Buffalo Rising Online

3.5 million for what - a polluted dysfunctional grain elevator on a polluted river that has been deserted.

This parcel should be given away, the grain elevator should be demolished, the land should be cleaned up and we should move on from our past toward building something more useful.

For all you grain elevator fans, go preserve, turn it into lofts, live in it and get it over with. They fill no use except representing demise to passer bys from out of town.

PERFECT OPPORTUNITY for all the preservationists here in Buffalo to finally put their $$ where their mouths are!! BUT NO!! They'll wait for someone to come along to buy this relic, so they can TELL them how to spend their money!!....and life goes on in Buffalo....

Of the elevator complexes in this area, the GLF may be the most suitable for rehab as mixed use. Refer to: http://www.silopoint.com/html/ Located in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Can the Buffalo area support such a development? I leave that opinion to you.

Driving down Ganson Rd. from Michigan to Ohio is one of the most depressing views in all of Buffalo. I know that the inner and outer harbor take precedence over this, but it is unfortunate that this scrap pile of warehouses/factories/silos is right in between the two.

Yeah, nothing quite like $3.5 Mil for a delapatated, rat/asbestos-infested disaster. I would be willing to bet that it would cost more to rehab this place than it would to demolish and build a new structure. Granted, this is just my observation, but it would seem to me that reabbing this place presents some MAJOR obstacles in terms of health-hazzards and potential overall structural issues which would make construction an absolute bear. I could be way off base, but it just seems like it's time to move forward and find new industry and stop dwelling on how sweet we were 60 years ago. Some preservation and history is fine, but at this point it is just as well served in a museum. Everyone raves about what's going on at the canal and when it's done, it should be pretty cool. However, you don't see miles of rubble that used to be occupied by the speak-easies and other port-of-entry businesses. Instead, we're (albeit, FINALLY) developing, while leaving monuments and museums to spread the word of the past.

I do agree that this property should be used for an ethanol production plant. Why not use the buildings as they were originally designed for. Why re-create the wheel?

1. Buffalo hasn't benefited from our tendency to demolish everything that's old or a bit run down. It might be a good idea to learn from that history. There hasn't exactly been a wave of development on other shovel-ready sites, has there?

2. There's no apparent evidence to support the claim that this is "prime development land." If there was a great desire to develop this area, would the land really be owned by a fishing club or the Valley Community Center?

3. Considering the difficulty in developing other key areas -- downtown, cobblestone, canal side -- is it wise to try and spread out that development even further?

If corn ethanol is not the future of the new gasoline, there has got to be other uses for this type of building.? We should just demo to demo; demo should have a plan for the future, as Colin has stated above. There have been many building that have been demolised with no plan - including the Larkin Admin Bldg.

Colin...No one is trying to develop this vast wasteland(at least not into anything residential/office space/retail). It's just an attempted money grab by the current owners. They are well within their right, but are dreaming if they think 3.5 mil is coming their way. Anyone with money who is looking to invest in a development project will look to the inner and outer harbors before ever looking at this industrial graveyard(and even then, they would take one quick look and move on).

I'm not married to any particular grain elevator. But I have to say, I absolutely love the scale and density of all of the elevators that exist along the Buffalo river. Going down the river by boat is almost like discovering a mystical lost city in the Congo somewhere. It has a very eerie feeling to it. Its like a whole other downtown to the city. Most of the elevators will probably never be used, and there are likely better current uses for that land. But at the same time, I think it would be a huge loss to start loosing these monstrous structures one at a time.

I would love to see a plan or a vision presented for lands along the Buffalo River, before we start tear everything out. Something that can maintain that appeal, but also put the land to a more productive use.

Just tear this thing down! Its such a piece of crap! Why are these people even selling it, unless someone with 3.5 million will buy it then invest another 10 million to do something with it. NYS should clear these structures out of the city, its such an eye soar.

GDF, who do you expect to pay for the demo of the grain elevators? If you're suggesting the state should do it, I would ask where that money is coming from? These buildings have not been brought down because the task and cost will be enormous. The elevators were constructed to withstand grain dust explosions and I believe have 1 - 2' thick concrete walls, the buildings are basically elevated bomb shelters. It will not be cheap to demolish them, and they're not going to fall down. Unless there is a plan for reusing the sites, why waste the tens of millions of dollars on demo?

It is odd to see these for sale, bc we can't conceive of who would take such a risk, but I would argue that the sale price is a steal given the value of a new build, and the potential for the property. To build anything new, of this scale, with that volume of concrete would be at least 5 times the sale price. I don't want to guess what the rehab cost would be, but let's ballpark it at the same price as the Aud (probabaly times 2) to start. There's a lot of potential in these buildings if there's someone with a creative eye, and a graps of reality to execute on that creativity. Who knows, they may never sell it and it may just continue to rot away. I'll play optimist and hope it sells to someone with a decent vision for the location.

ok, nick. I am just thinking that an investment by the state or city would increase the desire for serious developers to want to move into that district, someone needs to make the first step to improvement and what better company than NYS or Buffalo. This is buffalo "RISING", I think their needs to be some radical improvements to the city in order to start moving forward! at whatever cost! We need to bring up something that will really make a difference with this parcel, not just "well.. its to hard to demolish and really exspensive to do it. so ??? LETS DO NOTHING??" either way this land is going to cost us due to the fact that it will hold up any improvement that can be made in that area if it sits there.. possibly costing good tax money from a possible mixed use zone. Its a frickin eye soar! who would build anything nice with that looming in the background.

