Buffalo Rising Online

blah, blah, blah.

I wish the developers well. It looks like a great project that is fitting for that building and Main Street.

Hopefully they can get their ducks in line and make it reality. That will be the real challenge.

I'm not impressed by drawings. Or out of town architects that have no appreciation for Buffalo's history.

AM&A's is a great building. A beautiful design with a lot of happy associations for western New Yorkers.

Unfortunately, this proposal wrecks all that. Let's renovate the builidng so that it is still recognizable. After all, this isn't South Beach.

Hamp - excellent - actually restoring the building to the art deco 60 year old Starrett & van Vieck facade would be much more like the art deco South Beach I saw a few weeks ago.

Maybe the Miami architects don't get to Miami Beach much or don't know or care about the history of the AM&As building.

This is a huge eye-sore on the Main Street/Downtown community. Something MUST be done with this building and location or this section of Main St. will be empty for another 10 years and more! Who cares if the building is historic! AM&A's doesn't exist any more and I sure don't think that its going to come back from the ashes. From BRO and Buffalo News reports, the inside of the building is dmaged so bad that only a complete overhall and restructure could save it. With the return of cars to Main St. soon, this building has the possibilities to have high potential as a success.

Great Design! Now for cryin out loud, just DO it !

:)

The design looks very interesting but the image quality is so poor. Can we get any other images?

I like the drawing. For all you naysayers, why don't YOU put up the cash to "preserve" the original facade. Buffalo can't sit in a static timebubble forever. And by the way, that facade is not Art Deco. It's an early international style. The long horizontal windows were fine for the old department store building use, but for residential usage the old design will absolutley not work.

Is that terracotta? The facade reminds me of The Porter House in manhatten designed by SHoP Architects

The existing AM&A building has many qualities that make it a good fit for housing and/or commericial use:

It has large windows, high ceilings, and contrary to what some would have us believe, the building is structurally sound, and in pretty good shape. Hardly an eyesore.

Watch out for the game that developers play. It's called "promise them everything". Paladino promises a hotel, but doesn't follow through. Clover demolishes a building to "foster the growth of the medical campus". But it never happens. Now Clover is bragging that they have "a shovel ready site". Maybe that was their plan all along. What's Giardino up to with this very sketchy plan?

Renovating AM&A's will maintain an important part of the city's history and preserves the urban fabric. Demolishing AM&A's (and from the rendering, it looks like most of it is going), is a waste of energy. When we're just starting to talk about "green buildings" and energy conservation, trucking tons of bricks and mortar (the labor of our ancestors) to a landfill is so "old Buffalo".

Obviously you have not been in this complex in a long time if ever hamp. It is an abomination! People have to wear masks b/c of the mold and standing water. You have no idea what you are talking about! I encourage everyone to ignore what he (she?) is saying.

Sounds good and looks good on paper. Whether it happens or not, it is testament to the fact there is an undeniable renewed interest in downtown. These project ideas just keep rolling in and more and more of them are actually moving on to the reality stage of development.

Gabe- say it again and scream it as loud as possible. The armchair architects who hang out on this site need to start putting their money where their mouths are or shut the f**k up.

Oh, no. There's mold AND standing water somewhere in the building? Then by all means we must knock it down right away.

Charger... too funny!

... And....

Keep the facade? Change the facade? Whatver it takes to get this project going, just get it going!

somehwere in the building? It is all over and is inches high. A watermain broke in there and the water has been sitting forever - it is a very dangerous situation.

Do you people ever think of the costs involved in getting rid of that? And I never said knock it down, I only meant that this design shouldn't be shunned so fast. The building as it stands looks like crap - I just want to see something happen, and YES I prefer that they don't knock it down, charger.

Pitiful design. This would do the Des Moines Chamber of Commerce proud. If this is what Buffalo is going to get, why save any part of the building?

This isn't adaptive re-use; it's adaptive abuse.

