'The Larkin District'
There's a quiet transformation taking place at the Craven Dickinson Seed Company Building located at 567 Exchange Street, corner of Hamburg Street. The four-story, 60,000 square foot building is evolving into a vibrant artist and commercial hub in the Exchange Street corridor. This emerging area has also been tagged with a catchy new moniker: 'The Larkin District,' due to the number of buildings along Seneca and Exchange Streets which once housed catalog firm Larkin Co. operations.
The property is owned by Chris Jacobs' 567 Exchange Street, LLC. One year ago it was relatively vacant except for a retail furniture store that sells a mix of new and antique furniture called the Stock Exchange and a few other tenants utilizing some space for storage. Original plans were to turn the building into an indoor furniture-antique 'mall' similar to Kelly's Antique World & Marketplace in Clarence, but in the city.
When the furniture idea never gained traction, the developer started to advertise in the classifieds as studio/retail/artist space. Since then, they have leased an entire floor as studio space and added a wholesale florist on the first floor. From photographers and architects, to musicians and furniture makers, there has been a real need for very affordable, raw studio space, similar to the Tri-Main Center. Floors are wide open with exposed beams, original floors and windows on the north and south sides of the building. Renters may to do whatever they want to their space such as painting, refinishing the floor, or adding lighting. Tenants are free to make it 'theirs.' On-site parking for 150 cars is available.
Two blocks away, CityView Properties is not stopping with the completion of the 600,000 sq.ft. Larkin at Exchange building that is nearly fully leased.
The development firm is planning retail space at the northwest corner of Exchange and Smith Streets, a former moving company warehouse, where work will be underway shortly. Long-term, the company intends to create additional office and retail space in the area. They are also planning retail and residential development along Seneca and Swan Streets. Yes, you read correctly, residential! The goal according to the developer is to make the neighborhood "very cool, very hip, very happening and easily identified as The Larkin District."
Get Connected: 567 Exchange: 856-0810. CityView Development: 856-8400
Photo Credit: CitySky Photography by Nate Farnsworth
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ddoerr
Hmmm...Always wondered what was going on in this building. There was always a buzz about it, but didn't know about this. Just another organic, dynamic situation that I am glad to see being exposed by BR !
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edward_industry
i had been thinking that an Antique World style flea market would be a great way to get some low barrier to entry retail back downtown. i wonder if it was this location in specific that wasn't working, or getting that going in general? seems like the Ellicott/Chippewa area might be ripe for that.
i also wonder if they would do band rehersal spaces at 567 Exchange. i used to practice at Sidway till we got kicked out for their rehab, then i practiced at the new Artspace building till they kicked us out to rehab.... damn, now thats some gentrification at work. where are musicians supposed to go??
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Lou
I wish we had more of these 4-6 story warehouses left. It would make a great warehouse district.
Could you imagine if we dug up and rewatered the Ohio Basin and the Ohio Canal and put the new Buffalo Convention Center there?
or dug up and rewatered some of the old Hamburg Canal or O&S, then we would have a warehouse district like in the Netherlands, or Venice or Belgium....even Britain and France have warehouse districts with intact canals.
Now thats something Id love to see.
People think that the Western Terminus of the Erie Canal was what they are digging up now behind city call and adjacent to the Aud but it isnt.
The real western Terminus of the Erie Canal was this warehouse district in South Buffalo where the Erie Canal broke up into numerous smaller canals feeding all these warehouses and their still burried under the streets.
Imagine having the warehouse district brought back with a few of the canals....now that would tell a story! Now that would be a district!
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ddoerr
Lou - I admire you, you are quite a big and forward thinker - although I don't go back on the convention center worries that I have. I think that your vision for this area would be so cool. Ever see the awesome re-use of warehouses along the Rhine River in Germany? It is so cool.
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Nate Farnsworth
good to see one of my photos making it on BR again.
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Lou
ddoer, yes I have.
Ive seen them all over Europe and I can tell you that they have a very distinct beauty to them. They were built to be functional rather than to be beautiful but yet they are beautiful.
And what it says is that perhaps South Buffalo should give some thought not just to the warehouses in the Larkin District (aka the Lehigh Rail Yards....aka the Hamburg and Ohio Canal District) but to respecting the history of this section of Buffalo.
If we can redig and rewater the Commercial Street Terminus, then we can redig and rewater the Hamburg and the Ohio Basin and the O&S Canals. There is no other city in the Great Lakes and no other city on the East Coast and no other city in Canada that can do what South Buffalo has the possibility of doing.
Its a thought that I wish more people would say that they want in our great city. Rochester may be richer and Albany may be the capital but Buffalo has always been the best...and its time we stepped into and reallized our potential.
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Urban Body
Lou, you're an unabashed visionary and NB lover. Great ideas and something that would be attractive to developers after the prime Inner/Outer Harbor waterlines are taken over by residential and greenways.
Now...if someone would re-create the Larkin Bldg---that would set our souls on fire. CityView Properties, please give a nod that you have considered its resurrection!
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MeliQ.
Lou,
I don't know who you are but you are VISIONARY!!!! I hope you're on some planning board in the city b/c that is such a radical, awesome idea for Buffalo. Could you envision people taking their boats and cruising down these canals in summertime, stopping at restaurants, etc? NYC would have nothing on our canal system!
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Dak
Who's going to start the "Lou Fan Club" blog for Christ's sake?
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DJK
Just another example of more people around here putting their money where their mouth is.
Unfortunately most of the bloggers on this site have much bigger mouths than wallets (myself included)! This is a great forum, but so much of the public brainstorming coupled with the ensuing cheerleading gets tiresome...
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WIGS
good post. my only question is: when is the Seneca Industrial building going to be turned into offices like the Larkin Co. building or as lofts for mixed-income/and artists live/work space? It's just begging for a remodel/renovation!
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Sally
Great reuse but are there any plans to give the exterior more curb appeal?
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Lou
I have to agree with you WIGS, the Seneca Industrial Building is a huge piece of real estate which deserves some attention, especially with regard to curb appeal.
It has alot of potential with those large floor plates what are valuable to many companies. I have absolutely no doubt that if it were brought up to Class A Office Space that it would be as profitable as the Larkin@Exchange....infact this was once part of the Larkin Complex.
If brought up to Class A space...it could even be used to attract a major employer to our region.....the equivalent of a HealthNow or Geico.
Why its not getting the visibility or the investment that it deserves is beyond me....probably the same lack of vision that is holding up AM&As and others.
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