Buffalo Rising Online

First, is there a fountain in the McKinley Monument. After all these years I dont ever remember once seeing water shooting up from those pools. I didnt even know there were pools.

Second I the idea of parking under the McKinley

Third, may I suggest parking under LaFayette Square also.

If that parking is there in both those places the Liberty, LaFayette, the Touraine, the Graystone could go residential and that would open up alot of opportunity for new office towers to be constructed.

Well the Statler adn the Courthouse should be finished at about the same time....so I hope that once those are completed Issa finds much more momentum for his tower..and lets hope he has some competition in him to make his Tower taller than Rochester, Syracuse and Albany!

If there is underground parking then that area will have density for high rise office towers joined by common areas of underground parking.

However I think the best opportunities are for large footprint midrise office towers are around the periphery of downtown: Niagara Street, Cobblestone, Larkin, Fruit Belt, Ellicott District. Local developers just cant or wont enter into the upscale and high rise market...they dont have the money or the balls or the tolerance for risk so Issa has the highest value / highest profit market all to himself.

um...how about just build a parking ramp on one of the many surface lots in walking distance to niagara square?

I really, really like Mr. Issa's passion and ideas. He is obviously very optimistic which seems to be a rare trait in Buffalo. I wish him all the best with all his endeavors. Even if all these great plans he has created don’t work out he is still bringing positive national attention to Buffalo which could bring in others to follow in his footsteps. If he finishes the Statler and puts up something >20 stories on S. Elmwood then he gets an A+ in my book.

Very often european cities after WWII put in underground parking under their major public plaza's keeping the ground level pleasant and pedestrian oriented. Sometimes it works well sometimes it can be a little awkward. It all depends on how one enters the parking structure.. If done correctly I think it would be great. Maybe even some very modern and glass entrances popping up into the square could be pretty cool. Or we could go along paris' route and create elegant metal unobtrusive staircase.

Just for the record the City is looking at parking up the street for future parking needs. I've spoke to Bashar several times and will say he is a man of big ideas, passion and energy. But I caveat it with this: what he says and the reality are sometimes not always on the same page. The City certainly listens to him and does indeed take his ideas serious but will behind close doors of course plan what is practical and placing it under Niagara Square is not practical. I mean the City is under a control board so throwing in a billion door underground project is not feasible, and is a major misappropriation of public funds compared to other projects. I think a cool billion which he nor the City has I should mention would go further in say the West Side?

Queenseye, next time you talk to him, 10 bucks he tells you about another huge project. Let's get the first project done.

To be honest, I'm surprised they haven't mentioned the idea of an underground parking structure yet. It reminds me of the turbo diesel engine, arterial stints, and wind power - they've been mainstream in Europe for decades before we decide it's a good idea to use.

When I was stationed in the city of Wiesbaden in Germany, I was constantly surrounded by 15th century cathedrals and 18th-19th century architectural wonders, such as the city hall (~1830s) and the opera house (~1760s). It reminded me a lot of Buffalo in it's treasure trove of architectural landmarks. However, right in the middle of it all, in the center of the city, directly adjacent to the central cathedral was a FOUR-STORY DEEP UNDERGROUND PARKING GARAGE. The city itself was quite dense, and yet parking was never a problem, especially w/ the structure there. In the 3 years I was stationed there, about 95% of the time I parked in that structure and never had any issues. Why we haven't even thought of that for our cities, not just Buffalo, is beyond me. The space under Niagara Square would be perfect for such a project. Yeah, it's just an idea, but every now and then a good idea can come to fruition.

Has anyone seen "The Music Man"? Come on people...

i think one would be hard-pressed to find a city with as much vacant land as buffalo yet has one of these underground lots that issa wants...those progressive european cities that do-also have extremely dense urban areas where land is truly at a premium.

buffalo's money is better spent elsewhere...and taking up a surface lot for a parking garage with good urbanism is one of those ways to spend it-with plenty left over.

was that photo taken from a hang glider?