PROMISES, PROMISES, PROMISES!!....isnt this the building that TONY BALONEY assured the public last fall that would have "concrete plans" in place from the latest developer???!...TONY 'S GONE and now should the building. FINE the owner for letting the building that sits in the center of downtown HEAVILY for allowing the building to contribute to the demise of a once vibrant area. he's snubbed his nose at city for years and laughed at the city building codes while he played his chess game with the "reluctant" city officials during MASIELLO's misguided leadership. make examples out of people like this so future property owners of buildings with such importance and key location will think twice of "playing" with the system!! JUDGE NOWAK needs to come down hard on TAYLOR for his years of neglect and disregard he has shown with this building!!

hamp you are a moron, if you can do better buy it and do it , if not then shut up

No Hamp is not a moron. This plan does not even deserve to be presented to the public right now. There is no financing, no community involvement, no tenants and it has not been offically presented to the City or preservation board. Giaradino and Taylor are questionable and will be fishing for public $$$. There are so many great projects by more diligent developers that are actually moving forward with private money. Forget about the design for now and spend your time talking about something that is actaully going to happen. The reason we feel nothing ever gets done is because these pipe dreams get announced without any true dilegence being done first. Now this project will drag and we can all say nothing ever gets done. I love what Savarino and Avalon are doing in the Cobblestone. They said this what we are doing as they actually were starting the project. They will do the same with the Elmwood Hotel. The same can be said for First Amherst on Main and Virginia.

"Adaptive abuse." That's funny, Perry, and on the mark.

Here's why the building's exterior shouldn't be defaced:

http://preserve.bfn.org/bpr/spr04/1/index.html

To Perry Fisher:

You must contact Buffalo Rising and make a complaint: someone is affixing your name to foolish and ignorant statements (see the above outrageous statement made in your name). Identity theft is a bitch. I doubt any intelligent nor well traveled person would utter such an obnoxious statement as the one allegedly made by you.

I only wish Buffalo could snag a few lines from the Des Moines Chamber of Commerce... a Chamber that is flush with success.

Instead of a flood of promises, Des Moines enjoys actual growth, rehabilitation and new construction in its downtown core. Des Moines is a center for new and expanding industries.

Las Vegas is growing. Phoenix is growing. Reno is growing. So what? Does this automatically equal success? I wouldn't live in any of those sprawling, overgrown, traffic-laden, characterless suburban-style cities if you paid me.

I'll take quality over quantity any day of the week.

I would say that Las Vegas has character

Well, I for one think the image doesnt do the building justice because we really only have a shadow of what the materials look like and the appearance of the building.

Lets not forget that the AM&A's building is actually multiple buildings pieced together. The main street section had all the pieces fitted together via a new facade. The rear has the original 1890s facade.

So, no I dont think the 1890s facade in the rear should be altered or changed.

The International style front has merit because Buffalo has so few examples of the international style but I would classify it as a must keep...especially if the lack of windows obstructs a successful redevelopment.

If you look at the picture....to the rear on Main Street on of the buildings shows a great well lit....very dramatic glass frontage which Id like to see more of what the architect intends but the front area that looks like brick or dark terra cotta....well that looks to me very 1970s Planet of the Apes - Buffalo State .... design....it went out a long time ago and shouldnt not be resurrected. If you lack that much imagination or talent then either keep the "International Style and add windows" or bring back the 1890s version to Main Street.

Its multiple building....and any smart architect would have different designs for each building. Perhaps even do something interesting like do one the part in the 1890s, to part in the international style and the remaining building in something very modern. I think from the picture they were trying to do that but I think they failed.

Summation: As the wise person said,...there are no tenants and no development plans so this is just the beginning of the discussion. Lets hope that at the end of the discussion we have a redeveloped building that present and future generationa can all love as much as the old building.

Save your time and comments. This drawing will go to the same Buffalo vault as the adelphia building, the peace bridge designs, and the E-Zone Dome out on the outer harbor. This is a complete joke. The only possible use for those torn up non historic buildings is a wrecking ball and bringing in a fresh idea and new concept to an upmost important block of main street. This area needs serious consideration and these buildings should be taken out of their misery and bulldozed. This could be an area where buffalo brings in a big time develpment to help revitilize what some would consider the heart of downtown. Lets get a new exciting development down there that will give a spark to main street and the surrounding area.

Cookie- Good idea, but take it across the street to the grossly underused and neglected Main Place Mall. There's your non-historic buildings.

Well, when it comes to Main Place Mall I think everyone is agreed...tear part of it down and re-open Eagle Street.

Maybe even take the none tower half of the broken up Main Place Mall and add a matching or similar tower that would add to the fiber and density of downtown.

