Buffalorising has been redesigned.

I walk past this building daily while walking the dog, the set up is perfect for townhome style apartments and or condo's. With all the vacant warehouses and vast amounts of industrial space in the greater Buffalo area, please explain to me why yet another piece of history needs to be pulled down in one of the largest historic districts in the nation to make way for shipping and recieving?

with all the vacant houses and apartment buildings in buffalo, why shouldn't we open this area up for business expansion? We would jump all over the opportunity to build lofts and condos, but we throw up the warning flags as soon as a business wants to build or expand.

With reactionary residents like you, it is no wonder that many businesses have moved to the suburbs.

So let me see if I have this straight. We want to build an urban framework of quaint lofts and condos, built in renovated factories, churches and other buildings. We want to see litle dog-friendly boutiques, quaint shops and cute restaurants lining our neighborhoods. We want proprietor operated speciality shops, and we hate anything that has more than three locations or has a parent office in another city. We don't like franchises and chain stores, especially if they want to build new structures in the city. We do not support business expansion, unless it involves moving an existing business from the suburbs, and we will cream ourselves if they move to the Larkin Exchange or into one of our newly developed spaces. We do not support change for business, but we celebrate all new residential developments.

As far as most are concerned, we should leave everything as is or rebuild it to reflect the landscape of the past. Don't build anything over 10 stories, lest you block someone's view in theadjacent building. Don't tear anything down, and don't expand.

I guess the ideal is to just move all the suburban families from Amherst and Orchard Park to tiny lofts in the city (hey, they do that in Europe so it must be good), and then maybe the jobs will follow. Suburban companies will have to find office space where they can as long as they don't build anything new.

Here is an idea, let's make the entire city a historic preservation district. That way we can preserve all the factories, brown fields, decayed structures and unusable silos. Keep everything as it is until a few mega-billionaires notice the charm of historic Buffalo in an overly modernized developed country. They will swoop in and build museums in grain silos and lofts along Jefferson Ave.

Get real. We need to invoke change in all sectors, throughout the city and especially close to downtown. We need to build, refurbish, tear down and renovate. We need to do a lot of work, in every category, if we want to see this city grow again, and yes this includes letting businesses expand into spaces like the one mentioned above.

Perhaps COA's idea of turning the ENTIRE CITY into a "historicc preservation district" is an idea that should be explored!

Let's make the city of Buffalo a "Museum of Architecture." (or at least the lovely parts that have avoided the wrecking ball) That way, like-minded people can work together to preserve history and "developers" can add to the suburban sprawl unfettered in any way!

Industry will never return in a way to boost the economy but "CULTURAL TOURISM" is on the rise.

So let's embrace the arts & culture for economic development and leave "progress" to the burbs!

Could someone post a photo of 401? Or , even better, another shot of 399 and 401 side by side. Thanks.

COA –

I don’t think that this article is particularly complaining about the proposed design. I understand what your rant is based on, but I’m not sure it applies here.

Nobody is saying to never build or rebuild anything. However, if you’ve ever seen the endless lists and pictures of majestic and irreplaceable buildings that have been torn down to accommodate “progress” in Buffalo, you might be singing a different tune.

Here are some excellent examples to browse:
http://wnyheritagepress.org/photographs/photographs.htm

Architecture IS what Buffalo has going for it. In response to your comment about chain stores:
“We don't like franchises and chain stores, especially if they want to build new structures in the city”

Have you ever seen a chain store or chain restaurant generate pride in a community? Have they ever been particularly creative, or strived to become part of the community in which they locate? Bass Pro was giving the image that it actually wanted to become part of the Buffalo community. If not for the sake of the Aud, then for your own pride should you be telling Bass Pro to buzz off for giving your city the business-relationship equivalent of the middle finger. They can build somewhere else in the city, and don’t have to demolish an architectural asset to do it (or get tens of millions of dollars in incentives to do it). And yes, small and locally owned businesses are preferable because they have a vested interest in the health of the city.

Beware the blackmail or false dichotomy, which we've been succumbing to for decades: We must demolish this old building or someone will go out of business.

Nonsense.

Those are not the only two choices. There are Empire Zones, pre-existing vacant buildings, and vacant lots galore for business expansion. We've torn down enough that we can profitably, yes, profitably, put a halt to it and continue the wonderful revitalization that has been entirely dependent on what "obstructionists" saved.

Pretty sad if you ask me. Is this the best Buffalo can do?

Can we even count the number of times a business HAD to knock something down for expansion, but then was gone within a few years anyway?

Example: the twin Eberhardt mansions, at Kenmore & Delaware. The nursing home insisted one of them had to go, so they could expand. A few years later, they were out of business, the nursing home annex became a u-store-it, and the 2nd mansion is a parking lot.

what about the site kitty corner to the back of his site. He would have to get an easement from the church / apartment building to connect it directly to his building but maybe it would be easier then demolishing an existing structure.

That little street already has to deal with Artvoice's shipping entrance so it wouldn't be anything new to the neighbors. If not they should just open this degment up somewhere else where demolishion isn't needed.

We have a "shovel ready sites" on every single block ofour downtown but we refuse to force people to build on them, instead we spend money and resources to demolish and more money and resources to build new and except for a very few instances, what gets built far worse than what we had.

I am ok with demolishion... IF what gets built it better for the city, its residents and its furture and a delivery garage isn't sorry.

What is the so called value of the Aud? It's been vacant for over ten years with no development. What should we do, sit around and wait for something to fit in it? I don't get it - if someone came up with a plan to use the Aud, then of course - retrofit the structure for it's new use. But if someone can develop something in it's place, then demolish it.

