This is ridiculous....STOP CENSORING POSTS!!! This is a public forum and I can criticize who and what I want. What is BRO scared of? Grow up and learn how to run an online blog. This censoring crap is just as honorable as using digg to boost web traffic. Thats not how to gain readers. Oh well, This will probably be censored too.
Its exciting because of the location.. that bend in the road is like a gateway into the downtown area, and right now it's not a pretty one. I'm only talking bout the building of course- the people are not as vicious as some offensive people are making them out to be- I live in that area.
It looks like someone didn't like my legitimate question relating to the Buffalo News article. Oh well, I guess it must have been objectionable to someone.
oh, and another thing: why do our local elected politicians/judges (and their staff) keep putting up "re-election" posters on long-abandoned buildings? don't they have any shame?
its funny, I lived on the corner of Linwood and West Ferry for about a year and a half and never saw those guys playing music loud, drinking or selling drugs. They sat on the corner and shot hoops and hung out.
BTW, If Triangle Development really owned that building they should be shut down. I've had awful experiences with them and they are basically slumlords.
Congrats to HOME and their success. The neighboorhood should look better after the rehab.
"Bini" = Trianagle = slumlord. Triangle properties are s*** holes regardless of what Bini claims. Because he doesn't have the cash to buy and immediately turnaround properties, he just buys and sits on them for years and years---profiiting from scum enterprises like the El Waseem market (southwest corner of Main/Ferry). Months ago Bini claimed outward signs of progress 'soon' on his Ferry/Main bldgs. and others up and down that part of Main St.--yet all still look faded and most like s***. Chim in Bini with one of your long ego updates.
icreamsub and frankster have it right. SteveP must be living in a void not to see/hear the crap at Main/Ferry/Oxford.
The "Fenton" Apt. building is the less than desirable multi-story bldg at southside intersection of Ferry/Oxford. (Voided for slander and mis-information)
Great news for this building, and it really is one of the worst intersections along Main Street. That and the drag auto - oriented businesses (most of which are long defunct) really tell a story of buffalo. Nice old buildings rotting, new progressive buildings to cater to the car prove ill-conceived and unable to compete. REALLY glad to see this project happen. Even if it means an organization moving from a downtown location. Such a HUGE visual impact for people coming or leaving downtown.
Scott and Jessie Fischer should never purchase another property in Buffalo. I am glad to see that they are no longer holding this corner hostage with their lack of action and bad planning. Another crucial piece of Buffalo's landscape has passed on to more capable hands.
when I was a kid in the 60's, it was a drug store at the corner, and my barber was next door on Ferry and there was a grocery store. Mom used to send us on errands and we would walk the two blocks...how times changed! Anyways, I hope it comes to fruition.......Viva La Manz!
SteveP,
I didn't say anyone was a 'drug dealer.' I said: 'SteveP must be living in a void not to see/hear the crap at Main/Ferry/Oxford.'
The "crap" is the mess, i.e, litter, broken bottles, etc on properties and in the streets, and the "hear" is the sound of bottles hitting the pavement near the intersections of Oxford & Ferry. The same applies to Bini's property (southwest corner of Main & Ferry) alongside the north side of El Waseem.
If you don't find the above troubling, then you really need an aesthetic checkup.
and his name rears its ugly head again. good for you, urbanbody, bringing the pompous jerk back to the front. bini sits on properties and does nothing until he is hauled into the spotlight for his lack of action. what he needs to do is STOP BUYING PROPERTIES, START SELLING SOME, TO GET THE MONEY HE NEEDS TO REHAB THE REST! what does it take to get you motivated, bini? now your building adjacent to this new project will be in the light. what other rehabilitation are you going to stop action on so you start on this one? better not be the one on Johnson Parkway or the judge will get real mad.
So some low-level real estate whores picked up an unexpected ten dollar trick on the block.That doesn't make them heroes but maybe they can go out and buy new shoes. The city needed to get serious with slumlords and their public nuissances and take their properties from them and sell them on the courthouse steps to worthy investors. Sometimes it isn't that there isn't an interested party who's willing to bankroll big changes for this city, sometimes it's just stubborn, rinky-dink wannabe Trumps that won't relinquish a building even after everything else in the area is moving up. HOME has the keys to the place but it's still vulnerable....and $95k don't get you much fabulous turnaround these days.
this is huge. I pass through this corner on foot every other day and it easily one of the crummiest parts of my route. The amount of broken glass and garbage that are strewn all over the sidewalk are just nasty especially on the section of West Ferry heading towards Linwood. In the summer it's even worse as the underclassed people (not accusing all of them) living in that shit hole apartment building across the street spill out onto the sidewalk drinking, selling drugs and blaring "music" at a ridiculous volume. It's absolutely amazing the difference a hundred yards makes from this point to Linwood
The 6 lane main st through this area needs to be reconfigured. RIght now it is totally set up to move traffic through it instead of within it. There is nothing there to bring it down to a pedestrain scale. This hi-way set up needs to be replaced with what has happened in the University District if there is any hope of tying in the west and est sides of Main St together.
