Buffalo Rising Online

Good thing it was in a historic district with special protection. Who knows what would have happened to it if it wasn't.

One more piece gone. Ya ever seen a guy with lots of missing teeth?

IF THIS WERE COFFEE TALK POST, I WOULD HAVE TO SAY THAT ELMWOOD NEEDS A TRENDY-CHIC STEAKHOUSE AND BAR AREA RESTAURANT. I JUST LOOKED AT THE NEW BLACK AND BLUE RESTAURANT IN WILLIAMSVILLE AND I LOVE THE REST. AND ATMOSPHERE DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A GOOD SPOT

Does anyone know what position the Allentown Association had regarding the fate of this building? Did they advocate for or against like they should be doing in this situation?

What implications did the 'Historic Preservation District' label have on the demolition of the building? Was special permission received to raze the Falcon building or was it a 5:00 pm Friday permit?

As someone who has spent much time in the evening in that district I can say that parking is troublesome. However, a parking lot facing a key commerical street (the Allen/Wadsworth elbow) would have detrimental effects on the vitality and appeal of that block.

Any possibilities for a pocket park or one storey new build retail structure? I think those uses would be the highest and best for that parcel and street. Any thoughts?

Building never did much for me. The building to the left of it (facing it) seems like it has much potential.

RonR.......I'm fairly certain that it's section 8 housing.

Kelly..........MOVE if it's so horrible!

;)

Surface parking lot fever has hit Allentown.

nonono - being realistic is a good characteristic to have.

Thank you very much Mr. Robert Freudenheim.

What's being done about parking in this area? Well, the City did recently sell the parking lot on Wadsworth to a private Days Park developer. Over the objections of the Allentown Association.

That building actually holds a lot of the refugees from Somalia or Burundi. Nice people actually. I like watching the kids run around speaking whatever they are speaking.

This is a shame, granted this wasn't a fantastic building... but cities are not made up of all glorious FLW or Richardson buildings. Great cities are those cities who are densely population with ok - good buildings. By loosing this building, without ANY plan for the site's reuse only means that it will be another place for those pesky pan handlers and homeless to hide around corners, or sit and wait for people... buildings, even empty, provide more safety that this empty site.

So with this building, that building on franklin, the other ones on Main about to fall over in about 10 years these all add up. North Pearl is a perfect example of what happens when you let buildings get demolished. One side is gorgeous, well maintained (rooming houses and all) with lots of demand and gardens.

The other block of N Pearl probably had about 40% of it demolished for parking lots for main street. What that does is push people away and dissuade any further investments. What is left of N Pearl are crumby falling apart buildings that for the most part haven't seen a like of care for a decade (with a few exceptions).

By by Falcon Building one more step into the grave for Allentown. Preserve too much, obstruct demolitions... HAHA! yea right.....

both structures were built before 1894 as they appear on the 1894 City Atlas, you can see the original footprint of the Falcon Building in it's days as a 2 story residence. The entire house was surrounded by the art deco brick facade in later years...if you look at Windows Live you can see from the aerial photos the mess the place was with the roof caved in.

zen and kelly, sounds like you've experienced a bit of boston, nyc, and toronto with your parking woes.

personally i like having to search for parking. A) makes me feel like i've won something when i've found a spot...a really big prize when i find a spot thats relatively close, and B) gives me that nice big city feeling. Allentown is the densest neighborhood in Buffalo, lack of parking kinda comes with the territory. Surely you knew that when you purchased your home.

i guess we do all need something to complain about tho.

Is this what Byron Brown calls progress?

hamp - Why blame Mayor Brown for this without also blaming Judge Nowak and the previous mayor? According to WCP's previous BR article about 7 Wadsworth (linked in article above), Judge Nowak ordered it be demolished in March 2006. Maybe somebody knows why the 2 year delay? Anyhow, the judge's demo order was less than 3 months after Mayor Brown first took office.

an empty building, properly secured is better than a vacant lot. All of these gaps detract from the character of the neighborhood.

Sounds nice but - (1.) they never seem to be properly secured consistently forever, (2.) if it's to sit empty forever just to avoid land being vacant it needs more than securing, it would need upkeep to prevent falling apart, (3.) while it sits empty forever it also brings ongoing arson risk and blight to the neighborhood more than vacant land would. If there's demand for a building there, the vacant lot could always be built upon.

Might be interesting to know if Judge Nowak cited reasons in March 2006 when ordering it demolished. Maybe there were good reasons even two years ago, and those probably didn't lessen between then and now.

An Allentown Assoc presentation Oct 2007 describes 7 Wadsworth as "soon to be lost". 2nd last page here:

http://www.allentown.org/attachments/2007AnnualMeetingSlides.pdf

By losing this building, without ANY plan for the site's reuse only means that it will be another place for those pesky pan handlers and homeless to hide around corners, or sit and wait for people... buildings, even empty, provide more safety that this empty site.

sbof - Yeah but keeping this building standing empty forever had downsides too. About not having "ANY plan" for the site's reuse, the city govt can't be expected to guarantee something is built on this lot. They should of course offer the land for a cheap price in the unlikely event anybody wants to build on it but City Hall can't create demand if it doesn't exist.

