Buffalo Rising Online

what about my airflow?

Seriously, great news!

Is it possible to sue the people who sue Uniland... it sure as hell should be!

If this thing gets killed by lawsuits I think I might cry.

nice

$450,000?! Wow, there's going to be some upscale folks living in this place.

Can someone explain to me exactly what grounds would exist upon which neighbors could raise a law suit? If the city approves the project and proceeds obeying all ordinances then what suit could there be? How long could this be held up in court? I hope construction begins next summer. I am excited to see how this turns out.

SLEEPL8, I agree that basic logic would lead me to believe that there would be no legal grounds to sue. Or that if there were they would be so insignificant that a lawsuite would be obviously fruitless and a waste of everyone's time and resources. However I think it's the proper course to ignore logic and common sense when discussing development, government agencies, and community curmudgeons. Hopefully whatever useless lawsuites are brought will be dissmissed quickly so that this thing can go up. Can't wait to hear all those construction vehicles and excavators!

Maybe Buffalo really is changing.... Get rid of some of these piss poor politicians and that would be real change.

great news... wonder what is going to happen when Gate hospital closes?

there has to be something wrong with this plan.....c'mon, give me something for me to jump on the obstuctionist bandwagon.

What a shock. I went to the first planning board meeting and i had serous dbouts about this. But i'm glad this got approved. Another modern development for Buffalo, YAY!

Hey maybe there won't be any lawsuits and the shovel is in the ground in less than a year. Stay positive!!!!

Really intelligent remarks.

Looks lice a nice building to me but could someone explain to me one question? If Millard Filmore is closing and is quite unsightly, why can they not put this building there? It appears that with the Hospital closings this would be a great place to put the building... I would appease everyone from the Park Lane as it would increase property values without obstructing their view...

Hey Preskop, weren't you the same miserable poster who stated that theres not enough money in this city to support the inner harbor development featured yesterday? But you're all about a 23 story tower that sells for upwards of 2million each?

Or is it that you just enjoy complaining on every story you get the chance. Even here, you took your idea of support for the tower and turned it into a giant complaint. Some people just love misery.

Great news on the approval!

this neighborhood couldht handle losing the Gates Tower and Millard Fillmore Hospital. It would have devastated gates circle inviting the poverty between Main and Linwood right uptp the Park Lane Apartments, as well as, turning developers off to this area.

Now with Gates Tower getting the go ahead....there is hope for Millard Fillmore Hospital to be redeveloped.

Chris, You and I have had our disagreements over time and I certainly respect your opinion but I must say, the lot behind MF Hospital could be a great pace for this building or rip down that sandstone structure. I think it may make everyone happy, compromise. If the Linwood crowd that is so feared shows up, so be it, city living right?

Chris, You and I have had our disagreements over time and I certainly respect your opinion but I must say, the lot behind MF Hospital could be a great pace for this building or rip down that sandstone structure. I think it may make everyone happy, compromise. If the Linwood crowd that is so feared shows up, so be it, city living right?

Nice, keep 'em comming!

Aurburner.... wasn't the gates circle project announced, purchsed, and planned for (somewhat) before the hospital commision announced they wanted to close mf gates circle.

2nd. thing. skaJack... it wouldn't call the Park Lane History...it could have done better under new management but it could have done much worse. 95% of restaurants fail in their first year and that other 5% don't have a life that lasts for ever. Besdies, the building was in my opinion ugly and the owners created that historical atmosphere. ( Lots of imports, stair case from London etc). Not anytthing that could be done further down the road.

Crappy little hermit hut or 20 story 21st century tower..... get over it bud.

For the record, Tim Tielman has said a tall condo building, per se, presents no preservation concerns, and he is correct in that assessment.

TWO QUESTIONS:

1.) How can the regions largest developer be bullied by a few old crotches? They should have enough money and clout to blow through this project.

2.) There are plenty of alternatives in Buffalo to build this project that are just as good if not better. Why is Uniulans so stuck on this site? The tower would probably be successful just about anywhere, especially if it had views of the lake or river....

bringing my downpayment to parklane next week, who's the broker, i buy off plan

Gaustad- maybe because that is the property that was for sale at the time at a price Uniland was willing to pay? Come on now. Location-location-location. Get with it.

Auburner, you wont get any dispute from me. There are plenty of locations where this tower would be successful but I dont think this is going to be the last tower in the neighborhood or in Buffalo.

I can see another waterfront tower being proposed

I can see a tower in the cobblestone district.

and I can see another tower somewhere around Delaware Park.....either Main, Delevan or Elmwood area.

I also expect to hear residential conversion possibly at the Lafayette, Liberty and a few other places.

AWESOME NEWS!!! LET'S GO!

platt4 - I find it hard to belive that it was easier to buy the park lane and spend money demolishing it rather pick one of the several vacant parking lots spread throughout the city and build. The location looking out over the east side and olmstead is nice, but lets not get carried away. .

Great to see something NEW and TALL going up for a change.

Great Great Great news! I hope to see a construction crane in the Spring. Way to go, planning board! It's about time we move Buffalo forward rather than backwards.

Okay, I'll get it out of the way.

* OMG who can afford to live there?

* Why build new housing when there's thousands of vacant units throughout the city?

* The influx of yuppies will hurt the authenticity and character of the area. I don't want to see more foo-foo boutiques catering to the wealthy. We need more businesses that are real and authentic, like Boosing TV.

* They should build it on the East Side, where it's really needed.

