Buffalo Rising Online

It's certainly good news on a number of fronts. First, UB putting some action behind the 2020 plan, and the fact that multiple parties were interested in the properties. Second, it once was good news to hear someone had an idea/plan for a vacant building. Now we seem to be getting competing ideas, for properties that already have tenants. These tenants will need to find new space ( I'd assume ), and that's a win for another property.

Finally, the continued weakness of the dollar against other currencies makes american assets cheaper, to overseas investors. The announcement that the casino is now considering a hotel, etc., anyway... we should be considering what it means to a border town like Buffalo, if we see the trend of the last four years continue, and the Canadian dollar goes to 1.20 US.

yeah the most important aspect of this development is UB final commitment to downtown. Lets just hope that the BNMC has more in plans than creating more parking for Roswell.

Torn on this one....

First of all its a good thing someone else has got a hold of it.... and by all means the bnmc will renovate and fill the building. Hooray..

I'll have to second buffalobr..... I definately saw this building as a major multi use catalyst for the area. I really hope they take the renovation a step further... and add dorms for med. students or doctors. Some sort of residence.... not another office building.

As a former student doing research at Roswell, I can attest to the fact that filling these buildings automatically brings med students and grad students to live in the area. Multi-use is great but not necessary for the project to have benefits.

bfloBR: Just a little inside baseball, the fact is the Trico building is contaimenated beyond repair. It is going to have to come down. The phase 2 environmental came back with stuff I'm not sure people even knew was ever in there. It is beyond repair and in fact poses a health hazard, unless concrete samples show the materials haven't leached in deep enough which is highly unlikely. It is a sad fact that Trico representatives allowed it to happen, and the City will have to go after Trico to cover demolition costs.

I would love to see this turned into classrooms for UB's science department. With the vacant lot across the street possibilities are endless. Lets just hope UB commits to downtown! The Architecture and Planning departments should be next.

There is absolutely zero chance of the BNMC renovating and re-using the plant. I completely disagree with the assertion that "the best" use for the plant is residential/mixed use. The BNMC is a glimmer of hope for downtown. They need that 7 or so acres of land for future development from the ground up. We will see the plant come down and more state of the art research facilities go up.

Jas. To speak of the "UB science department" is far too broad of a statement. The Natural Sciences Complex and surrounding structures on North Campus are very modern and house most if not all general science labs and lecture halls. The best hope for UB's use of the parcel is for expansion (not relocation) of the School of Biomedical Science. The medical school cannot and will not completely relocate, however advancements in reasearch and treatment can allow for an expansion. I think this expansion will happin in conjunction with Hauptman Woodward, and Roswell Park.

To irritate all of you on the "Buffalo anit-parking task force" A new parking structure will be necessary with any future development if the workforce is to be expanded.

This should be good news for RedJacket on Main and Allen

This should also be good news for that building adjacent to RedJacket that had its roof fall in.

The BNMC purchasing TRICO is going to raise the property value for all those properties along Main Street.

I dont think the TRICO is going to be demolished....I think they will find a way to remediate it because I dont think people want to see the TRICO go....I think they want to see it incorporated into the campus.

Lets get a few 10 story research and office buildings in this area with underground parking. Its stupid to keep building these 3 story research buildings like their still in Amherst and then worrying about running out of space.

the BNMC downtown campus needs to grow 6x its present size in order to compete with neighboring Strong/UR.

And need I mention yet again that STrong/UR just built a clinical sciences center of excellence for their research with is immediately adding 600 jobs to Rochesters local economy....whats taking Buffalo so long with our clinical sciences center of excellence.

Editor's note: The rest is a deleted riff on the race and gender of an individual who doesn't deserve the attack on either count.

Tear this building down - it is contaminated and old like everything else in Buffalo - we can't save everything.

Time to rebuild.

Chris69: "I dont think the TRICO is going to be demolished....I think they will find a way to remediate it because I dont think people want to see the TRICO go....I think they want to see it incorporated into the campus."

There are more than 16 varieties of high-level toxic residues including cyanide leaching through the concrete ceilings. This is in addition to the toxic pools in the basement which is currently filled to the top of the stairs. I’m not sure of your remediation techniques but there are threshold limits and after the Phase 2 this building is way beyond the threshold. It poses a significant safety risk. You can’t clean concrete when it is penetrated, you can only clean the top surface. Bottom line Trico allowed this to happen. There is recourse but of course it will take years of litigation. Bottom line, IT IS coming down even though it is on the national register since there are clear provisions allowing for demolition for safety/contamination reasons. This project has been in the works for quite some time and a lot of work and research has already been done. The only issue is who applies for the demoliton permit at this point.