I am not one for demolishing buildings to create more "shovel ready" sites, but if someone wants to demolish a building that has provided absolutely no value to the community in over a decade and is willing to place a viable, useful, revenue generating business in it's place, then go for it.

One problem with Buffalo is we have no balance. On one side we have developers and parking lot owners who want every old building demolished to create more surface parking and "shovel ready" sites. On the other side (read: complete other end of the spectrum), we have people who want to keep every building just as it was in it's original state. That's unreasonable. Should the Larkin Building have been demolished - of course not. Should we crucify any company or developer who wants to knock down an old grain elevator or the unused Auditorium to create a viable business - no!

Maybe Bass Pro wants the Auditorium site because of the location (proximity to the waterfront, HSBC Arena, major highways/visibility/short distance to the Canadian border)?

jm3

keep on topic.

This is not an old elevator. Nor is it the Aud. It is a quite lovely old (civil War era) house that could be retrofitted for many uses which is being threatened with replacement by a garage face with dubious fake historic elements made of drivit. on the face it does not sound like the city comes up a winner on this one. There uncountable empty lots and parking lots in the city that could benefit form this new construction. Why do we consistently need to defend our irreplaceable history?

Why is even an option to tear down a civil war era house in this neighborhood???? It is just insane. Buffalo has already lost too much! No amount of tacky drivit fake historic detailing will ever replace this house and the excuse that this is the only place they can build is just silly. Fill up the huge amount of the city that is already shovel ready first.

I agree with Steel. Maybe the city could help this company to relocate.
by finding them a better spot. Isn't that what the econ development people are supposed to do?

I miss the way BR used to be. The pointless crap being discussed now is just so pathetic and petty. Not the articles mind you, but the comments portion. This blog was so much better before it became really popular and all the self-righteous opinionated dimwits started leaving comments that just flamed on each other and deviated from the posted article. There's no focus or optimism here anymore. Think I'm gonna give FixBuffalo a better look...

I just want to make clear that I did not write coa's entry. I have no idea who that is, but I'll always use my own name, just in case anyone suspects otherwise. To all who do use your actual name in posting: thank you.

I can see merit to both arguments. I'll write more later.

Sorry I did get off topic.

At times it gets a bit hard to see every single project in the city get flamed right from the start. Maybe Keller Bros. likes their current location and is in need of expansion? Perhaps relocation is not an option for them but expanding is? As a young person who decided to stay in WNY after graduating from college, it gets a bit disheartening to see any development within the area (city and suburbia) get hammered right from the start.

Sorry to anyone I offended with my comments - didn't mean to. Just read some of the comments and got a bit agitated.

jmn 3

after 50 years of "destroy everything and question nothing" as a development policy the people of Buffalo have earned the right to ask a few questions and expect something of a higher quality. "Just build anything" as a policy will not produce a desireable city nor will "build nothing"

Read the comments you can easily filter out the unreasonable complainers form the people who comment with real substance.

Not to forget: 399 was purchased LONG after that preservation district was established. It should be no surprise to the owner that tearing it down isn't easy.

And the reason it has been vacant for so long: the current owner is keeping it vacant. Let it fall apart, make it more likely to be torn down. Familiar story, yes?

Sick of it,

I agree, I am growing tired of armchair architects and 10 cent opinions about urban design. Why is there so little commentary on the other pages of BRO. The YUM, ARTS and Trend pages are nearly empty compared to the pointless blather that exists here. Most topics here just get kicked around for a few days only to dissapear and never surface again. Some projects don't even come on line either. So you all just spent your frustration bitching about something that was nothing more than a rumer to begin with.
There are some good developement announcements but the commentary is amateur hour and ratrher pointless.

msb, you know you are generalizing way to much. Not everyone here is an amateur, or 'armchair architect' who comment. I myself have spent years studying architecture and I am a professional planner. Steel is a professional architect in Chicago, Chris Hawley is a professional planner, and Westcoastperspective is a professional planner in Sacramento. Those are the people I know. Many more I do not, but just to give you an idea, we are not all 'amateurs', so grow up and learn that there are professionals out there that think that development in this community should be held to a higher standard because what passes for development here would never be allowed elsewhere in this country!

msb and others, I have spend the last 8 years studying Architecture and Urban Planning, hopefully this will be my last year where I can officially become a “professional.”

Either way the point is just because it is on an online blog doesn't mean we are just some homebodies too bored with life that we find nothing better to do than make up urban critiques for BRO. On the contrary this is our passion. It is what we have devoted our lives to study and do.

Just because our opinions might break from the Buffalo norm doesn't mean they are some cockamamie scheme by 14 year old kids. These are real world issues that other places take to heart, act upon, and because of it have become those cities we revere and look to become.

We want the end product of a growing strong city and region, but we fail to realize that destroying our past, building ever more infrastructure for the automobile, allowing just plan crappy designs for the sake of getting anything done are ruining our identity and future. Just as it is a proven fact that you can not build yourself out of congestion, you can not demolish your way to a revitalized city.

Quick question:

Is it practical to move the subject building? I know masonry structures can be moved, but is it practical? I am aware of a vacant lot, in a preservation district, where the owner might be inclined to accept such a house (and build an appropriate foundation, etc.). There are three signalized intersections en route which would require a total of four traffic signal arms to be temporarily removed. No overhead wires stand in the way. Some trees would require trimming (but not huge). Somewhere between 0-3 light standards would require temporary removal. Total travel is about five blocks; maybe 1/3 mile. Is this possible or hopelessly costly?

If it were moved, would that satisfy objections relative to demo?

whose the architect behind this? i think its a grand idea.