AM&A's is special...as I said before....AM&A's is actually 3 buildings (each with slightly different floor heights) and the design should reflect 3 different buildings. The 1890s facade in the rear is a keeper but the front International Style isnt essential. Since there are no tenants and the plans havent been submitted for review....no doubt there is more time for disussion.....the last word has not been heard!

Sorry, Rifle Dude. No one has stolen my identity; I take full responsibility for the comment-- which was about ARCHITECTURE and supposed preservation-- and was my opinion of the proposed design-- and NOT about the relative economic statistics of two cities. Read more carefully before you make a statement linking entirely different subjects which I have not linked in my remarks.

I live in an area with a thriving economy and "successful" chamber of commerce by all the usual measures of success. But there are few good new buildings being built here; the historic buildings are being wiped out at a speed that makes one's head spin; it's just mindless sprawl destroying a once-splendid natural environment.

I have seen Des Moines. Thank you. I don't need your scolding.

Let's see, for how many DECADES now, has the sacred cow AM&As complex been vacant? No cars on Main. And the oh so delicious MPM on the other side. How about starting with a 'constructive' statement, heck, it doesn't even have to be complimentary.

Even if Taylor is a bit of a character, at least he's putting ideas on the table. Are you? Are we? The AM&A's Main Street facade is just that, a facade, let it go. Its a new day, and maybe, just maybe, Taylor, or someone else, is about to be 'incentivized'? to build there because of all the 'New Buffalo' goings-on in downtown environs.

Ah yes, there are those that argue that AM&As is "...such a special place of happy memories and other fine candies..." um, let's see, when Gramma, or such, dies, and its time to finally sell the 'old homestead,' we usually do. We move on. We evolve, its called being human. Sigh.

sounds like a great idea, but i am pretty sure it is just that, an idea that will never come to terms, and if it should, i can just see all the idiots coming out of the closets to stop any development. after living here two years i have come to realize there are far to many people that would rather see buffalo continue to regress

Can someone tell me why reusing the AM&A's building is regressive?

Here are a FIVE reasons why reusing it is actually very PROGRESSSIVE:

1. It's structurally sound and can easily be reused, as many other buildings (in much worse condition) have been. This can lead to spectacular results as we have seen in other reuse projects.

2. It is an important part of local history, representing a style that is rarely seen in Buffalo. And it was designed by a prominent architect. Buffalo is promoting itself as a city of great buildings. Demolition runs counter to this major goal.

3. It is a very urban building, built to the sidewalk, with great existing space at the ground floor for retail. It's "new urbanism" at its best. It can easily become a mixed use building, located on the transit line.

4. We have no guaranty that what will take its place will provide the same urban amenities that the existing building does. We have many examples of buildings demolished, only to be replaced by inferior work, or a parking lot. Let's not be so quick to swoon over a pretty picture.

5. It is good for the environment to reuse this builiding. We won't be filling up a landfill with tons of perfectly good builiding materials. And it's expensive to do this. That money could be better used on the renovation.

Here's my challenge:

Give me 5 good reasons that show that taking this building down is PROGRESSIVE.

The project is a long way off (years) and my guess is it won't even happen. My prediction is that after this banner year of building in Buffalo and the ensuing momentum somebody, with dollars instead of a big mouth and an eye for the media, will step forward, raze the flooded complex and build a 26 story high-rise. This project can never happen. Its a concept and nothing more. As MD says "blah, blah, blah, blah, and more blah, blah, blah........Get over it...the building is hideous on a good day.

Nice design! get it funded and do it! These types of posts show how easily excitable we are as a community. We are soo hungry for good design, and good development. What could burst the growing bubble now is a whole lot of proposals and no action. INVEST

Perry---

What's up with all the Des Moines bashing??? I traveled through there last fall enroute to one of our "Ultimate Sports Road Trip" journeys to Omaha and Lincoln NE. Granted it was just a dinner stop, but I was really impressed with the Des Moines skyline, the mixed architecture, a section of downtown had old time brick paved streets and there were a plethora of restaurants, professional offices and apartments/condos mixed in. People were all over the place. and being a sports buff, my eyes really got wide looking at their gleaming sports venues - the Wells Fargo Arena houses the AHL Iowa Stars and has all the amenities and space of a big league place; Principal Park is the totally rehabbed old Sec Taylor Stadium and houses AAA baseball...and they are both right downtown! I've got a return visit there for a sports trip on the long term horizon.