Has anyone contacted Riverwright, they own and have marketing many of those silos to the midwest whichhas a shortage of storage silos.

I say put them back to good use....these things will be around another hundred years. Their just storage, their not toxic industrial waste...the worst that is there is bird and bat dung

I think much could be done by the city if they passed new harsh codes for these grain elevators. The fact that the majority of these grain elevators are privately owned and maintained by these owners as horrible as they are is a testament as to how the city truly cares about its image and on a more debatable subject its history. This is especially true for the countless number of out of town visitors driving up the 190 to Niagara Falls who see these mammoth forgotten structures. Here is a short list of possible recommendations IMO the city could and should implement that might help make these elevators more attractive.

1. Although they may not be the most beautiful of buildings there sheer magnitude warrants some form of illumination at night. Creative lighting features would do wonders for these elevators creating an awe factor not found anywhere else in the world. 2. The countless amounts of industrial junk found strewn about the surrounding land of these buildings is an embarrassment. The city should make private owners clean up the land around these enormous buildings or face hefty fines that can be levied after the city cleans it up for them. The same can be done for making them structurally sound or safe to get up close to them. If the owners don’t pay up, the city can take control of the property. Which leads me to my next recommendation...

2. The city should be making every effort possible to acquire these dilapidated historic structures. It is in our city's best interest and in the public’s best interest to gain control of these buildings and showcase them. If every one of these elevator sites were turned into almost pocket parks in that they would be surrounded by greenspace or anything besides the mounds of trash currently sitting there it could make for a unique tourist attraction and help bring people down there to see just how enormous these amazing grain elevators are.

RonR - I love the plan. When you find $15 billion, let me know, and we'll get started!

I don't mean to get sarcastic, but we're in a damned-if-you-don't, damned -if-you-don't position here.

If you have a big dream, that requires big bucks, politicians to plan for the future, and citizens to vote to give up their village, you derided as wishing for a silver bullet that will never happen.

But if are willing to take incremental steps, do what is possible now, and try to recover slowly, we never have a sufficient shake-up to free ourselves of the old-think of the past, and actually move on. We've been doing this second option for decades now, and we all know what the result is.

What if the Greenway were to incorporate these structures into their plans.

I look forward to buying my GLF Condo with stunning views and concrete floors and walls...

For 3.5 million I want a view of the ocean off Cape Cod, not a muddy creek! What a friggen joke...

I gotta agree with skarnath, these elevators have a presence and beauty that most cannot see or appreciate. The "junk" surrouding them detracts from the simplicity and elegance of the purely utilitarian design. These structures do not presently stand in the way of any developement and should be left standing for future re-use. Buffalo has plenty of vacant space and it would be foolish and expensive to demolish these elevators.

I think rezoning them would be a great idea!

Don't tear it down! It is probablly one of the tallest structures in Buffalo's sorry excuse for a skyline!!

Over the years I have personally put in complaints against South End Marina at 1515 FUHRMANN about it's tax assessment (which in my opinion is way too low for direct waterfront property) as well as the condition of the building (this is the one on the lake that had that Titanic-looking ship abandoned next to it). Neither complaint was ever addressed.

These buildings, and the silence that goes along with them, is one of the reasons I'm no longer a NY resident.

The tire operation left a number of years ago. The idea of creative lighting does sound interesting. Incorporating a mural project with the elevators may be a use. The issue is much bigger than just this one site. A plan needs to be put into place to utilize what we have given the limited funds we have. We need to introduce the gritty but different lifestyles that can be presented by the river, elevators, and history. Urban planners will tell you that areas such as this are the future and we need to think positive and include all ideas when considering what the future may hold for this area.

To put a perspective on the viability of the grain elevators: - In October of 2007, the cost for one bushel of storage space was $4.75 - To rehab an existing facility is between 45 - 55 % of that cost - Viable or not will be determined by market forces

Within the last three weeks, several small groups of europeans have visited some of the abandoned elevators. As is well documented, the utilitarian design of these structures had a tremendous impact on architects, Mies being one. As with Quaker furniture, the designs are revered because of elegant, utilitarian design that is everlasting. Can, should they all be preserved? No! That is not possible, but their impact, personal and aesthetic, should not be forgotten or ignored. If NYS, Erie County and the City of Buffalo were more progressive more viable options would exist.

The reason a $3.5 million asking price seems so outrageous is that these grain elevators really do not come up for sale. The owners are generally corporations with government mortgages, so when the deals go south after decades of ownership then the public money gets wiped out. South End Marina sold for $10,000 from my recollection back Jimmy Griffin was mayor.

If the Assessment Department was on the ball like they are with single-family residential properties, we would see these buildings come up for sale more often. Taxes on a $3.5 million assessment are about $140,000/year.

If the Inspections Department was on the ball like they are with select property-owners, we would see these buildings come up for sale more often also. Housing Court could help by actually using it's powers more often instead of just idle threats.

Its no landmark like the HO Oats elevator Its doing much more damage to the environment than its worth Use some of that good old NYPA MONey and take it down.. clean it up and plant some trees. Grain prices are high but not high enough to use all of our old elevators..this sorry excuse won't be missed