canopied entryways along Washington Street. Not to be outdone, the former AM&As Department Store has added some street bling as well. This latest addition to the streetscape is about safety and not aesthetics however. Scaffolding has been placed along the sidewalk of the vacant building to protect pedestrians from a crumbling facade.
The 350,000 sq.ft. former department store is owned by Roslyn Heights-based New Horizons Acquisitions LLC. The development company purchased the property in September 2006 for $2,050,000 and announced a $60 million project to convert it into a mix of 180 apartments and ground floor retail.
City officials had been pressing New Horizons in Housing Court to move forward with redevelopment plans for the imposing downtown building. New Horizons previously undertook emergency façade 'work' in 2007 when masonry began raining onto sidewalks. Workers secured the store and warehouse buildings by chipping away loose terra cotta tile and bricks.
The main store complex, five historic buildings that were combined over time, has been a conundrum for a line of developers that have eyed AM&A's and walked away. The most recent was Rocco Termini who had been planning a mixed-use converstion for the property.
Earlier this year the City removed a crumbling chimney from the building as an emergency measure.
That sidewalk scaffolding has actually been there for a few years. Check out the Google Street View from September 2011:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=42.884324,-78.873724&spn=0.00219,0.003793&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=42.884324,-78.873724&panoid=gJPB2imHXL74lTGgbf8_ew&cbp=12,317.92,,0,-1.27
It was gone for a while. See here:
http://www.buffalorising.com/2012/12/brisbane-gets-some-cover.html
I got so used to seeing the scaffolding in place that it seemed like it was there all this time. Is it possible the building is in the process of being sold and the return of the scaffolding is the start of some work being done to the facade? I've recently noticed the "For Sale" sign that was on the Washington St side is gone.
A sale to a capable developer would be fantastic.
What happened to Termini and his 'Big Announcement' after the sale of this fell through. I know he is doing FWS but that sounds more like lofts than anything else. I thought he had commercial interests that needed space like yesterday? I think this building is still in play.....
A lot depends on whether or not the Governor includes an expanded historic tax credit system in the budget (due out any day now). I have no clue whether Rocco is capable of, or would want to handle two big projects at once. He he can/does, then go get 'em Rocco
Nothing can beat the scaffolding around Police HQ. That scaffolding has been there for years. Pretty ridiculous.
All of the scaffolding was finally removed around Buffalo Police Headquarters a few months ago. I guess it was there to protect the public from the asbestos that was present in the caulking around the old windows.
"The contract with Ajay Glass, for Emergency Window Replacement at Police Headquarters, was increased by $176,272 for removal and disposal of asbestos caulk at all the window openings. The contract was initially awarded in the amount of $477,800 and with this change the contract will increase to $654,072."
http://www.buffalorising.com/2012/07/common-council-items-of-interest-july-10-2012.html