Rifle dude is correct.. we could rip a few pages out of the Des Moines playbook.

Hamp, I guess bman called your bluff. His well reasoned argument certainly demolished your rat-infested, moldy, flooded, eye-sore of a challenge.

I hate to point out the obvious, but this is a big, multi-story building. Even if every inch of the basement is flooded up to the level of the ground floor, the vast majority of the building isn't.

I LUV THIS DESIGN. Modern, An Eye Catcher and will erase the eyesore we currently have at this corner in Downtown. I say..DO IT.

I am most disappointed that some participants in the discussion feel the need to resort to name calling and expletives. Most everyone who participates in BRO blog are thoughtful, intelligent people who care passionately about their home. We disagree on principles and ideas, but that does not make anyone stupid, "One of those", or any other put down. Please respect the opinions and arguments of others, and respond in kind.

Andrew, no Des Moines bashing intended. I agree with you that it's a rather pleasant city; I can say I like Iowa City, too, while we are at it. I shouldn't have referred to any city by name because someone will always be offended, but this particular rendering reminded me of a preservation-related battle in a Midwest city that I was peripherally involved with in a previous career. A group of landmark structures were to be sacrificed for something as equally bland and undistinguished as I find this proposed entombment to be.

If Buffalo is to lose the Main Street identity of the AM&A complex to a new skin, I'd rather see a totally-new structure-- a great work of architecture-- in the tradition of Buffalo architectural innovation.

As depicted above, this is not preservation and re-use of a quite distinguished facade, so why even impose the constraint upon the architects of using the old skeleton and getting a building with neither the wonderful horizontal emphasis appropriate to the original style, nor the vertical emphasis of a tower?

I'm happy and amazed there's anywhere near as much development in Buffalo being planned as it is, given our job growth being among the bottom percentiles in of anywhere the nation. I'm not aware of any plans to significantly address the root causes of that here. Spitzer's first commercial for Gov reminds me so much of what we heard in the last U.S. Senate campaign here. Rhetoric about change but without saying anything that union bosses might disagree with.

Two very informative peices in BN Sunday giving the statistical proof of this (front page in contenxt of Clinton campaign, and another one on business page regarding census tracking of job stats).

At some point the relative low numbers of people here with incomes sufficient to be renters in all these projects will have to be addressed. Clearly the investors must see something I don't regarding this area's economy. Either that, or they're figuring they can just lure enough renters away from from their existing landlords - great for them if so, but that won't be much help to the area in general. A little good I suppose for construction businesses, but not much long term spinoff.

Maybe this is that main factor is why nobody's come forward with a more solidly funded proposal for AM&As building over past decade.

Perry... gotcha.. Ok.. and good point too! A lot of people aroudn these parts will awlays be skittish about a demolition plan that doesn't involve immediate reconstruction of something new and dynamic. Biggest case in point along Main st is the NW corner of MAin and Seneca... a magnificent bank building was torn down there with promises of a new project.... a generation has passed and we got "Pro Park".

Now that I've given this more thoguht, I'd almost like to see the current exterior look of AM&A's maintained close to its current form. That department store was such a big part of everyone's lives for so long. Bridging the future with the past would not be a bad thing in this case.

Yes, well Buffalo has been underbuilt and undervalued for decades so I can understand all the development.

Low interest rates and liquidity have poured out of stocks after the crash and focused on real estate. Unfortunately the liquidity on the international spigots are drying up ... both Europe and Japan are raising rates and China is already expriencing inflation.....which means higher interest rates....and higher interest rates mean that its more expensive to build real estate.

Buffalo has been underbuilt, under-invested and under-valued for decades so I dont expect the real estate developments in Buffalo to slow with the rest of the nation. Many projects in Buffalo will still be financially viable.

What this does mean for Buffalo is that money is going to start shifting back into various forms of business in order to earn income and Buffalonians had better be ready to be as business friendly as it has been real estate friendly.

I actually think that the new mayor, the new school superintendent and control boards in both the city and the county are over riding the long term corruption, patronage and the intimidation our elected officials have faced when representing the taxpayer to unions.