Why would the City have to go after Trico for demolition costs? The City has no ownership interest in the building and shouldn't be paying for demo. Did you mean BNMC/UB?

Also, National Register listing is in no way a ban on demolition. The only impact it would have is that a review/approval would have to be completed if Federal funds were to be used for the demolition. The most likely additional requirement would be that the building be properly documented before demolition - if carlmalone is right.

This "you can't save everything" is a complete red-herring of an argument. No one is saying we should save everything, and the net effect of applying the "you-can't-save-everything" argument all the time is that you save nothing. Some of the personalities here might be fine with that, but the vast majority of people wouldn't be.

So what if there are more than 16 varieties of high-level toxic residues including cyanide leaching through the concrete ceilings and toxic pools in the basement which is currently filled to the top of the stairs. I mean isn't a lot of Buffalo like that? They can use this place for classrooms. Hell, they should use it for dorms. This would bring a large student population to the city, helping achieve that critical mass of young, energetic people who will bring back life to downtown. If a few of them get rare forms of cancer, well the Roswell medical campus will be right around the corner to treat them.

The BMNC will have a fight if they try to tear down Trico.

I hope you are joking. Is that shithole plant really on the historic places list? Rediculous. It needs to go.

If there ends up being any federal money any work done on the building will be reviewed by the state historic preservation office, and most likely the same will occur if UB has any funding or ownership in the building as most states have a state "106" historic review as well. It would be a shame if this building is razed as former factories and mills are some of the easist buildings to adaptively reuse and it would be eligible to receive the Federal historic preservation tax credit. ...and yes factories have been reused for labratory space, see the former Necco Wafter plant in Cambridge, MA.

The building is also adjacent to the Theater Historic District. The City of Buffalo Preservation Board will have a say over what happens here.

carlmalone... what are your sources... your posts seem very credible. Never knew it was that polluted... did palladino cut a hole in this roof too?

orlanmoon and chikkill..... google Buffalo, urban renewal, and demolition.... see where it got us in the 50's, 60's, and 70s.... creative re-use.. huge open floor plans like this could have been really useful about 10 years ago.. or if its really truly contaminated... get rid of it, only to put something in its place.... thats a big parking lot right at the gate to down town.. we don't need another place to park the car.

I'm not for keeping buildings around if they really feasibly can't be used.... ( I.E. grain elevators).. theres plenty of space to build the "NEW BUFFALO"... on... and last but not least, that crumbling, fading, brick building with the Coffee Advertisement is currently being renovated for residential living. (New to BRO orlanmoon?).

Chiknlil, feel free. Prepare to laugh your ass off.

This building goes down over our dead bodies. You can quote me on that.

Here we go again - another seemingly easy project in Buffalo becoming a cluster f*ck.

There are so many intelligent people on this website that "get it." Seems like the cast majority of people in Buffalo all want the same thing.....appears as though we now have the sympathy from the state and the federal gov.

SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? HOW DO YOU HAVE SO MANY MOTIVATED AND TALENTED PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING, BUT NOTHING GETS DONE?

I am tired of hearing about the corruption and the politicians, there is more to the story!

chiknlil, No one is saying that these building should remain vacant and deteriorated, simply that they should be reused instead of demolished at fantastic expense. The environmental issues will have be addressed anyway. You can't just blow-up a toxic (if it really is) building in the middle of residential and commercial neighborhoods.

What you, gaustad, etc. seem to be completely blind to is that buildings similar to this in form and original function are now completely viable, occupied structures - after substantial, but cost effective, renovation. Have you been in the L-Co building on Exchange? This was an abandoned factory/warehouse just like Trico1, but not it is some of the finest, most desirable, office space in Buffalo. Why not look right across the street at M.Wile. A few years ago it was in a condition that you would doubtless have said was worthy of demo. Now UB just paid a significant amount of money for it and is moving programs into it, joining URS corp. and an employment and training center.

Trico1 represents an incredible opportunity to reuse a valuable asset while retaining a building that connects us to Buffalo's past. And I am sure that chrish and others will do far more to seek out funding sources and intellectual resources in aid of preserving it than you ever will in aid of any demolition and redevelopment.