Parking isn't such a big deal when you know where to go to find it and where to go from there. That is why these European cities do well balancing the two. They give you a place to park and a density city to enjoy outside of it. You never go through the hassle or driving up and down streets looking for a spot there. You always just go to the garage, done. Simple and easy.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119646634517310042.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

This is totally Brilliant.

allthingsbuffalo, the whole idea of the urban design plan is to fill those surface lots not with parking structures, but with infill development that will add to the existing vibrancy and density that is reforming downtown.

urbanboarder, although not seen in buffalo, you can have mixed-use parking ramps, if not with residential and offices at least with 1st floor retail...that would be a big urbanism win for buffalo

On a related but different topic the BCAR has a monopoly on Buffalo parking along with a select few wealthy parking lot operators. I think that this crates the abundance of parking mentioned in earlier posts. This also artificially deflates daytime parking in the city and also inflates prices for event parking. This is a major problem. Sure everyone would like to park in a surface lot right next to there work but you wanna know what this isnt amherst and if everyone got their wish dt buffalo would be nothing more than a big parking lot. I think councilman davis was right on in calling for a investigation into this shady agency. The argument that this agency is needed to provide dt workers with cheap affordable parking is bogus. SOmething needs to be done! I applaud Issa on his creative idea these type of creative underground parking structures are crucial for our citys future. If we want to build more offices and bring more people downtown creative soultions will have to be thought up to provide parking and or mass transit.

And if i remember correctly I believe Savannah Ga has begun building a parking ramp under their public square along with a much larger restoration project for restoring their historic downtown street plan.

Would the monument have to be dismantled to build the garage underneath? Any engineers out there? IIRC, the monument is inline for some repairs soon; maybe this far-fetched idea can gain traction. Privately financed though seems a stretch in a downtown where monthly parking can be had for under $75.

I think that we may be getting a little carried away here. I've gotten to know Bashar fairly well in the past year and think that he is an exceptionally bright guy, but he is only one man and cannot singlehandedly redevelop the city.

I don't see the rest of the local developers (or any others, for that matter) lining up in support of his plan for the city as yet, perhaps they will once some of his plans come to fruition. I think that underground parking is a great idea, but let's build the demand first.

I like the words on the buildings.

Leasing the tower is going to take YEARS. Be patient. Corporations or large office users don't make real estate decisions overnight. Geico didn't wake up one morning and decide on Amherst. They planned and researched for well over a year before deciding.

Citibank's back office spot in Amherst...it took them almost two years to review all there options and sign a lease.

Why do we think that getting tenants for the tower would be any different?

I wouldn't worry too much about who has signed I think once they gets 40% commitment (word, hand shake or otherwise) it would most likely spur them into signing up. No one wants to commit to something that isn't for sure going to happen. Once it starts construction they will sign on the dotted line.

I also agree that these things take time, no one is giving Amherst a tough time for their empty business park buildings. Why does this city project need to happen overnight for it to be credible.

I know that it is just another rumor but I heard that HSBC was going to take a major portion of the City Tower after it is built and vacate their current space. If that is true then this tower will really be a re-shuffling of the deck and there will then be a big hole at the foot of Main. Hopefully it isn't true and some out of town tenants can be signed. One thing that puzzles me on this project is the idea that it would be back office. It is true that class a office space in Buffalo might be cheaper than back office in NYC but back office space in the burbs or NC or somewhere else is certainly cheaper than in City Tower. If the cost of the space is what drives back office locations why would a firm choose this tower? Oh and back to the posting topic I wish that this underground lot was done 40 years ago before the urban fabric of the city core was ripped out to make way for parking lots!

Flyguy: There's no way the Sececas can run a casino in the City Tower. The only reason Indian nations are allowed to run gambling facilities is that under the Federal reservation system, recognized Indian nations have legal sovereignty on their own grounds (and this precludes them from state bans on casino gambling). That's why the HO Oats complex had to be turned over to (or reclaimed by) the Seneca Nation. That portion of land no longer belongs to the City of Buffalo, it is a sovereign piece of the Seneca Nation (though it is still a piece of the United States since the Bureau of Indian Affairs grants that sovereignty) and only there can they operate a Casino according to laws of the Seneca Nation. So, long story short, they could rent office space or own condos in the BCT, but they could never operate a casino there.

This leading too getting rid of the City Court garage and starting to piece back Genessee Street would be just dandy.