The flip side is that these control boards and pay freezes are hurting our ability for major projects like a new convention center, or to attract great lakes cruise ships to dock in our port, etc.

BUFFALO NEEDS JOBS AND I THINK THAT THE TAX PAYING PUBLIC IS TIRED OF HEARING THAT THE ONLY SAFE JOBS ARE THOSE OF CIVIL SERVANTS! AT SOME POINT THE TAXPAYER WOULD LIKE THOSE SERVANTS OF THE PUBLIC TO ACTUALLY HAVE SOME OF THOSE FUNDS RE-INVESTED BACK INTO JOBS AND COMMUNITIES....INSTEAD OF UN-MAINTAINED WATER & SEWER LINES, NON-PROSECUTED PROPERTY FLIPPERS, UNEDUCATED CHILDREN AND ALL THOSE OTHER CIVIL SERVANT JOBS THAT NEVER GET DONE.

Ive been saying it for along time....with our job creation rate....who is going to afford all these homes or to shop at all these retail stores? Now its time to share this momentum with local businesses and industries.

I don't have an opinion one way or the other about this particular project but I do want to say this: I think that Buffalo's future rests with the new people that will hopefully move here. So many people that were connected to Buffalo's past have moved on. Many (but not all) people left are either negative or apathetic about Buffalo's future. The political leadership seems hopelessly stuck in neutral. I'm not suggesting at all that we turn our backs on Buffalo's past. I do think, however, that we need to look forward to what people want Buffalo to be like in the future. Preserving the past solely for the past's sake won't cut it - it 's over. Many have moved on. Buffalo needs to think ahead, not behind. We need to think about what will attract new blood to this city. What this particular building was to the past, in my opinion, isn't really all that relevant now (unlike the Richardson Complex or the Larkin Bldg). What is important is the fact that this is a prime location on Main St. What will make the most of this important parcel now and in the future?

To clarify my point; AM&A's (or whatever department store it was) will long be forgotten. Richardson and Wright will live on forever.

Deciding to save buildings because they were designed by famous architects is just one of many reasons to preserve them.

I would argue that while you believe Richardson and Wright will live on forever, for many residents, many other buildings, like AM&A's and others are equally important and more meaningful.

Perhaps you never shopped at this store, or knew anyone that worked there. But many of us did. And for us, and our children, and grandchildren, the store is very meaningul. I don't see anything negative in that.

I dare say most of our associations with the Wright or Richardson buildings are much less personal. Also, some of the countries most popular cities: Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, even LA attract new residents precisely because they are preserving the past, "just for the past's sake".

I don't think you got my point hamp.

I clearly stated that I don't believe we should turn our backs on Buffalo's past.

I do think that if Buffalo is going to progress it needs to stop resting on it's laurels; the past is over. Future generations won't care about Buffalo's former department stores (are any of them even in existence today?) - they will care about our famous architectural heritage.

I doubt that any forward-thinking cities are preserving the past simply for the past's sake. The past must be relevant to the future in order to be worth preserving.

Why is Buffalo so afraid to move forward? I must say, as much as I love it here, Buffalo can be very frustrating. I'm not used to living in a city with so much negative energy and fear of progress. I see so much wasted potential. So much energy wasted on the wrong priorities (at least what I think are the wrong priorities).

Where the heck is New Buffalo???

I guess I need to stop reading the comments on this blog. Too much Old Buffalo here for me!

I remain optimistc that Buffalo will change for the better and I appreciate the positve things that are indeed happening here. I do, however, believe we need bigger and bolder thinking in order to truly move forward.

My point is that yes, future generations WILL care about former department stores. Just as we now care about Buffalo's old factories and taverns, auto showrooms etc. If we just protect famous buildings we'd end up with an architecture museum, not a great city.

Also, advocating the reuse of old buildings is hardly negative. But making "shovel ready" sites, that's about as negative as you can get. And that's where I think this is headed. We have just seen it with the Clover development. Promise us everything, and end up giving us a parking lot.

Is saving the Central Terminal a negative thing? Or what about the Erie Canal? Was not demolishing Holling Press and Ellicott Lofts for a convention center a negative thing? Was saving Berger's Department store a negative thing. Is saving the enviorment from tons of perfectly good building materials dumped into a landfill a negative thing?

