Buffalo Rising Online

Genrich acquired those properties when Buffalo was still in its desperation phase; At the same time that the purveyor of most unhealthy and disgusting foods, supersize me McDonalds, built one of the most ghastly, misplaced, visually repugnant developments in the history of Buffalo which took the form of a completely suburban, free-standing restaurant on Buffalo Place (remember that name?) that has since been mercifully demolished. I recall when Buffalo was so leaderless and so desperate and so lacking in vision that the short-sighted fathers of our town would have allowed a landing strip to be constructed on Delaware avenue. Recall the brick wall that was started to be constructed around the monument in McKinley Circle under the brilliance of mayor Stanley Makowski. For those of you who recall that fiasco it was a low point in our preservation history and absolutely physically nauseating. To me, when the citizenry demanded halting that project and the brown brick wall was removed, that was when the preservation movement really came alive in this city. Well at that time of confusion and mass architectual hysteria Genrich's plan looked pretty good. But now there is clearly no plan and there never was one. Those buildings are priceless, Charles Burchfield certianly thought so, and I cannot imagine why they were allowed to be insulted and degraded; now requests for demoliton! Genrich should be taken to court for violations and great pressure should be brought to bear upon him to relinquish those properties and let development move forward. Fortunately the city seems to be moving in the direction of preserving our crown jewels. I challenge the Preservation coalition to rally around this issue and let the HO OATS building be. If there is an injunction to be filed its here with these beauties.

for some reason I've always been drawn to that building. It's not my favorite building in the City, and perhaps I feel bad for it, but wouldn't it be wonderful to live, work or dine in the copper portion. Beautiful.

Bman is right on target here. That block is geographically and aesthetically important--it can be seen from many angles, and even in its current state casts a wonderful ambiance on the gateway to the Chippewa area.

Thanks for this post. This location has had my attention for several years now. I never knew anything about it and couldn't figure out why it was seemingly abandoned. That address with the copper skylight section (which I now know is the Charlie Barker building) is spectacular. Great potential.

bman is right on!...Genrich represents everything that has been wrong with Buffalo...what a scumbag! He should be ousted!

If I had the money, I would buy this block of buildings and put in a mix of luxury lofts/apartments, retail stores, a grocery/deli and maby a second floor commercial space in one or two of the buildings. This block is so empty, needs life again.

Genrich should be ASHAMED of himself!

And Buffalo has allowed this since 1984?

How can that be? He must have some really good friends in City Hall!

The "neglect" fact or alone should send him to court. Isn't there any "law" that can put a stop to this type of idiocracy? That block is one of the first things one sees as they come off of the 33. It should be absolutely breathtaking, given it's "bones" and possibilities!

OLD BUFFALO......please move to Florida!

I am amazed at the staggering amount of residential properties being touted and presented on this website. All good and exciting stuff..keep it coming! But notice how housing is all being put together as "lofts" and "apartments". There are a lot of people out there who are looking for equity ownership. Condominiums and townhouses and single family homes which would involve a "mortgage" rather than a "rent payment" are still few and far between.

Andrew is right- the rental units are bringing people in, a good first wave. But for sure ownership (and retail/services) need to follow closely behind; I live downtown and while I like the Washington Market, we still lack something Wegmans- or Tops-sized (though I'd rather see a Whole Foods or a Trader Joes, myself).

And I think the Aud would make a damn good Ikea, but Bass Pro will have to do I suppose.

There is a Tops on Niagara Street.

by the way...did you know that Eddy Brady's has one of the most awesome burgers in the city? I stopped there after work one thursday night and it was great. And the bar was nicely populated.

Eddy Brady's rocks!

"There is a Tops on Niagara Street."

Yes, and a Latina's on Elmwood; I know. Both constitute something of a long walk, however, especially in the winter. I have a car, but I do my best to keep it's use to a minimum. After all, I live in a city. Other cities I've lived in- Boston, Chicago- I could get everything I needed by walking with relative ease.

Eddy Brady's, eh? I'll have to check that out. Been there for a drink but never had a burger.

Andrew & Ethan,

Homes are less high profile than the buildings focused on so far, but we are starting. I just posted a "save this house" today here on BRO located on Rhode Island St (thanks queenseyes) and recently one located on Pennsylvania was posted. Maybe we should consider making it a regular habit. Harvey, maybe we should get together on this. I am sure other "actionists" can do the same to promote the areas they know and love. There are no shortage of housing opportunities in most neighborhoods.

What a wonderful block. We can not let those buildings be torn down. They are what Buffalo is all about. Eddy brady's is terrific. Good food and a great bar with atmosphere. They serve soup in the winter and it is as good as any in town. Eddy and Mike both rock.

Look at the similarity between this block and The Granite Works development ( 800 block of Main St. ).

Jeff, I had also made a similar reference to "getting the word out" on these properties after reading about the KCA area house. This leads me to thinking about how we could market these homes to potential parties outside of the Buffalo area...people in over heated, insanely expensive real estate markets such as NYC, Boston, SF, etc...I think that one of Buffalo's biggest problems is that it is still so "unknown" and/or that the general public's perception of Buffalo is so off-base (ie, not much here beyond snow, wings and sports). How to let the world know that Buffalo is a cool and beautiful city with - as I used to say when I lived in Brooklyn - "such a deal!" housing prices?

Since when is this mostly intact fragment of 19th century commercial elegance an "eyesore?" Some of those buildings were designed by our best local architects--E.B Green and/or Esenwein & Johnson, it escapes me at the moment.

"Eyesore" language only justifies demolition efforts, so I suggest using the term sparingly and strategically--only for those recent blunders that hurt the city rather than helping it. On my short and sweet "Eyesore" list:

Buffalo Convention Center Buffalo City Court North Campus of UB Scajaquada/Humboldt Parkway Every surface parking lot in downtown Buffalo

Sorry BIA- I didn't mean the buildings themselves were eyesores, but the wooden barriers and billboards that he has disgracefully put on the gutted Seeburg building looks terrible. They're the first thing you see coming off the 33 and draw your attention to this vacant block. I don't think anyone wants visitors to have"vacant", "neglected", "bombed-out", and "tacky" as a first-impression. They also stand as a symbol of dysfunctional government for the locals- here are buildings that have sat this way for twenty years with no pressure on the owner to clean them up. It would be one thing if they were sitting vacant with windows and a roof- but they are see-through for the most part with obnoxious 'advertising.'

An image of the corner buildings:

http://img346.imageshack.us/img346/1219/genesee33az6fy.jpg

Does anyone know the status of 85-91 Genessee (the building that collapsed in 2002? Is Jesse Schnell still trying to get something redeveloped there?

It is great to see all of the interest on this section of town, I have always admired the facades along the "entrance to the city" and dreamed of something great happening there. As a longtime resident of Buffalo I must say that I have seen more forward progress in the development of the jewels that our city boasts and strongly encourage the wave of positive movement.

Furthermore, Buffalo-Niagara is well known for being the best inland fishery in the world. What is a better fit than Bass Pro Shops on the waterfront attracting people and development in a way that this city hasn't seen since 1901.

Jeff-

I've been walking a lot around beween, say, edward and bryant, and especially on Linwood, there are some gems that are either decrapitating or for rent- I'd be happy to take snapshots. I have a notion of how to look at county records for ownership, but I could certainly stand to learn more.