Buffalorising has been redesigned.

"There's clearly better uses of downtown land than...truck repair." Is this BRO bashing of a solid private business with five locations?

Um, for a city to exist, you need infrastructure. On this infrastructure drive and work heavy trucks. A city needs them and those who repair them, plus the place provides jobs. Frey's is contributing to Buffalo. How does this post which disses them?

Agree with Jiohn B... pretty arrogant of you, wcp. I, for one, welcome thriving small business ANYWHERE in Buffalo. We need all the help we can get.

in all fairness tho, these types of businesses do tend to be eyesores.

I'm all for small-businesses too and not advocating that Frey be forced out of downtown. According to Militello they prefer/need a non-downtown setting for their operations. They voluntarily have the properties up for sale. If/when a new buyer is found- these parcels would make great sites for infill development. Imagine the downtown and cityscape views from a mid-rise residential building at the corner of Ellicott and Tupper. Auto repair businesses are needed, but downtown may not be the best location, even if on the fringe like here.

Let's get serious. Obviously WCP was not insulting small business in Buffalo, but this is prime property that could be utilized for a much more beneficial purpose for the city. With all of the hospital changes pointing towards BGH being the central hospital in Buffalo it will drive development around this area. I would not be surprised if eventually the medical school was moved downtown in an attempt to centralize the medical education system which is dramatically spread out at this time. Obviously the city needs trucks for infrastructure, but should we use prime locations for these types of uses. That kind of thinking is what led to a highway along the waterfront with a raised bridge separating the city because it was "efficient in transporting traffic." Let's look at the big picture and not look to attack ideas.

The article's dig at the existing truck parts/repair business was condecending and elitist.

I suppose jobs creating various Web-New-Media-2.0-Content are deemed far more worthy of precious "downtown land" than are truck repair jobs? Doesn't Buffalo need well maintained trucks -- y'know, at least to deliver your capuccio machines to you - stuff like that?

From Frey's web site - sounds like pretty good land use to me:

Buffalo – Heavy Duty Parts
Located in the heart of downtown Buffalo, this branch is staffed by 6 full time employees that collectively have over 50 years experience in the heavy-duty parts business. The inventories of replacements part products from the leading suppliers in the industry are the most extensive in the entire Western New York area. Customers are served either at our store location or through our daily delivery service. Frey Buffalo is the oldest heavy duty parts distributor in Western New York serving customers in Niagara, Erie, Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Allegany, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Erie (PA), Warren (PA) and McKean (PA) counties.

Buffalo – Springs and Suspension
Frey’s suspension shop is located in the heart of downtown Buffalo adjacent to our heavy-duty parts division. It is staffed by 5 full time heavy-duty suspension and alignment specialists that collectively have over 75 years experience in heavy and medium duty truck repair services. All suspension services are performed at this location and it is the oldest heavy-duty suspension center in Western New York serving customers in Niagara, Erie, Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Allegany, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Erie (PA), Warren (PA) and McKean (PA) counties.

I'm not advocating they be forced from their location- please re-read the post. The property is for sale! And in the hierarchy of land uses in a downtown, auto repair isn't at the top of the list. If they sell, hopefully the property goes to a higher use.

There's nothing wrong with envisioning the highest and best use of a site that is within stone's throw of a Metro Rail station and significant adjacent development in the Theatre Historic District area. This article could easily have been about the post office next door, which also does not represent the best use of such a large parcel!

Prime Property? Its across from the City Mission Homeless Shelter!! Not very prime in most developers opinions otherwise this would have been sold 4 years ago when it was listed for sale

Four years ago there wasn't any significant development on Ellicott Street. That development has created tremendous value and development potential nearby. The Theatre District is getting tapped out in development potential - needs to spread east and west from Main Street.

no one is saying its a bad business but it is definitely NOT something that belongs in a downtown. There is plenty of room in this city for everyone and anything but somethings don't make sense in some places.

Chris Hawley said...."The Theatre District is getting tapped out in development potential - needs to spread east and west from Main Street."

Am I hearing you correctly? All those vacant storefronts up and down Main St.; paint a starkly different picture than what you state.

Let's maxime the potential of what is already built instead of fantasizing physically about what has yet to exist.

Hmm, maybe there is room for this business in other parts of the city...say, how about the next time a restaurant at the Just Past location closes -- sooner than later, that we tear down the present structure and sell it to Freys so that we can repair heavy trucks in the Elmwood Village instead of downtown?

wcp: ... in the hierarchy of land uses in a downtown, auto repair isn't at the top of the list. If they sell, hopefully the property goes to a higher use.

sbrof: no one is saying its a bad business but it is definitely NOT something that belongs in a downtown.

What arrogance (even for the BR crowd) to say a truck repair and parts company inherently does not belong in "a downtown".

This private company on private property, in compliance with city zoning, in business 100 years according tho their web page, serving their customers, paying its taxes and providing good jobs in downtown Buffalo... but you guys are sitting around publicly advocating that they endure the expense and inconvenience of relocating because in your minds they are not of a sufficiently "high use" and they "don't belong"???