I don't ask much but please nobody suggest a park, micropark, minipark, or Mini Wegmans.

Isn't it curious, find a dead body and a week later the building is gone? Sure was quick. And how much did it cost to "get it gone." Rumor has it that it cost 10,000 until asbestos was found. Then the price to the city went up to 50,000. There were no HAZMAT suits seen nor a containment tent. It just seems a bit odd to me. Can anyone confirm or rebut?

I think a lot of the lack of demand for a neighborhood like allentown comes from absent landlords or city owned properties. The owner of this building should have been forced to fix up or sell, someone probably would have bought it up for some sort of use, even to house more refugees or for subsidized housing. Even so it would have been a functioning building still.

Same with the buildings on Main, I heard that one building is for sale by a person, but the other one is city owned.. but since you share a wall with the city owned building anyone interested in development of the site is shunned away. I know a couple people that were interested in buying them for redevelopment but realtor's told them to just walk away because dealing with the historic preservation district & the city would be a legal nightmare.

Building owners who can't take care of their structures shouldn't be forced to move on. I am not talking about a one strike your out scenario but if you have gone through the system for 3 - 5 - 10 years without any significant improvements you have just forfitted your right to own that piece of property. Because in the end we know it will be a safety problem, and eventually a liability that the city and its taxpayers are going to have to pay for. Even worse when you think that many of these absentee landlords live outside the city.

Are not emergency demo's exempt from asbestos abatement? If so, case solved. Was that so hard Mr. Negative?

Allentwnguy1, I see where you're headed with your theory (i.e. dead body found in vacant building, said vacant building gets demolished). I do believe, however, the decision was made to demo the building prior to the discovery of the dead guy. And, in fact, it was during the preparations for the demo when the body was found.

VonFink,

Exactly, why is so much evergy being put into defending this little stagefront when there are much bigger projects more worthy of the energy expended?

...like the old AM&As/Taylors building(s), this would be a much more interesting project for you folks to defend. Has anyone looked at the facades on the Washington street side lately? They are great!

I don't mean to hijack this comment area, but this was a simple design. While it may have been old, it may not have been worthy of this much attention to preservation as most of your comments would suggest.

Thanks guys for the clarification. I do believe that spirits has their eye on the lot for parking or possibly a patio expansion. I would prefer to see another commercial entity go in the spot but I would bet regulations it would be cost prohibitive to build even it would be allowed

As far as building maintenance goes...if you own a building and have ever wanted to do a bit of work on it and gone DT, they almost make it prohibitive to do anything but cosmetic work. Basically you can paint. If you have to repair anything major all kinds of mandates come into play. If you are within a certain distance to the property line (who doesn't sit on the property line in the city) you are bound to do all manner of upgrades in order to repair say a rotted windowsill. I for one am getting discouraged being a property owner.

And on top of it all even if you are capable you cannot do any electrical or plumbing in your own home, even if you have it inspected by the city afterward. It's as if the city doesn't want to homeowners to repair their homes with all the red tape. Have unreasonable mandated upgrades...houses deteriorate...fine them into compliance...

VonFink - it wasn't a waste to give it a name. That can be reused if anyone really puts a parking lot there. "I parked at The Falcon then went to The Pink." Classes up the whole experience.

MichaelB,

It isn't the size of the project that always matters, though it does seem that way in buffalo. The loss of this building and the gap-tooth look adds to the look of decay and if the lot is not built upon will hurt the density of the district. Large projects are great, but rehabing and maintaining neighborhoods and commerical districts is just as important, especially in a district that seems to be doing well. The bulding didn't have to be a work of art, but it could have functioned.

nonono

I had heard this over a pint which is why I asked in my last line, "Can anyone confirm or rebut?" I don't have the connections that some have at city hall. If I am around when the crew returns to finish the work I will ask if asbestos was found and what was done to contain it.

Respectfully Allentwnguy... I think you go to city hall to pay your taxes. If you get over enthusiastic with a project, they'll put a little sticker on your front door. Then you talk to them. Boo if you like...but if you jump through every hoop they present you with, you'll have no energy (or time) to do anything else.

I don't know. I've gotten permits for work on a number of properties and I've never had a problem. If there are rules, like having to have someone with a license do plumbing and electric, that don't make sense, either contact your Councilmember about trying to change them, or find someone in the trades who will pull the permit, let you do the work, check it for you, and stand behind it when the inspector comes. The important thing the community as a whole is that we have some assurance that the wiring you just ran in your house, which is more than likely less than four feet away from your neighbors' houses, isn't going to short out and start a fire. I'm sure anyone who's bought an old building has seen enough crazy (and often dangerous) things done by someone who "knew what he was doing even though he didn't have a license."