The City is
moving to save the Summit Building’s façade utilizing funding from a recently
approved Restore New York grant. The future of the City-owned building at
918 Main Street in the Allentown Historic Preservation District has been as
shaky as its collapsing roof. Work will involve bracing the building’s
masonry façade to save it for future redevelopment.
The Buffalo
News‘ Mark Sommer has the story:
The city
hasn’t always supported trying to save the building, and in 2004 an agency
within the Masiello administration unsuccessfully sought demolition approval
from the Buffalo Preservation Board.
But the
policy now is to “preserve that facade because of its aesthetic and historic
value,” said Brian Reilly, commissioner of economic development, permits and
inspections.
Reilly
said the abandoned building the city took ownership of nearly 10 years ago has
presented a difficult challenge.
“918
[Main] is the last of eight abandoned structures [on the block] that the city
acquired through foreclosure. It was the most problematic due to legal and
physical challenges,” he said.
Reilly
said the city hopes to find private-sector redevelopment for the building and
possibly adjacent properties, located near the expanding Buffalo Niagara
Medical Campus.
The cost
to stabilize the building is estimated between $300,000 and $500,000, Reilly
said.
The
four-story, Richardsonian Romanesque building is located next to the Red Jacket
Apartments, south of Allen Street. It is a former carriage factory built
in the 1880’s and designed by Cyrus K. Porter, a well-known Buffalo architect.
While the front facade is intact, neighbors say the roof started collapsing
over three years ago.
Greanleaf
Real Estate purchased the building next door at 916 Main Street in late-2008.
The real estate management and development company has not announced plans for
its three-story building.
In April
Greenleaf General Manager James Swiezy, told Buffalo Rising, “We continue
to work on a feasible project.” He refused to say whether he is working
with City officials on a plan to redevelop both properties.
Work on the
Summit Building’s stabilization could begin this year.