Seriously, what's so architecturaly OR historically significant about the Trico building? No, seriously? I've been by it 1000 times, and it's just another old factory building that in reality, isn't even that old. There were no presidential assasinations, sit ins, or underground railroads there that would make it historically significant. Could it be cool as a condo conversion? Maybe. Could something else be built there that would be cooler, and actually add some 2007 style architecture for our kids to look back on years from now, and admire as historically significant? More likely, ESPECIALLY if BNMC is involved (See Haupmann Woodward).

Can you imagine what Buffalo would look like today, if in 1780, the preservationalists where around trying to save wooden horse stables. They would be dilapidated and fallen down by now, and none of what the preservationalists deem "historically significant" would be here today. While that may be an extreme example. essentially, that's what we are doing here is exactly that...PREVENTING tomorows history from being built. Brilliant!

SO YEAH, what is so architecturally or historically significant about this building. I'm serious. Maybe I am being ignorant, and need to be enlightened.

Wouldn't it be cool to see that trico building go down. It would be one of those huge implosions you see on TV from time to time. I mean the thing is an ex-factory full of toxic waste. Surely whatever UB has in mind is not going to be best done in such a building. The best option is to detroy the thing, then cart away that chemical ridden mess, and put up exactly what UB needs. In Buffalo's effort to go beyond last place, you got to pull out all the stops. Trying to make some old disgusting factory work will just make the end product work less well, regardless of what their plans are. As for achitecturally significant. WTF???? This is just some average looking old factory building. It's really touching your grandpa used to work there, but really 1952 ended a long time ago. MOVE ON!!!!!!!

I hope that UB learned from their experiences with Bethune and the Pfeifer Theater. They need to integrate into the community and create connectors between the students and their buildings. Buildings that exists as an island, away from the general population of students tend to fail when left on their own. Bethune was a hazard for students to work in and walk to, the Pfeifer was easily replaced with the on-campus Center for the Arts primarily because it was easier for the students and faculty. Many people loved that theater, but it was difficult to get students to work there when they had a choice to stay on-campus. If UB wants this to work, they will need to create a UB community downtown that protects the students from the low-income housing projects that border two sides of the BNMC. They will need to add policing and maybe coverage from the Anti-Rape Task Force (if that still exists) to bring students to and from the metro, campus, or parking garages. The security guards at Roswell already escort students / staff to their cars when asked, I think that UB should prepare to do the same.

Al-alo - Your points are noted...ESPECIALLY the point you make about no one having even the slightest notion of what the new owners plan to do with the building.

ASSUMING that they did want to demo, and start from scratch, can you clear this up for me? The Trico plant, although not aesthetically displeasing, is nothing special, and not a historically siginificant design. There are literally hundreds of examples of this type of industrial architecture throughout Western NY. There are no historical moments that took place in that building, and manufacturing windshield wipers is far from a historical foundation of the City of Buffalo. Now, the current owners may have wanted historical designation for one reason or another, but if that's a requirement for a property receiving historical designation, then I would venture to bet that half of Buffalo would sign on to have their properties put on the national historical register, if not only to receive the matching rehbilitation grants. So yeah, per your 4 requirements above, Trico qualifies for 0.

AND...as for this quote of YOURS: "how many of you know the first thing about engineering, remediation, historic preservation, or urban planning or about this stucture? or how about this curve ball, what the new owner wants!"

I say...you'd be surprised... Be careful.....

I'm surprised there are so many voices here already falling over each other in calling for demolition even before anyone from BNMC has confirmed it is what they intend to do.

I would love to help identify remediation funds available from state and federal sources were such an effort required. Restore NY funds aren't used only for demolition. Fact is, BNMC may claim the demo is necessary without ever having looked into these reuse options if reuse was never, ever their intention.

So far, the BNMC has a poor record. It has built a small number of fine structures, for sure - urbanistically bad structures, but interesting to look at, if nothing else. Other than that, it is merely demolishing structures - some valuable, some not so valuable - for "land banking"; i.e. expanding its bank of surface parking lots. It appears they have failed in their efforts to execute this strategy on the brick Italianate houses of Washington Street. The buck will stop there.

If the BNMC plans to continue this "land banking" strategy by demolishing this industrial landmark and fantastic economic development opportunity, the preservation community will have news for them!

Erie Canal Harbor, The Church, future AM&A's development, Ellicott Lofts, IS Lofts, Webb Building, Guaranty Building, The Warehouse Lofts, ECC City campus, Cobblestone Lofts, Calumet, Missippi Street offices: just a few examples of cultural and economic development projects that were possible *only* because preservationists stopped a bulldozer.

