Buffalo Rising Online

has anyone asked Mark Goldman if he (or someone he knows) might be interested?

So why not just keep the facade for future redevelopment and demolish the rear. As I understand it...there is nothing historical or architecturally significant or integral to the community concerning the rear of the building.

With so many other issues ... isnt there a compromise so we can all focus on the bigger picture of endangered historic, architecturally significant and/or endangered buildings/neighborhoods.

WHY are there BACK TAXES?????

The laws should be changed to make tax payment mandatory, whatever use of the building is.....including vacant buildings.

This is just another of the "Slumlord Bag-O-Tricks" so they can hang onto these great properties and let them go unsecured & uninhabited and eventually "shovel ready" the site.

What's going on here?

Legislation needs to be enacted, forgodssake! Was THIS discussed at the Saturn Club last week?

Why can't we hold the property owner's responsible for their part in the decline and destruction of the city? Is it illegal to protest the Freudenheim's gallery on North Street or to send them email to voice our disgust over their failure to maintain and pay taxes on a properties that they own? The onus has shifted to the city, preservationists and private developers to take heroic measures to save these structures; yet the property owner walks away to speculate in other properties.

The concept of "shaming" delinquent property owners was the topic of discussion on the Buffalo Issues Alerts site a few weeks ago. The city charter apparently enables citizens and the government to hold these miscreants accountable. Let's start here. Let Freudenheim pay to secure the facade or pay for the entire destruction of the building. Have him put up his other properties as a bond until this is done to the satisfaction of the citizens.

The Freudenheim's email and contact information is easy to find via google. Let's draw a line in the sand here, and then work on the other delinquent owners throughout the city. This cycle of neglect has got to end!

This is why the common man thinks Preservationists are nuts.. Case and point right here on 7 Wadsworth.. NOT EVERY BUILDING IS MEANT TO BE SAVED... there is absolutely no reason to save this building, other than to give the bored people of buffalo another battle to fight.. Please can't we just focus on things that should be saved, instead of just trying to save everything.. Believe it or not, some things are meant to be knocked down.. and I see no reason why this ugly, unsignificant, run-down building shouldn't be on that list

Can't save everything,

Buffalo has never tried to save everything. In fact the trend has been to attempt to destroy EVERYTHING. That "can't save everything "phrase is tired and boring. Maybe you should try saving that one for yourself.

In what world are you living where anyone has tried to save everything in Buffalo? Look around...a full 50% of downtown is gone!

It is finally about time people in Buffalo start standing up and demanding that we start saving something. A city in a sea of empty lots and parking lots is not a city!

That is just such a stupid and meaningless phrase.

stupid phrases: "the common man"

Demo this eyesore... and let's move on to more substantive and worthwhile endeavours. Please.

I guess Buffalonians cannot walk and chew gum at the same time.

Put some windows back in the facade and that would be a hot looking building!

You're right, maybe "Can't save everything" isn't the right phrase.. How about : "Let's save what's worth saving, instead of just saving it because it's old"

I love and appreciate older buildings and (usually) the architecture and the accompanying history However we cannot REALISTICALLY save everything, and indeed sometimes in (our) attempts to save everything preservationists create a bad perception.

I do not mean to project a defeatist position, but rather I seek to establish a realistic position.

Buffalo has lost countless buildings over the last 60 years, but the past is the past. It cannot be changed. The slate has to be wiped clean.

The simple fact is the resources in Buffalo (money, time & sweat) to preserve and resurrect buildings, homes, etc in are quite limited. We need to focus those efforts on the most important and high profile buildings first (which have the greatest return for the community and investor in the long run) and smaller projects (homes, small buildings) which ihave enough lefti that it makes preservation and reuse financially sensible.

Developers, investors, etc. donit accumulate wealth by just going with their heart. The deal has to make some financial sense. What merits does 7 Wadsworth provide that whoever saved and revitalized this building would be able to reap a decent ROI even if they were willing to wait over 15-20 years? There is nothing the slightest bit extraordinary about this building to sell a developer on. Buffalo does not have the luxury of saving buildings for the sake of saving them.