I've always been fond of this intersection. The old buildings, the bend in Main St, etc make for a great visual experience. I've also always dreamed of converting these if I had the funds. The buildings will go towards creating a nice gateway feel.
I'm very happy. That being said that intersection is crying out for some landscaping. Why so bleak?
the editing has gotten to be an issue Newell... Not nec on this post but wherever Zimmerman has an article he deletes or edits the posts to his favor... He's a hack with very questionable skills and personal agendas
Bini:
As to what I do...I take care of my properties and don't get in over my head, and haven't had code violations or complaints from the neighbors--contrary to you! Since you can't dispute the 'slumlord' moniker assigned to you by many on BRO, it still stands. In past BRO postings I've documented quite well how many times I/others have picked trash up around your bldgs in my neighborhood because you/El Waseem don't want to. Feel special that, in my mind, you are the single most loathsome leech in town. (Genrich is gone now, right?) Nothing personal, just experiential.
That you did 'gratis' work for the Fischers to get HOME into their decrepit 1542 Main St. bldg. located across the street from your decrepit Main St. bldgs doesn't say much—only that you are self-serving--and incompetent in that you can't maintain your property or partner with responsible developers or worthy tenants.
Your AdArt bldg facade is sketchy at best and the parking lot littered. The Willoughby property: Dito re: trash around its perimeter and its lock-down appearance..and we'll all hold our breath for 3 yrs for the new build..LOL! Your southwest Main/Ferry "El Waseem" bldg is a well-documented hell-hole. Bottom line: You don't deserve any credit from the community---so quit being such a pompous ass.
I would like to see the center island, lights, and cross-walks that were recently added to Main Street in the University Heights added to the stretch of Main Street that runs from Delavan to Allentown.
Better than a vacant building.... I guess. But it is depressing seeing peripheral non-profits like this or drug rehab clinics, or child & family services dominating the landscape of our "main" street. Yeah, yeah you've got to start somewhere, but this? You're all that exicted about this?
Well jefferson and livingforge,...Ihave to agree and your points are laughably under-appreciated for the significance of their impact on improving downtown and the surrounding corridors into downtown. TREES! SHRUBS! IVYs!
Greenery would do alot to humanize downtown and the major corridors leading into and out of downtown.
Frankly, I do not know what magically laws of commerce make it financially advantageous for a property owner to own a property without a tenant!
Nor do I understand how a city can ignore the maintenance of its property inventory, especially when it could so easily be a revenue neutral if not profitable operation. The only way this could happen is weak laws and weak judges enacted and enforced by democratic liberals.
There are many buildings on Main Street...like Notre Dame de Lourdes and a 4 story brick warehouse and some others that need attention like that building next to Red Jacket with the fallen roof (which we havent heard anything about whether they will save the facade) but the writing is on the wall for developers. The place to invest north of downtown is between Niagara and Main.
Though personally Im always suprised that developers arent interested in Niagara street for office buildings. Who wouldnt want to market a building with 4-5 floors of waterfront view and easy access to the expressway. Heck if I were a developer I would be inquiring over air rights over the expressway and rail so I could built right up to the water.
Main Street is definitely benefiting from the Center for Life Sciences. There is alot more traffic up and down Main Street because of it and that is translating into commercial and residential development. NOW IF THEY COULD ONLY TAKE A CLUE FROM THE POSITIVE IMPACTS OF TRAFFIC AND DISTRIBUTE TRAFFIC ONTO SIDE STREETS FROM THE KENSINGTON BEGINNING AT JEFFERSON BEST. IF WOULD CHANGE THAT ENTIRE REGION OF THE NEAR EASTSIDE.
Bini: sorry you feel that way but if it weren't for neighbors sending in complaints to city hall and housing court your building on johnson parkway would still be in limbo. better watch out what you write here becuase it can get you into trouble do to your incessent posting about how you are working on this or that but not planning to do other things to other properties you own. it wasn't until the last time you were in housing court that the cuploa work started now, was it? And you did run the property as a rooming house that caused grief in the streets. so get off your high horse and admit you were propelled to do the work you didn't plan to do by havng to go to housing court.