I understand the land is for sale and if they want to move the business as their own decision then fine (the article doesn't say either way), but otherwise they should absolutely not be pushed away.

Who sits as judge and jury to decide which existing businesses "belong" in their current city locations at which they've established themsleves? The list of business forced to move could be very long if you guys have your way!

According to the City's online maps, these properties are in the Downtown Overlay (DO) district.

According to the City Charter:

D. Uses specifically prohibited in Downtown Zones DO and RR include:

Automobile repair services and storage (excluding daily parking)
Billboards, pole signs and roof signs
Contractor’s yard, permanent storage of construction equipment
Truck terminal, as a primary use

Looks like Frey is grand-fathered. EmDomonCrack- looks like the City decided there are better uses for this property. Pesky facts sometimes get in the way of arguments, huh?

I certainly would'nt want to live across from the City Mission. I get enough harrasement from these people up and down Main St. ---No thank you.
And what I don't get is...Why don't these bums do something entertaining for some money? I mean, come on, where I come from (NYC) , bums sing, tell jokes, magic tricks, play an instrument or sell things to make money...The bums here are so pathetic and just "BEG". I'm sorry, but I will continue to ignore these people, untill you make a better impression, I will not share my change or my time with you for just begging.

It's typical for shelters to be located in city centers because of their proximity to social service agencies. Name any successful downtown and I guarantee you there are shelters there. BTW, people are paying $1500 a month to live in apartments only a couple hundred feet from the shelter and most of them have no complaints.

These parcels represent huge development potential. Combined they are almost as large as the entire Ellicott Commons parcels. They are within a five-minute's walk of a Metro Rail station (that is, if Buffalo Place doesn't succeed in removing it in favor of limousine parking) making it an ideal location for neighborhood development.

Whatever use currently occupies the space is irrelevant. I'm certain the business there contributes value to Buffalo, but it is the sparse concentration of use at the site that is problematic. It doesn't contribute enough activity at that site to help sustain a half-billion transit investment or to create a vibrant sidewalk life. Higher density, mixed-use residential development would do that. It is a higher use - period. There is no arrogance in communicating sound planning principles.

No DOH, the fact you point out that the business is one block south on the wrong side of the current DO zoning line (at Goodell) doesn't at all get in the way of the point. It's not a hypothetical future use that's at issue - it's an existing real business. Grandfathering is clearly part of the zoning legality with which this company is compliant.

I would not want to see this company forced to close this downtown location against their will, or to see the land sit vacant indefinitely in preference to the taxes, jobs, and economic activity currently present there. Again, if they want to relocate that of course is fine. Maybe they do - it would have been nice if the article mentioned that rather than just saying they shouldn't be there (paraphrasing).

Given that there's other available properties within those few blocks, it's hard to see why this particular spot is so uniquely such a sure thing for someone to develop as mixed use residential, but who knows.

And not that it makes a difference either way, but as a side note my understanding is the Theatre transit station is still slated for removal upon Main Street reopening. I happen to agree it should stay (it serves a real need, especially when weather is bad), but doesn't seem that's the plan.

Chris Hawley,
These so called "sound planning principals" are pure hogwash and should be rejected because they do not work in the real world. Frey provides full time jobs in truck repair and auto parts and has been at its downtown location for 100 years. It is a legitimate business that contributes to the downtown economy so the use of their downtown property is being put to a good, productive use. As for the Theater District being tapped out, you do not know what the hell you are talking about. There are numerous vacant storefront spaces up and down Main Street and the Sid Birzon Building is completely vacant and waiting for repair and restoration no action at that site yet. Mr. Hawley your viewpoints on this subject are arrogant , disturbing, and very elitist. Who are you and some of the other bloggers on this site to have the final judgment on what constitutes good land use and what does not constitute good land use. An auto and truck repair business has just as much legitimate right to locate downtown as your upscale condos and lofts. You need to get your head out of your ass by abandoning these idiotic hypothetical future use ideas and come into the real world. Frey provides important services that people need daily and provides employment for area residents. Now lets get with it mr. great urban planner.

The truth is, yeah some improvements have been made in the theatre district, but we do lack first floor activiety such as retail and restaurants. - It's sad to walk down Main St. and have nothing to look at besides "For Sale or Lease Signs" up and down the street, broken windows, and the smell of mildew or what ever it is creeping out from these old empty buildings (now I'm talking more about the 500 block of Main St.). The truth is downtown has a ways to go before we can say "Yay, More Available space for development" Because right now, it's still rare to get something NEW built fast around here. We have so many surface lots that were made in the last 40+ years because the city wanted "Shovel Ready Sites" which we are still waiting for some kind of development to take place while they sit as parking lots and are hard to get a hold of if someone was actually interested in building over one.
So, Chris H. do you walk much downtown at NIGHT?, and not on Friday and Saturdays. I am speaking of oh lets say a Monday or Tuesday evening, let's say just after 6pm when all the office workers have left and the people who do live downtown are inside thier lofts already. The streets are empty and the only sign of life seems to be creepy bums...My question is....Do you feel safe then to walk about this area then? ....I don't.