However, I steadfastly support highlighting the neglect buildings like 7 Wadsworth have endured. Even if a building cannot be saved we need to publicly expose those responsible. Bad PR is a powerful tool and if Buffalo supporters harness its power and use it to their advantage we may be able to better influence the actions of neglectful owners, and possibly even prevent future losses. We need to create a hostile environment for delinquent property owners.

The key to saving buildings like 7 Wadsworth is idiscoveringi them sooner. I think the only way we can accomplish that is by keeping our eyes and ears open and asking lots of questions. Buildings donit fall apart over night. We all share blame in letting some structures fall too far into disrepair before we start caring.

For me, and some others, the issue is less preservation and more accountability. Robert Freudenheim is responsible for both 7 and 35 Wadsworth. Both properties were "sold" by the City to MBBA, a state agency, or actually the liens were sold to MBBA. MBBA then flipped the liens/paper to someone else, probably a private bank.

MBBA and JER, its management company, are nominally responsible for the condition of the buildings they bought the paper on. The big glaring fact is that nobody's held responsible, not Freudenheim, not MBBA or JER, not the parts of City government that are supposed to enforce codes in situations like these.

So Judge Nowak is ordering a demolition - who's going to pay for it? Most likely we will, through our taxes. If the past is any indicator, Robert Freudenheim will not be held accountable for allowing the building to deteriorate, for failing to pay taxes on it and now for requiring us to demolish it.

That's the problem some of us are working on. The lack of accountability, the atmosphere and reality of impunity, all are contributing to problems just like 7 Wadsworth. Multiply it by 20,000 and you'll have our situation in Buffalo.

From a preservation point of view, trying to prevent a gap in Wadsworth Street is a worthwhile effort. Buildings such as these, and 35, also a Freudenheim property, are important to the health of the street and the neighborhood. It may not have much historical significance, but it damn well has significance as part of a healthy or unhealthy streetscape.

Right on, Kevin!

And let's add the wonderful Lennox Hotel which is encountering the same fate at the hands of the same people, I believe!

Next question Kevin, what can we do as citizens to light a fire under Mbba/Jer to get things moving? What can we do to apply pressure to those in the administration who are supposed to enforce the codes? I want to do more than watch in frustration.

This building becomes significant the day it is destroyed. Every new empty lot detracts significantly from the urban landscape of Buffalo today and in the future. We don't need a city with a scatering of significant buildings in a sea of empty lots. That would be a significant tragedy.

We can't destroy everything if we hope to bring Buffalo back to its former glory. Lets try to save something!

Ahhh, significantly historic building that is threatened by demolition by neglect? Hmmmmm, can anybody say Graystone? That has a helluva more significance (National Register) that 7 Wadsworth but one thing in common - both are owned by old money rich boys - Graystone - Carl "I'm gonna clear my name by suing the Thruway so they can't see any of my other ills" Paladino.

MBBA/JER is holding perhaps 1,000 properties hostage , they cant be sold without all liens being paid including interest and the city made a few million and thought they did something good BUT WE the taxpayers are going to have to pay for the demolition of probably half of these houses and buildings because they far exceed the value of the property.and they were left to sit and rot for the past 4 or 5 years tied up in tax lien hell.

Nailing Albany - a recent post contains the fully searchable list of all JER properties in the City of Buffalo...including two houses on Coe Place - 28 and 39...

Kevin brings up a number of salient points about how "we" deal and don't deal with property in the City...

WCP...thanks for the shout outs about the totally derelict City of Buffalo owned Woodlawn Row Houses (local-landmark and directly across from the future home of Performing Arts High School...and ,ber cool - 16 Harwood Place.

While it may be a worthy cause to try to "force" property owners to be responsible, it proves to be rather difficult.

A more successful way to encourage good behavior is by changing the rules, such as adopting a land value tax based system.

Land value tax rewards good behavior (improvements are not taxed)and punishes bad behavior (taxes are not lowered because of neglect.)

