Buffalo Rising Online

Whoa, $25K. Well, leaves enough to gut and rehab, I hope.

I dont really care what the interior looks like (will someone please post some pictures)

This church and its architecture are rare across the nation and we should not easily let this decay into demolition. It should follow the Montante and be absorbed into Artspace. I think that is the best option.

$25,000! That is cheap. This could be an amazing place again. I hope the new owners have some vision.

buffaloweiner, why do you keep posting about this being part of Artspace? By holding an auction, that means that the high bidder gets to choose the fate/direction of the building. I may feel the best option for the property is to launch people to Mars, but unless I step up, raise my hand at auction, and take some responsibility for the property, who cares what my/your opinion is?

The guy was willing to hold paper. Rather than bitch about this building in the future, remember the day that anyone of us could have decided to own (your words, 'this rare form of architecture'), for payments around that of your car (well, maybe a really, really nice bike).

Driving from Lackawanna, thru South Buffalo, up to Hertel today, the only area with anything going on was the Bidwell Farmer's Market. People buying cheap property today will either be viewed as visionaries that bought at the bottom.... or fools that should have known better. Let's hope this church buyer is seen as the former.

ben franklin, Im just going to ignore your comments. Suffice it to say, I wish that artspace would bid on it instead of the big nosed downstaters or demolish and park developers we have locally.

Artspace got state and federal funds...and they are quite successful...to the point where it should be expanded. Notre Dame and St Vincents are excellent options.

Thank for advising me of the internal pictures. Yes, everything has been stripped but for a building with open windows and exposure to the elements it still has all its ceiling plaster which means that its not a lost cause. It has excellent internal space which is perfect for art, sculpture and music.

Then buy it, and rent it out for art, sculpture and music. Does your loathing for anyone who owns something automatically exclude you from considering ownership? Seems like some therapy might be in order. Then again, the 'nose' comment may prove you to be beyond help. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

I've posted a short auction follow-up piece with interior photos - right here.

david, thanks for the follow up. A couple of interesting questions arise. Cash auctioned about ten of the owner's properties today. He had expressed that he would finance it... wonder if he'll be willing to finance such a low price. It was not an absolute sale, I don't believe he has any real obligation to let it go for that price. I'd heard an expected number closer to 40,000. If the first bid was 25, to be honest, I'd find that slightly suspicious.

Second, a slight correction to your post on the other website. Yes, there has been some neglect, but this church two owners ago was agressively stripped (for resale).

Dave - Thank you for the interior pictures of Notre Dame de Lordes. Also, after you posted the remodeled house at 25 Coe Pl on fix buffalo, I stopped by. The exterior looks great, was there any work done on the exterior? Also, it looks like there is another house that is being remodeled on the exterior - unsure of the address.

Sorry, was there any work done on the interior at 25 Coe?

*Correction above - Lourdes

I am happy to hear that the church was purchased, but I am incredibly sad to see the pictures of the interior and exterior. I have memories of serving mass at this church, and can recall the look of the stained glass, the statues, the baptismal font, the altar, and the sacristy in vivid detail. This was an exceptional church, and it is sad to see how the profiteering from former owners, and general neglect over the years, has taken it's toll on this once magnificent structure.

I hope that the new owner has a vision for this church, it would be a shame to let it deteriorate any further.

Joshua,

The other house on Coe Place that you're referring to is located at 19. I'll be posting about that soon; an exciting time for the neighborhood around Artspace.

@danger - Do you have a link to the WGRZ website or did you see it on TV?

Joshua, dagner is correct. The auction was not described as 'absolute', so the seller can basically say no thanks. I believe the owner needed to raise some amount of money yesterday, but he had other properties auctioned as well. If some of those brought more reasonable amounts (closer to his perception of worth), he's probably just selling those.

This is the very reason that many auctions that are not absolute will bring out few bidders, because the owner can refuse a low bid (and long ter. I assume Cash got some dollars out of this, because the auctioneer isn't thrilled about holding auctions where nothing really happens, and he's not getting a percentage of the sale.

Interesting - thanks.