Buffalo Rising Online

Never a truer word was written!

Its not just the Trico Plant#1 on Goodell but also the Trico Plant on Main and Jewitt. Its also the Pierce Arrow Factory on Elmwood and many of the other old factories located throughout the city.

Its not just back office operations but its also prime office area for the next expansion of the Life Sciences Corridor.

Infact, the argument must be made that "WE" must find a way to build more of these 10+ story large footprint buildings in downtown Buffalo. I dont care if its with tax subsidies or tax abatements or low interest loans or development grants or some other mechanism.

In many cases, if these buildings arent ready and available companies arent even looking at our suburban locations but simply looking to lower cost regions. Having more of these buildings built and move-in ready will allow more companies to relocate to Buffalo or to expand in locally in Buffalo.

IF YOU WANT JOBS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN BUFFALO...WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE AND BUILDINGS! BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME....WAIT TO BUILD AND EVERYONE LOSES! BUFFALO NEEDS MORE SPECULATIVE BUILDING.

Oh, and dont forget about the Great Northern Grain Elevator (which would make a great convention space if the interior steel bins were removed and the structural supports for the roof strengthened. Perhaps, even keeping the tops of the steel silos sitting on top of steel cross beams. We could save the Great Northern and convert it to a waterfront equivalent of the Connecticut Street Armory.

Lets not forget about the adjacent ADM Building with large floor plates and great views of downtown, the cobblestone district & Inner Harbor, south Buffalo and the Outer Harbor / Lake Erie.

What about the Wonderbread Factory on the eastside and the adjacent Kraft Factory?

What about the Hoffman Bakery?

What about the Seneca Industrial Center (aka Larkin Office & Warehouse Building)?

What about the Central Terminal Tower and its Mail/Baggage Building?

Can anyone think of other large footprint industrial buildings ripe for conversion in Buffalo? Come on Buffalo, the more of these buildings we have move-in ready....the more companies will expand and relocate in Buffalo!

I say, put every penny of Buffalo's shared sales tax into redeveloping each and every one of these buildings.

Lou aluded to this, but this complex is very important - not just in it's own right, but as a vital link tying the medical campus and downtown together.

To do that, however, the one way streets ALL need to be turned into two way. This especially includes Goodell Street. Coming off of 33, people continue to use this strip as a limited access highway, creating a mental barrier (and a physical one for pedestrians).

This is a really great post that addresses the large foot print/ square foot issues of why these jobs are developed in Amherst and the surrounding areas. I hope the CITY powers that be read it and work with information/medical companies to utilize these properties!

Private sector job growth! The REAL silver bullet Buffalo keeps looking for!

Has anyone ever been to the Westgate Mall in Rochester? It was built from a simialr building in a downtown Rochester. It was once a factory, but they have turned it into a "mall" (for lack of a better word) full of local retailers. Many of them are local artisans. A section of the building is being used for really cool, even chic, office space. And the last time I was there, a little over a year ago, they were developing part of the building for residential use. I first saw the Westgate Mall in the 1980s, so it has been aroud for a while. I think it could be used as a model for the Trico Building.

Rochester has done this in a few areas and successfully! Thanks for reminding us, Ben.

I just spoke to a local janitorial supply company that has been in Buffalo since the 1920's. They need to expand their business and are currently looking at buildings in Tonawanda because they can't find what they are looking for here.

I find this incredible considering how many vacant, light industrial buildings we have. I think the bigger problem is that we don't have a simple inventory of what is available.

We haven't lost them yet if someone can help find some space that will work. They need 25 - 30,000 square foot of space, high ceilings (current building they are looking at has 25'), 2 dock level doors, and some customer parking (on street is probably acceptable if it's close). They can build out the office space if it doesn't already exist but they don't want to do too much work on the building (especially hazardous waste stuff). They are looking to buy a building and further invest in Buffalo.

They live in Buffalo, their kids attend college here, and are moving back here, and they would like to keep the business here. Any ideas? Any way we can facilitate an inventory of available space in Buffalo that can be used to market these buildings in the future?

Harvey

Dear Rust Belt Renewal, concerning your comments about the street grid. Call the City of Buffalo, your local common council member, the mayor and the GBNRTC. Tell them you want the Kensington ended at Jefferson and Humboldt Parkway returned between downtown Buffalo and Jefferson. Tell them you want the traffic redistributed to local streets like Genessee, Spring, Cherry, Virginia, Jefferson, Best, HPTWay. Tell then you want Jefferson, Best and Virginia to be the eastern gateway to the Life Sciences Corridor and the western gateway to the Olmsteads King Park.

Harvery Garrett, tell your friends at the Janitorial Supply to contact the BNE or the BNE Real Estate Website. They have most industrial, commerical and build ready land in the database which they use for companies looking to relocate to our area or expand locally.

BUT THERE IS NO ESCAPING THE FACT THAT WE NEED MORE OF THESE BUILDINGS ALL OVER THE CITY AND WE ARE LOSING JOBS BECAUSE THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH MOVE IN READY BUILDINGS!

I love this building! When I was in college I worked at Clientlogic. They did a wonderful job on the interior, looks very hightech.

Resuing old factories beats the hell out of plopping brand new singlestory office parks way out in the boonies.

Developers should be refitting more of these old factories into the much-coveted ClassA office space. If done right, Buffalo could have its own mini Silicon Valley right in the urban core!

A group of staff members from the City, Buffalo Place, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, GBNRC, and others have been working with NYS Department of Transportation (DOT), which is responsible for Goodell Street (and Elm, Oak, and Church) to address concerns like Rust Belt Revival's. NYSDOT has been very receptive and is reviewing possible improvements both short-term and long-term. They are a huge agency so don't expect big changes overnight, but the willingness to consider new things is genuine and very encouraging. (Ellicott Street is supposed to go two-way north of Goodell sometime this year.)

With respect to available real estate this is a prime example of why the "shovel ready site" fixation is flawed. These people don't need a shovel ready site, they need an actual, functional building. When decent buildings are knocked down we lose huge potential for redevelopment.

I haven't looked at the BNE site Lou recommended, but I think there needs to be a fundamental shift in the thinking used by the local real estate community. A few years ago I spoke to someone at one of the big name commercial brokers about marked, but basically cosmetic, deterioration on a building they were listing. They had zero interest in improving it or doing anything to make it more marketable. Maybe it's been so hard to sell things for so long that they've given up. It's good to see new folks like Polis and the guy who advertises on BRO, but there are probably owners out there who have buildings and have stopped bothering to list them. I hope these people find something. I'm sure it's out there.

Just a little info:

Lou wrote: "Tell them you want the Kensington ended at Jefferson and Humboldt Parkway returned between downtown Buffalo and Jefferson. "

If you'll look any old map, you will find that Humboldt Parkway ran between Delaware Park and Humboldt Park, without touching Jefferson or going downtown. The route of the 33 from MLK Park to downtown was blasted across the neighborhoods, not along an existing right of way.