Nobel prize winners approve.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax

"what can we do as citizens to light a fire under Mbba/Jer to get things moving? What can we do to apply pressure to those in the administration who are supposed to enforce the codes?"

The Governor is ultimately responsible for what MBBA does. His phone number is 518-474-8390. We can lobby our state representatives to take action. PUSH Buffalo has good information on MBBA at www.pushbuffalo.org/currcamp.htm. PUSH is campaigning to shame the Governor to do something about the situation, but I'm afraid he's long since become immune to shame or embarrassment. I expect he finds the MBBA situation to be just fine by him. PUSH could use our support in this effort.

Some people claim MBBA/JER is immune from City inspections based on the contract they agreed to with the City several years ago. I'm skeptical about this, but am not a lawyer and have not seen the agreement. Judge Nowak has said he'll deal with these properties if they're brought into his court, and clearly 7 Wadsworth was brought before him. So we can insist on inspection and enforcement of codes for all these properties, despite who owns them or controls them.

We can lobby our Councilmembers and the Mayor to revisit the MBBA deal and begin to hold them accountable for the properties under their control. The properties appear to be in a legal limbo, but I believe most things of that nature are in someone's power to change, even if they tell regular citizens like us it's impossible.

I have a funny feeling the Wall Street banks that bought MBBA's worthless Buffalo paper might be pressuring them at some point to make things right. This usually involves lawsuits. There's fraud in here somewhere, I believe. Unfortunately this may not help us deal with 1,500 derelict properties in our City.

We can lobby the Mayor, who is responsible for the code enforcement activities in the City. We can tell our Corporation Counsel that we'd like to see them fight in court once in a while and not just avoid litigation.

We can offer alternative uses for the properties. We can find buyers. There are many things we can do. Do whatever it is you're good at. All together we can make a quite impressive force.

Buffalo's housing crisis seems overwhelming, and indeed it is a huge problem. But it's not going to get any better by ignoring it or leaving it entirely up to the government to decide what to do about it. Clearly they're overwhelmed and nearly clueless as to what do do besides demolish. We as a city need to be creative and think of new ways to deal with these problems.

the pressure from PUSH and others appears to have had some positive impact. the nys affordable housing corporation yesterday announced the availability of $2 million in special grant funds (up to $35,000 per unit for new construction or rehab) that must be used on any of "300 properties in the city of buffalo with tax liens held by the state of new york municipal bond bank agency's (mbba) trust." the announcement, request for proposals and list of properties can be accessed as www.nyhomes.org. it's interesting that 35 wadsworth is on the list of eligible properties but 7 wadsworth is not. there is an application workshop for eligible applicants (municipalities, housing authorities, not-for-profit and/or charitable organizations) on august 22nd at noon at the hyatt regency. my hunch is that properties like 7 wadsworth can still be added to the list of eligible properties.

If people had the money and the motivation, then these buildings would be preserved. The problem is, most people in Buffalo are just plain flat broke (and/or lazy). Then again, maybe I'm wrong. Would someone here care to save this building? I didn't think so.

...but bravo for complaining about the other people who also don't care enough to actually DO something.

Well, considering the puny woodframe structure behind the facade has completely caved in, saving this "building" would be more of a pain in the ass than it's worth. This place is so tiny anyway that nothing bigger than a mini-boutique (which wont be paying very high rent) can fit here.

So i'd nice this is a nice little spot of a cool infill house. Investors might be interested in this block once the soup kitchen finally takes a hike.

Puny? Hardly. 7 Wadworth is a large, 2.5 story frame house with a brick addition on 3 sides - not small at all. (Has it really caved-in?) However, it is apparently in terrible shape. Before we demonize the owner, it might be helpful to know the history of the place. Good intentions are often subverted by bad luck and worse economics. A little understanding and charity might be in order, here.

Saving the facade doesn't seem feasible, though - it's just a layer or two of brick; nothing like the yard-thick stone blocks of the gas works.