Plan ahead for what you want. You may just get it. If you don't, hopefully it will lead to more new ideas and an overall better project than what would have become from the same old thought process.

Allthingsbuffalo: "i think one would be hard-pressed to find a city with as much vacant land as buffalo yet has one of these underground lots that issa wants...those progressive european cities that do-also have extremely dense urban areas where land is truly at a premium."

I beg to differ... Last time I was in Caserta Italy, I parked in a huge underground parking garage. Caserta has a population of ~80,000 and is not even slightly progressive. Nor is land at a premium. I think they just understand the importance of foot traffic and, simply, convenient parking in their city center. Of course, with any city, there are many differences, there is no parallel to Buffalo, but we see big cities and small doing just this and somehow we can still think we can't do it.

I think that we may be getting a little carried away here. I've gotten to know Bashar fairly well in the past year and think that he is an exceptionally bright guy, but he is only one man and cannot singlehandedly redevelop the city.

I don't see the rest of the local developers (or any others, for that matter) lining up in support of his plan for the city as yet, perhaps they will once some of his plans come to fruition. I think that underground parking is a great idea, but let's build the demand first.

I think that might have something to do with other developers being busy with completing their own projects. Paladino, Montante, Savarimno, Termini, et al seem to be more interested in maintaining their own yard than massive proclamations of reinvigorating the entire city.

These continual announcements from Bashar have grown exceedingly tedious. Just finish the Statler and shut the hell up, ya know? Let us know when you get something done...he's inflicted with Development ADD.

As of now, Bashar is all talk, little action. We need to stop lapping it up like thirsty dogs, it makes us look sad and small.

Bashar is getting the Statler done. Things are moving along there right?

Things are moving along. The lower level's floor has been removed and the upper floors are in the process of being gutted.

What I think many of you are misunderstanding is the possibility of a parking garage and a usable structure. We can fill the existing "shovel ready" development spaces with underground parking and office space. Not only is underground parking a colossal waste of money that could be applied elsewhere, but it is unnecessary. Fill in the urban landscape with under building parking here and then if Buffalo comes back maybe you can plan for this monstrosity.

P.S. I'll believe in Bashar when project #1 is finished.

SteveP, Could not agree more! Let's see what happens with development 1 before we annoint him the savior! He has done nothing but talked big plans... Anyone can do that! "Seventy trombones". Music Man...

What do you do with a child that is insecure, pessimistic, withdrawn, doesnt try, afraid, lonely, lazy, stupid, etc?

Well you take that child on an adventure, you teach that child how to dream, you spark their interest and in doing so focus them and their potential....until the ugly ducking becomes the beautiful swan.

If Issa Basshar just does the Statler her will be ok in my book....and if he as alot of ideas...I dont have any problem with that....how does it go....opinions are like assholes everyone has them and ideas are like seeds because you never know where or when they take root.

Well he have alot of developers and alot of infrastructure plans...you never know what the next grass roots canal district or the next grass roots thruway authority is going to rally the community. We have to shake this toxic pessimism out of our city....and ideas are one way of doing it.

For those who do not have subscription to Wall St Journal here is a great piece

Buffalo's Field of Dreams By JAKE HALPERN December 1, 2007; Page A12

Buffalo, N.Y.

My hometown is probably best known as a city that people like to leave. Since 1970, Buffalo has lost almost 40% of its population and, in some parts, the exodus has created a landscape that resembles scenes from the post-apocalyptic thriller "Escape From New York."

As kids, my brother and I would explore the city's ruins, venturing into crumbling train terminals and abandoned factories where moss carpeted floors, rainwater gushed down empty hallways, and peeling wallpaper rustled in the wind.

Buffalo does have a number of stunning neighborhoods, lined with stately old mansions and interspersed with thickly-wooded parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. And the population of the Buffalo metro area hasn't declined. Even so, the city is the second-poorest major urban area in the nation, just behind Detroit. Nearly half of the city's children live in poverty.

You can imagine my surprise to hear that Buffalo's salvation is at hand, and that its savior is a 29-year-old developer of Iraqi descent named Bashar Issa. Mr. Issa, it was said, had decided to build a gleaming, new skyscraper in Buffalo that would be one of the tallest structures between New York and Chicago.