What economic opportunities have the side-line naysayers, surface parking worshipers, barstool preservationist-bashers, and suburb-located complainers created?

Building fabric like the Trico building are economic resources waiting to be tapped. Only a few years ago hundreds of apartments and modern loft office spaces were planned for the Trico plant. That can still happen and I'm eager to see it through.

The Trico complex is a fine example of steel-reinforced daylight factory design that is rare in America and will never be built economically again. The Trico building fits all of the above categories of historical and architectural value. It is valuable for the same reasons, and is an economic opportunity for the same reasons, that the Larkin R/S/T warehouse was valuable when CityView Properties had the foresight to transform it into something truly amazing. Downtown and the Theater Historic District Area can have a similar renovation project occur - that is, if the obstructionists and barstool preservation-bashers step aside and let progress happen.

Hey tjhorner1, preservationists in the 1860s saved the George Coit House and, at great expense, moved it to its present location on Virginia Street. When an 1880s-era fire blazed through the landmark, Richard Upjohn-designed St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, destroying everything but the shell of the building, it wasn't bulldozed but rebuilt entirely. The Landmark Society of the Niagara Fronteir was founded around 1901 with an eye on celebrating cultural and architectural landmarks in the city. Citizens published books of photographs on buildings that were threatened with demolition in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Your assertion that only present-day activists gave a hoot about old building rings shallow in light of the facts.

Who says some of us "preservationists" may not have a real interest in this building? If the BNMC ends up rehabbing the building, the firm I work for will bid on the project and hopefully we'll get hired, thus we do have a finanical interest. We currently have three mills being rehabiliated, each which is in a historic district, they don't have to be individually historic to be a part of the greater context of the district. Also, for those who don't want tax credits given to historic rehabs, make sure not to take write off your mortgage interest or take your kid's college tax credits...because why should I pay for your house or kid's education? The government decides that certain activities are in the public interest and provides a finanical incentive to encourage them.

Is it me or does it seem that Buffalonians answer to a disagreement about a building always results in somebody filing a lawsuit? Don't you people have better things to do than save an old factory?

Does the developer who puts $10 million into the rehab of an old factory have anything better to do?

I'm not for demolishing MORE of Buffalo's history if unnecessary... Chrish brings up an interesting point... if its polluted beyond repair.... have at it.

But I find things hard to believe that until a few years ago... it had some sereious renovation re-use plans behind it.. that sadly fell through.

This is the first time (CarlMalone)... that I've ever heard of the Trico Buildings being polluted beyound repair.. I can't help but wonder if in fact there was Cyanide leaking through the floor and walls ( Princeton Elms).. that this problem would have been taken care of a long time ago??

I know our politicians aren't the brightest here.. but I seriously doubt they'd leave a cyanide ooozing building like this stand this long. Especially with the development plans that were in place until a few years ago...

Did everyone miss this little gem from Chris69?

oh....lastly....a message to well quoiffed female minority patronage appointment Howard over at Buffalo State, see this is what doing your job as president of a college/university does...they work on expanding student population, work on expanding programs and services, work on expanding cooperative relationships with the residential and commercial community, work on expanding jobs, entrepreneurial resources, research and incubators resources. Obviously since your job was given to you because of your race and gender you think that your safe in your tenured position and can relax...but everyone sees that you need to go! You need to pack up and leave!

You may disagree with Howard's management of the college, but to assume that she was "given" her job because she is a woman of color is repugnant. Further, trying to measure Buff St against UB is miseleading. UB's role as a major research university and Buff State's role as a Master's granting liberal arts college are very different (as are the schools' budgets).

You deserve to be called out for your racism on this board.

If you preservationist value your jobs and your childrens jobs you should let ANY developer who has ANY interest in this city do what they wish...especially if they bought the property. Nobody tells you what to do with your house, and if you want to rip it down and put a newer, better one up, god bless. Last time I checked there wasnt a huge line of corporations and companies waiting to build and expand into Buffalo, NY. We need to take what we can get for now. If Bob the MegaMillions winner wants to come downtown and turn an old house that at one point "made sewing needles" into 500 jobs paying 45k/yr, get out of his way. Its the only hope that there will be jobs, therefore, people, in this city in 50 years.

Could someone tell me where the BNMC folks got 12 mil in funding to buy this building and how they plan to make mortgage payments. Where is the revenue stream coming from that will not only allow them to keep up on the mortgage and taxes, but also the costs of redeveloping the building.

On the other hand, I am sure that UB will do a great job with filling out the M. WIle building.