To all those who criticize the fishers for this property: Be glad they had it in their hands. They bought the property, secured it, alarmed it and preserved it. They made sure it wasn't knocked down (as seemed likely before their purchase). They got it into good hands. Because of their stewardship, the property now gets into the hands of HOME. The place was in worse shape when the fishers bought it. They live around the corner, didn't want to see the buidings lost, so they stepped up to the plate and took responsibility for them. Now this HOME project happens, but without the fishers there is a good chance the buildings would have been demolished instead. All you armchair quarterbacks who criticize others but have no skin in the game yourselves: your righteous indignation doesn't DO anything. Action, such as the fishers', does.
As to those who criticize me directly (urban body and parkman): what exactly are you doing for the betterment of the city? I brokered this deal (representing the fishers) to HOME. I got this property into the hands of the fishers a few years ago (brokering the deal to the fishers, gratis, from a non profit which received the buildings as a donation). Across the street in the building I own, look for a new storefront to open this winter (possibly two). I also own the Sherwin Williams store down the street and am 50% owner of AdArt (next to Willoughby). I'm invested in the neighborhood. What about you?
btw, willoughby wants to demolish his office (a former arthur treacher's fish and chips) and build a new two story plaza at that location (retail and apartments). three years from now, this intersection will be looking good.
Jefferson - Good point. Some trees or shrubs outside the HOME reno will help make this intersection about people as much as about cars. If this project spurs some spinoff development or at least other non-slumlord ownership and renovation in the area it will go a long way to link all the DT development on Main to the Medical Campus to Mid City and finally to Canisius and UB South. Making Main St. a continuous experience from University District to Cobblestone/Canal will make a big difference.
chris69: kudo's again re your idea concerning the Kensignton. Ending the highway at Best, before it runs into downtown, seems a simple and obvious way to re-charge a huge section of mid-town/Eastside.
al-alo: you have my vote. The abandoned buildings (w/ their campaign posters) you see when coming back from Canada using the peace bridge are, I think, the worst example.
to chiknlil and MJWorthington: I understand that the next phase of Main. St. re-do will happen next spring from Hertel to Humboldt. I "assume" that a subsequent phase(s) will then tackle Humboldt to...Utica?...Best/Summer?...and further south.
chris69: kudo's again re your idea concerning the Kensignton. Ending the highway at Best, before it runs into downtown, seems a simple and obvious way to re-charge a huge section of mid-town/Eastside.
What a great building. The 1st floor is crap but the upper two are AWESOME. They simply do not make them with this kind of detail anymore.
I would love to see an urban garden on the roof of the second building. Just imagine if this was was connected to the third floor of the main building.... Not only would it provide green space for the residents but also a place for the residents to grow food.
parkman: wrong again. Read previous posts. My roofer has been planning for this to be his last job of the year since spring. He's done work on three other buildings over the summer for me. JP was the last. Other work we started (like beginning to strip the fake brick off the front) we only got into because my nephew is available a day or so per week and he has an interest in this kind of work. He recently relocated to Buffalo from Philly to go to school in Niagara on the Lake for historic preservation/rehab. So he'll be working at the property when he can.
hodgepodge,
there is the obvious reason that people put their posters on abandoned buildings, its the same logic that taggers use: nobody cares, so nobody will remove it.
i have been involved in a campaign or two (including one quixotic attempt of my own), and i had a great campaign idea for these abandoned structures. as sign that reads:
another abandonded building brought to you by the status quo vote X, for change!
ah well. mybe next election cycle.
SteveP, please send me whatever it is that did not make it up on this site. 95% of the time we look at each other and ask if anyone took anything down. Each individual writer is to maintain his or her posts. If one of our writers is not abiding by the rules I would like to know. Our policy is... no profanity, no personal attack, and if the commentor is not staying on topic then the poster must use his or her discretion. Please email me @ queenseyes@buffalorising.com and I will try to help figure out the problem.
Great news for a very prominent intersection. The action on Main Street is picking up.
Now we just need someone to take on the great buildings on the southwest corner
living in a void? The Fenton and Ox block were right behind me. Just because ppl sit on their porch doesn't mean they deal drugs. Try taking a walk down the street and talk to them before you label them drug dealers. Poor does not equal drug dealer. Don't tell me what I don't see I lived it buddy.
