Buffalo Rising Online

Dear West Coast -- Thank you for brining this to the table! I currently live in Minneapolis and have had the opportunity to see this redevelopment in action. It is truly amazing how creative of a project it is turning out to be. Government and development officials from Buffalo should really begin to explore the possibilities that these magnificent structures offer.

WCP, Ditto thanks for bringing up this story. It would be a dream come true if another grain elevator would be adapted for a higher/better use. (Not necessarily for ethanol production.) Be it part of a waterfront heritage trail (nice) or economic development-driver (preferred), let's hope it can happen here in Buffalo.

Robert Bin.., Great questions to ask. I submitted a request to the Minneaplis org for details on development/architect, so I'll pass it on if I do receive feedback. I know you are in real estate/dvelpmnt so hopefully...some day... you will have a client 'in tow'. (I love that phrase!)

There isn't much online regarding this project, it just went to the City Planning Commission in December for variances, site plan approval and a rezoning. The architect is Urban Works Architecture.

Couldn't find a cost estimate or projected rents/condo prices. Financing is probably from several sources since much of the project is subsidized housing. Each housing type would theoretically allow you to tap a different financing source. The property is also National Register-eligible, so preservation tax credits are likely part of the mix.

Lets not forget about the world-class hotel converted from a grain mill and silo. Check it out! http://www.quakersquare.com/

While I agree that at some point the City that invented the grain elevator should reuse at least one of them, I don't believe today is that day. The costs in renovation are astronomical (see the Quaker Square Project), probably why the government is involved with this project.

I think Buffalo has tremendous potential, but lets not fool ourselves as to what the City's current condition is. This condition dictates that we partake in development that is cost effective and emphasizes growing the City's population and tax base, which will then allow revitalization in more areas.

There will be more than a few elevators left when it becomes cost effective to revitalize them... it costs too much to demolish them too.

Cost for the conversion plan are hard to find, but Minneapolis is a much different housing environment than Bflo. We live in S Mpls, across the Mississippi, about 4 1/2 miles away from the proposed 'gentrifying' site.

Our proposed assessment this year for a duplex virtually identical to a duplex in a similar neighborhood to Manchester Place in Bflo is $350K. Meanwhile, our former abode on Manchester just had its asseessment $105K.

That approximates Mpls housing prices pretty well, which generally exceed 3X prices in Bflo. And housing vacances are vastly fewer.

Dick Kern (in Mpls)

COPY: http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/minnesota/default.asp?nc=4&id=76

Van Cleve Court Apartments East, Minneapolis Project for Pride in Living is redeveloping the Bunge grain elevator site in southeast Minneapolis as a mixed-income housing project along Van Cleve Park. Van Cleve Court Apartments East is the 35-unit first phase of a larger 229-unit development. The development will also include 50 affordable rental units, five Habitat for Humanity homes, and 139 units of market rate condos that will be created in the distinctive Bunge tower and 12 round grain silos. The project will also set aside 20 units for formerly homeless families. Van Cleve Court Apartments East is working with energy modelers to ensure the building is 35 percent more efficient than state building code by utilizing a centralized water heating system, using daylighting to reduce electricity use, and by taking advantage of passive solar heating and passive cooling. The building is also using flooring materials that reduce the incidence of asthma attacks and the impact of allergies in resident children.

Oh yes, those dirty preservationists are going to stop more great development in the city of buffalo. If only they'd go away then I'm sure this city would be fantastic, the peace bridge would be built, the canal district would have a fake commercial slip and UB would not have been put in amherst.

The assumption that preservation and development are enemies is often incorrect, as most preservation only occurs because of development. Concern for managing change and the direction in which the city grows should be embraced.

Applogies for my rant!

Medina, I mean it as it reads. In my mind buildings must serve a purpose, a rare few are preserved merely for their historic context or architectural excellence. Without an economically feasible program most preservation will not occur. Development and adaptive reuse are paramount in preserving historic and aged structures.

Is it more economical to turn unused elevators into public housing or to simply demolish the structures and let homeless people live under bridges?

I could only imagine the costs incurred with the changing of big metal tubes into living quarters and hotels, the actual numbers for this project have got to be through the roof. Aside from the fact that this development looks pretty cool, there is not much else going on for it, its extremly unfeasible and is probably damn near impossible in the majority of the country. I really think that if there is no re-use plan for this eye-sores then they should be demolished. Good luck on the proj. in Minneapolis.

Oo excellant idea there sleep.... unique loft living in renovated grain towers for the poor... something like that would actually make plenty of sense in Buffalo, New York.

The concern that "our" elevators are too far away from the city core to be reused, is in my opinion unfounded. All it would take is some initive and forward thinking of NFTA and you could easily have bus service that could put you downtown in a matter of minutes. The whole district from the historic Cobblestone over throughout the First Ward is ripe with potential if someone would objectively sit and look at a map. Which is why I'm completely confused by everyone's desire to fix / create a waterfront. Has anyone noticed that if you create this waterfront, and ignore this district you are left with an urban void cutting off the city center and the waterfront. Not sound planning by anyone's standards.

Also nick is exactly right, preservation normally only occurs when development and adaptive reuse is utilized. There are only a handful of buildings in American in which preservation of the building without a new program is a viable solution. In my opinion the point of most preservation projects is to maintain a character or an identity of a place, which if you have a semi talented architect can be done. An example of this is the Savarino Cobblestone project, here the identity of the industrial historic district is preserved but in such a way that the buildings are also going to be inviting and interesting to the public. The firm of Carmina & Wood should be getting just as much praise for this project as Savarino is.

Overall there is no reason why this area specifically the grain elevators can not become the anchor point for a successful district comparable to the Meat Packing District of NYC. All it takes it some thinking outside the box which Buffalo refuses to do.