Itis official. According to Thursday’s Buffalo News the Seneca Gaming Corp. has taken title to five parcels of property along Michigan Street as a back-up location casino site to the DL&W Terminal. Three of the parcels were purchased from Carl Paladino for a total of $1.3 million including the long-vacant H.O. Oats complex on Perry Street across from Lofts @ Elk Terminal.
The H.O. company moved its facilities to Buffalo in 1895 and manufactured two different oat cereals: HO Oats and Force toasted whole wheat flakes. During the 1950’s, the plant was producing over 6,000 cases of cereal a day. The cereal plant with 130 foot silos closed in 1975 and the brick manufacturing building burned in 1987 yet still stands to this day. (Source: Buffalo History Works).
Carl Paladino’s Ellicott Development Co. had considered converting the complex to residential loft apartments. The fate of one of Buffalo’s industrial landmarks is now unsettled.