Building new flashy projects is so 1960's and so old Buffalo. That's what gave us Main Place Mall, the Rath Building, convention center etc. These were all see as very positive developments at the time, yet they wiped away the city's history and urban fabric. You might not see it, but you're advocating the same approach today.

New Buffalo, like many other cities values its history. There are countless progressive cities across the world that are redeveloping old buildings for new, exciting uses. If you want examples look at Seattle, or Barcelona, or Berlin, or Boston, or Ithaca for that matter. Hardly down and out backwaters.

Go to Munich or Vienna. You'll see very few buildings under 100 years old. They treasure their past and it shows. In Munich, they painstakingly recreated the incredible detail of their great churches and buildings that were damaged in World War II. And their efforts are rewarded by the millions of visitors who travel there just to see these treasures.

We have a great opportunity here in Buffalo to save our history, charm and character, one building at a time.

I agree that preserving the history and charm of the Queen City should coincide with new development, and I hate when projects are rushed forward without thought or care to the greater well-being of the city (i.e. main place mall and convention center creating a Berlin Wall through our downtown).

That being said, we cannot sit around and plan forever - development projects will inevitably have flaws. The point is to find a happy median between preservation/planning and getting our a*# in gear and building. We've got symbols of the opposite ends of the development spectrum to remind us everyday - the peace bridge (too much planning/studies) and the main place mall (erie county savings bank, an architectural gem, met the wrecking ball as Buffalo raced to build a downtown mall...horrendous idea).

I look up at the ArtVoice billboard on the side of the building...with Steve Christie smiling at me...every day and I ask myself when that dilapidated structure will be saved or destroyed. Either way - the city has been waiting long enough. Designs don't do it for me - show me a shovel or some scaffold, or stop wasting my time.

If this plan for JN Adam's goes, through, it represents the only thing that is *worse* than demolition. Destroying the International Style facade with terra cotta and glass sculpture -- what a disaster!

The architect and developer are forfeiting the support of the one group of people most interested in saving and reusing the building -- preservationists who have long advocated for the progressive, classic modern facade of 1935. Any subsidy package will have to come with broad-based community support, which would evaporate with the destruction of the original building, dooming the project and any hope Giardino has in redeveloping the complex.

The building is an 1890s building as you can see from the rear!

The building is also not one but 3 buildings which the 1935 facade seems together.

Remember that in your arguments. If you want historical accuracy, then bring back the 1890 facade to Main Street.

The international style is nice...and worked great for certain buildings but its not the original...and shouldnt be the reason to obstruct redevelopment of the building.

However, that being said...I think the glass and terra cotta redesign is hideous! Come up with something more inspiring or keep the existing international style or revert back to the 1890s style but this terra cotta modernism is hideous!

here is something for all of you to consider. For as long as I can remember the entire community of WNY has been provided a steady and unending diet of negativity and hopelessness by the Buffalo News. The result is the most demoralized region in the entire country. Depressed people want to just get through the day. They don't bother to hope because they know it is just going to get worse. It is you mental outlook that determines your actions. As long as the Buffalo News continues to poison the spirit and the sould of this community it will always be a city with its future behind it.

Mr. Taylor, your neglect has poisoned this building. Your elitism destroyed effective and positive reuse. Now, put your moey where your mouth is.

I agree with Marilyn, This building has been long neglected and should of been atleast maintained

Mr. Taylor,

With all deference, no one here, in the above discussion, has referenced the Buffalo News, as either a singular entity, or as a collective force, in relation to its function as a communal spigot, what's the point of your statement? It seems rather fussy and without meaning, in the context of the overall discourse. Point? If you truly want to change downtown for the better, don't count on outside media, or such, to be the spark for your creativity, most times, such things, i.e., creation, come from within. So, what are you made of, and what do you TRULY have to offer Main Street WNY?

Marilyn & Michele, Let's take a look at a couple of facts. I am the only person that has invested money without government grants or assistance on downtowm Main Street in the past 20 years. The building was available to every developer in Buffalo and every one of them turned it down. M&T bank insisted on a $11,000,000 subsidy for their rent before they would touch it. It seems to me that I am the only person that has actually put their money where their mouth is. Structurally, there is nothing wrong with the building at all unless some peeling paint counts. You have confirmed my previous observation about the Buffalo News. Your opinions and thoughts have been formed by the paper. Elitism. I don't think you get it. I am the only person in this town that stood up and tried to make a reuse of this building. Nobody else wants to touch it without millions of public dollars.