Thank you! This has always been one of my favorite intersections on Main St. That building has soo much potential it's silly. Good Luck HOME!
Everytime I went by this building, "I had a dream..." that this building would be great as loft apartments. Look at the awesome details. If I had the money I would have bought it, really.
Simcoe - Excited about the building being restored and responsible ownership coming to an important (even if only visually important) gateway intersection between areas of the city. So yeah, excitied that this building on a high profile corner of Main St will no longer be sitting vacant and that the new owner has reasonable plans for it and wishes to maintain a nice building instead of tearing it down to build a carwash.
Rising Damp: re: 'low level real estate whores'
Are you a 'resoponsible' developer? I know of available buildings in the neighborhood. Are you interested in putting your money where your mouth is? Step up to the plate. Buy something and do something with it. Criticize me if you like, but what are you doing?
I'm making headway by doing real estate deals on Main Street (Literacy Volunteers, HOME, the Packard Building, others) and by investing there myself and working on my own property. My architect for the corner (Brad Wales) is meeting me today to show me his proposal for the storefronts. I have a tenant if I can get it turned around quickly enough. I have another likely tenant. Right now we are jacking up some upper floors before building out the first floor storefront(s). Noticed the dumpster out back that's been emptied eight times in the past three months? I originally bought the corner with the intent to demolish. Eventually, I changed my aim: restore it.
So what are you doing? I bought in the worst blocks of Main Street and am working on it. What are you doing?
Oh, and before parkman from Johnson Park chimes in, have you noticed that the cupola got redecked? After the old roofs were removed we discovered most of the decking (150 years old) had rotted to the strength of cardboard (but not the joists, thank the gods). So we used new lumber (solid boards, pine and cedar, not the plywood the roofers wanted--it wouldn't have transferred the curves of the structure) before ice and watershielding the thing. Roofing and trim to follow in next two weeks. And a few smaller roofs were redone. And just fyi: the judge AGREES with me that the house, in its current condition, is BETTER for the neighborhood than if I wasn't doing what I'm doing and it had stayed a rooming house. A rooming house, which is what it was when I bought it (15 units), would be a far more deblitating element for the neighborhood than a vacant shell which is getting new roofs. Lastly, there is a gentleman working on the first floor front apartment for his own use. He hopes to be living in it by spring. Another architect (John Haas) is finalizing plans for that unit for submission to city hall.
I may not be doing as much as you'd like me to do. So what are you doing?
Umm, just a question, but is there any tenant moving into a uilding that is NOT Governement or foundation subsidized? I have never seen more Agencies and the like snapping up free space... WHERE ARE THE JOBS BYRON BROWN, BRYAN HIGGINS, SAN HOYT, KEVIN GAUGHAN, CITY COUNCIL(ALL OF YOU), ELLIOT SPITZER, AND SO ON AND ON AND ON AND ON???????
Excellent news. That intersection is in terrible shape and needs investment. Whenever I pass through I always feel that its setup would make it a perfect gateway community but in its present state I wouldn't want anyone to go through there as a gateway to anything. Currently it screams decay, but investment such as this is a bit of hope.
... now if we can get rid of that building a little north near W Balcom that's literally falling down.
Lets preserve the Judge Manz Poster... Tim Tielman, get Lippes ready to file suit
Excellent news! Welcome HOME! Since Triangle Development, the owners, have been unable to bring it up to code and landed in Housing Court as a result, finding more responsible owners is the right thing to do. If only more Housing Court offenders would do the same thing.
It is about time! I heard about this project more than 2 years ago and can't wait to see the rest of the Main Street plan come together.
oh, and regarding the rooming house: because I lived in the building for a decade, I was able to keep a lid on things. If I hadn't lived there, it would have been very difficult to get and keep decent tenants (though they were still almost universally alcoholics; the nature of the rooming house beast). I didn't make it a rooming house. It was a rooming house for decedes preceding my ownership. I moved there and ran a good rooming house, as far as those go. But the long term prospects of the property require a gut rehab. So when I moved out, I kicked out the rest of my tenants and began the process of gutting.
Panos,
it is sad the way development is bribed into buildng. but dont think that it is just the city of buffalo. every town, village, state or city does the same. whether its taxpayer funded infrastructure, tax abatements, subsidized loans, or grants.
whata country!
Give me all your greasy ten dollar bills, Bini, and watch what I can do! You make a mockery of yourself here and as to your protestations of innocence of aiding and abetting nuissance in your properties, well DENIAL IS THE FIRST SIGN.
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