Mr. Issa, born in Kuwait, is the son of an Iraqi father and a Kuwaiti mother. His parents sent him to England during the first Gulf War, and he has lived there since. He went to the University of London and, in his spare time, began restoring homes and selling them for a profit. He proved adept, and was soon buying old banks and warehouses and converting them to high-end hotels and condominiums. His parents gave him a little bit of seed money, but he has expanded his capital exponentially.

How did Buffalo catch Mr. Issa's eye? One winter night, around two in the morning, Mr. Issa was at home in Manchester, England, surfing the Web when he came across real estate listings that looked interesting. The buildings were grand, beautiful and cheap, and in a curious city in the western corner of New York State.

He did what a brash, impulsive, 20-something financier with money to burn is prone to do. He hopped a plane, found a local realtor, walked into the dilapidated remains of the city's grandest old hotel -- The Statler -- and within 30 seconds was sold.

Mr. Issa is now refurbishing The Statler and making plans to build a skyscraper, the Buffalo City Tower, which will stand 40-stories tall, offer 1.5 million square feet of floor space, and cost a cool $360 million. He's waiting to find an anchor tenant before breaking ground.

The responses to Mr. Issa's initiatives have been nothing short of jubilant. "He is treated like the messiah here," says Mark Goldman, a businessman and historian who has written two well-respected books on Buffalo. "He gives a little talk and 500 people show up." Newell Nussbaumer, editor of Buffalo Rising, an alternative monthly, calls Mr. Issa the city's "superhero." Mayor Byron Brown also gets carried away. "Here you have a well-financed businessperson from Manchester, England, who is saying -- in major way -- that Buffalo is worth investing in," he told me. "When someone like that makes those kinds of investments, people all over the world sit up and take notice."

But can Mr. Issa find commercial tenants? His strategy is to convince major companies in New York and Toronto to move their back offices and call centers to Buffalo, where salaries, office space and nearly everything else is cheaper. It's a compelling idea. After all, why send labor to India when Buffalo is closer, English-speaking and inexpensive?

Mayor Brown is especially bullish about this strategy. He notes that Mr. Issa has been "extremely successful" in convincing the BBC to move some of its offices from London to Manchester.

Unfortunately, this isn't exactly right. It is true that Mr. Issa belongs to a group of 20 developers, known as Piccadilly Partnership, and some of these developers have lured the BBC and other businesses out of London. But this isn't something that Mr. Issa has done personally. None of the high-rises Mr. Issa owns in Manchester are office buildings -- they are all residential facilities. He has far less experience with "back office" dealings.

The mayor is hoping Mr. Issa is the right man, in the right place, at the right time. And Mr. Issa may succeed. He is smart, charismatic and well-funded. Buffalo also has a great deal to offer, including a well-educated workforce, a world-class university, an exquisite housing stock, and a low cost of living. The city even has a number of grassroots activists, like my friend Aaron Bartley, a Harvard Law School graduate who launched a citywide effort to salvage abandoned houses and fill them with new immigrants and other aspiring homeowners.

The danger is that Buffalo's optimism regarding Mr. Issa will become a kind of clinging, desperate hope. This hard-luck city is always looking for redemption: redemption from poverty, from four straight Super Bowl losses, from the loss of the steel mills, from the bad stereotypes about the weather, and from the opportunists who, like myself, move away from the city in its hour of need.

This need makes someone like Mr. Issa more appealing because it casts him as a hero in the classic American storyline. He's the sheriff sauntering into town who, in John-Wayne-like fashion, will restore justice, dignity and prosperity.

The problem is that waiting for a John Wayne figure can create complacency and obscure the reality that redemption will not come easily or at once in the form of deus ex machina. The best thing the mayor could do now is forget about Mr. Issa and focus on the daily grind of improving schools, creating tax incentives for businesses and even filling potholes -- the unglamorous minutiae of city life that will truly pave the road to redemption.

Mr. Halpern is the author of "Fame Junkies" (Houghton Mifflin), which will be published in paperback this month.

Sponsored By RELATED ARTICLES AND BLOGS

Wasn't that a post on here a few days back? Another writer well versed in Stereotypes.

Mayor Brown's rebuttal: http://fixbuffalo.blogspot.com/2007/12/byrons-responds.html