John B

Considering the entire discussion is based on a story written by the Buffalo News, I think it is relevant. Particularly when it is a completely unsubstantiated story. It would seem reasonable to me that before the Buffalo News starts to write stories about what I am doing witha building they might want to confirm the validity of the story with me. But, facts have never stood in their way before. I guess my point is this. When you have a community so demoralized with the life and spirit completely sucked out of them it is guarantee that nothing is going to revive Buffalo. With the daily diet of negativity and bad news nobody even wants invest in planting flowers in this town. This weight of hopelessness is talked about constantly and the results are evident. Private money will not invest in this community and private business will not invest. Despite the fact that we live in the most desirable region in the country. The result is people like myself say "How many millions do you sink into a community that has been conditioned to think they are a bunch of losers?" Yes, The Buffalo News is very relevant to this conversation because every investor like my self who puts personal money on the line to help this community is going to run for the hills as long as the current atmosphere continues.

Mr. Taylor, I understand your points and I agree that many people in this region have a negative sentiment towards the city. I listen to people every day who complain about the seemingly unending string of poor development decisions this city has made in recent years. If what you speak of is true, then we commend you for your efforts. However, don't criticize us for being gunshy. We've all witnessed the army of developers/entrepreneurs that have taken public money for their "breakthrough" projects and then split soon afterwards.

If your the "good guy" you claim to be, then you need to take extraordinary measures to make the community aware. Why? Two reasons - (1) we'll probably question your intentions/efforts if you don't, as we've been burned countless times, and (2) because people will rally to your efforts if they believe and trust them. You seem to perceive Buffalo as a town filled with pouting, bitter untrusting apathetic creatures, but I can tell you that there are plenty of active, innovative and intelligent professionals who are willing to throw their support behind the "good guys".

Don't lash out at us Mr. Taylor - communicate with us.

Buffalo Rising...The anti-News

Quote Taylor "Considering the entire discussion is based on a story written by the Buffalo News, I think it is relevant. Particularly when it is a completely unsubstantiated story."

So is this story is unsubstantiated? So does that mean it is real? or not?

For what it's worth... I loved Taylor's Department Store and was sorry to see it go. I bought some beautiful items there. I believe in the Taylor's because they tried to bring back to Buffalo something that they saw a city like ours deserved. It was always a pleasure to do business with Mrs. Taylor and I would support other projects that they were involved in. I know many of my friends feel the same way.

Mr. Taylor:

My I suggest an antidote to your cynacism - do something!

You own a building in a great location. Renovate it.

And we'll all be happy.

Am I missing something here?

Mr. Taylor makes a fine point. As much as this website promotes active cititzens with a progressive outlook. From my experience, the vast majority of those that have any opinion on this city express a very negative one. We all know the influence of the media on our society and in a one newspaper town--the influence of the Buffalo News should not be underestimated.

Hamp,

Yes, you seem to be missing the point.

David S. I have never said I would do something and not done it. I have not made any statement on this for the simple reason i can't guarantee I can deliver the goods at this time. As somebody pointed out, ther has to be a warehouse full of renderings sitting somewhere in East Buffalo. Anothe lesson I have learned is tht major deals are done very very quietly if they are to be successful.

M batt, Steph & Peter, It is the wonderful thing about this community that despite the mesage the Buffalo News puts out people such as your selves remain committed to the city. I hope you keep it up. Hopefully I will be able to post the entire AM&A's saga. It should make fascinating reading. It wil be a first for me as my personal policy has be Never complain and never explain.

Mr. Taylor That is very fair. and I completely agree with your assesment of the local negativity. I think it is this pervasive negativity more than anything else that holds Buffalo down. the News takes advantage of the negativity by feeding it. Buffalo Rising has begun to break that log jam of "Buffalo can do nothing right" mentality.

I wish you luck with this project. It looks exciting. I ask that you save the facades on the back side. It will make your project more interesting.

Mr. Taytor, you make some good points. Good luck with your project.