/sarcasm

1. Assuming MF Hospital stays for a while anyway...does anyone live/work near this area? Has anyone heard all the sirens? Very obnoxious.

2. 42Nate: Tim Tielman. Yes his name does come up quite often and for good reasons. Maybe not for this project, but certainly for others. The latest? He wants to keep the Aud????? And for what?? Because it is a monument to our soldiers who have died in war. I'm sorry...it is an embarrassment to our war dead. Get real and please just find something useful to protest!

There are judges and several prominent attorneys that live in the Park Lane Towers. However groundless their claims might be, the neighbors fighting this development will be well represented. These aren't obstructionist unemployed hippies people...they are prominent members of Buffalo's legal community. I hope they lose.

I have to say this, I went on Tim Tiemans "Topless" bus ride. The guy gave me a headach with all the hot air he was spewing. He so so far left wing. For all the good he has done he has offset it with all the setbacks he creates. I found him to be a moron.

Much to the chagrin of Park Lane residents, this tower will help begin to bring some prosperity to Buffalo. I say build it and do so quickly... unless you want to continue living in a stagnant city.

I don't understand what people living near there would have to complain about.

Don't you think 450k-2M dollar condo's coming in next door would actually improve your property values? Perhaps losing a little sunlight might hurt that, but I'd have to think the very nice places coming in next door would overcome that loss. Maybe I'm missing something

hamp- While what you say may be true, his obstructionist use of the legal system is reprehensible IMO, and is one of the reasons he is disliked by many.

Hamp - Better in his eye's and maybe a some others, but that's a very subjective question.

I'm not saying he's the root of all evil and obstruction in WNY. I'm also not saying that he hasn't done any good. I'm not referring to anything in particular that he's stopped, he hasn't one every lawsuit he's filed has he?

For many(at least many that I know) his name is synonymous with obstructionist lawsuits. The problem I see is that these types of lawsuits unnecessarily drive up the cost of development in the city.

wow, holy wrong word batman, should read "hasn't won every lawsuit he's filed, has he"

yikes.

considering it's pretty cloudly here 9 months a year, who gives a toss about views? by the by; the park lane's view of delaware park won't be blocked by this structure; just the east side views. anyway, everyone take a breath. the fabulous judges in this town always get it right and would never stop this thing based on something so silly as who lives in the park lane. right?

OK hamp, BassPro on the waterfront. ;)

bbvdm - to answer your question: I live in the area (tudor area obviously) and I agree - the sirens are CONSTANT and ANNOYING. Rural/Metro should get fined for all the noise pollution (they're only supposed to use them in life/death situations, NOT because they think they're cool).

da I like Buffalo Your my Bestfriend-Your my Bestfriend-Your my Bestfriend-Your my Bestfriend-

hamp - can you provide a reference to any objective evidence of your claim regarding what the "vast majority" agrees on, such as a public opinion poll or a referendum? Or is your claim just a fake fact that somebody made up?

The vast majority of citizens agree with Tielman, that Bass Pro doesn't belong on the Central Wharf

Personally, I'd be surprised if a "vast majority" in the city supported spending all those millions on ivory tower plans for cobblestone sidewalks and more money-sucking public greenspace while we still can't afford to fix LaSalle Pool and MLK sprinkers.

But I'll just express that as an opinionated guess, rather than simply claiming I speak for the "vast majority".

Hey anybody hear about what the Mr. Fox Tire Co is doing?

http://www.moderntiredealer.com/t_inside.cfm?action=news_det&storyID=7873

Pretty cool if it is true.

Why yes Keith- see:

http://buffalorising.com/story/fox_tire_planning_green_roof_a

and

http://buffalorising.com/story/greening_the_east_side

Tielman = moron

Hamp, Donn Esmonde? Please... that's like expecting to hear something objective about Larry Quinn and the Sabres management from Bucky Gleason. How can you say it's not obstruction, that means to stop or impede something? He wasn't trying to stop or impede Bass Pro from being built on the waterfront?

And while they may have had a dozen people, representing thousands, last I checked there are a few hundred thousand people in the area. The"vast majority" of people I know were in favor of the change to the project. There just happened to be a vocal minority speaking against it.

It's also not surprising the Buffalo Place would be against something that may draw people away from their core business district.

I don't have a problem with Tielman or other preservationists expressing their opinions on these issues, or even protesting, petitioning, etc. I have a problem with the way he and others like him use the legal system, and drive up the cost of doing business to further their own agenda.

hamp - Are you seriously saying a dozen people implies any factual basis for a claim that a "vast majority of citizens" believe something (in a metro area over 900,000)? You're of course entilted to your opinion about the Central Warf issue, but making that silly a claim and trying to pass it off as fact does not help your cause in the least.

Buffalo Place never does it's job. Does not promote retail, allows first floors to be left blank, boarded up and offices such as a parole office to open up in an already high bum location....So I can care less what Buffalo Place has to say about anything.

You know... I have been thinking about this whole project that this subject is about. About 60 years ago, I wonder what the people of Chapin Pkwy or Laffayette Ave thought about the Park Lane being constructed? I can not imagine it went over well... But they adjusted and things went on...

Chris, thank you for your kind words and all I can say is across the street may have been a better idea (I understand that it was purchased prior to the hospital closings) but there is a lot of vacant land there, as I recall... Too bad, it would have been a great compromise.

One question I do have, however; How do you think this influx of taxes will play on improving the D District schools and the east side schools? That is if anyone buys at those prices, mortgage companies are not lending money like they were when this was first planned...