Perhaps here is a good question: Given the amount of influence that the Buffalo News, as the only newspaper in this town, can act on daily, why does it seeminly need to deliver such negative stories, etc.... Why? What does the News have to gain by this? Is it as simple as bad news sells copies? If so, so sad....

Whenever a homeowner allows their property to go into disrepair, they are chastised via proper channels and "encouraged" to make the needed repairs. Commercial buildings, when vacated, should be properly mothballed and assured that health and other conditions do not allow decay. This is not being done with this building, at least not for the number of years it has remained vacant under allowance by the former city administration.

Developers seemed to have been given a promise that the city would deteriorate so they would receive great benefit in acquiring and/or developing buildings. This is not what I have hypothesized from the Buffalo News - just clear observation.

Hopefully, this will not continue in the future. We are watching, Mr. Taylor, and hope we se some proactive resolve from you and your partner/s.

The average Buffalonian is no longer lemming-like. They are intelligent and articulate and demand accountability.

Maryilyn, What are you smoking? The AM&A building, despite being inactive for 7 years still looks better and is more presentable from the outside than 90% of the buildings in the downtown area. As for the inside, what possible health hazard could there be to the public if the public is not allowed inside. I can assure you that our care of this building far exceeds the norm for Buffalo. If you want to suck up to Stan Lipsey go buy a couple of yearly subscriptions. If you thought before you wrote this kind of diatribe you probably wouldn't have written it.

John B. There is certainly no evidence that Stan Lipsey has the intelligence to think up let alone execute an agenda as effective as the Buffalo News has been in demoralizing this community and preventing progress. But let us speculate a little. The stories in the News over the course of the past few years have completely undermined the confidence of the community in every public institution in the region. I think it is fair to say that the general impression of the police, the fire department, the teachers, the nurses, county emplyees, city employees, politicians etc is that they are fat, lazy, overpaid and a great many are corrupt. This is simply not true. I know people in all of the above areas and this does not reflect them at all. Try and think of the last time the News portrayed any of the above in a positive manner. Now the only purpose I can think of is that it seems to have successfully focused the attention of the public on Joel Giambra's chauffer being overpaid by perhaps $15,000 while the rich folks in this community bleed us dry. For example the News as you recall praised our local billionaire John Rigas and family, extolling the benefits of putting a further $60 odd million into their pockets prior to going for the deep six. The 2nd richest man in the world is praised for taking millions in tax revenue for bringing some jobs to the community. We now have them telling us Bass pro is the savior and we should be grateful they will take $35 million out of the pockets of the poor working stiff. All I see is every sporting goods store in WNY that has been paying taxes for years being driven out of business. And where do the profits of Bass pro go. Exactly the same place as the $50 million a year profit that the Buffalo News generates. Out of our community and out of state. The list goes on and on from Ralph Wilson to our other local billionaire Bob Rich. The News has an unbroken track record of praising rich people and rich corporations for their ability to relieve of us of our desparately needed tax dollars. Hell, the News doesn't even have to pay sales tax on the pencils they use to write these puff pieces. I guess the short answer John is this. If you can divert our anger and attention to some penny ante crap like patronage, our minds will be too numb to notice who is really picking our pockets. The strategy has been incredibly successful. I just don't think Stan Lipsey has the gray matter to conceive somethinglike this.

Mr. Taylor, I smoke Newports. As far as my commentary, I am a Buffalonian and I love my city as do many of the posters you find here at BRO. We care a little bit more than the average. We are a hearty stock, stubborn, and are willing to see a cause to the very end. The ball's in your court, Sir. I'm waiting for a three-pointer.

As Fez would say "And I say Goodnight!"

Yo, Rick (I can;t see calling this guy "Mr Taylor" any longer due to his evident disrespect for the posters so far) - you think the Buffalo News has lied about you? Sue them. Otherwise, maybe the article you keep referring to may be true.

Marilyn, Sorry if I hurt your feelings.

Masked Avenger. I can only speculate as to what type of person would choose a name like Masked Avenger.

Mr. Taylor,

Intriguing thoughts. Thank you.

For me? I wish all, that truly care about about this region, good luck, with such attempts that they might make, to make WNY an even better place to live.

Mr Taylor,

Are you certain that your ststement about being the only person to invest in Main Street in the past twenty years is accurate?