The Langston Hughes Institute sold its High Street facility on Wednesday. 33 High Street LLC paid a hefty $1.9 million for the three-story, 28,500 sq.ft building and adjacent parking at 963-69 Washington Street. The buyer and the intended use for the property are unknown. 33 High Street LLC is a subsidiary of Ciminelli Development. Their plans for the site have not been finalized (more here).
The property is across the street from parcels owned by Kaleida Health and Ciminelli in the expanding Medical Campus. Specific plans for those properties have not been unveiled. Ciminelli has at various times proposed a medical office building for its 50 High Street site. Recent rumors peg the Kaleida and Ciminelli sites potentially housing a relocated Children’s Hospital.
In May, the City signed-off on the sale allowing Langston Hughes Institute to sell the property without installing parking lot curbing and lighting as was required by its 1995 purchase agreement with the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency. The City Council determined the “project will facilitate private investment in the neighborhood, prevent the establishment of incompatible land uses in the area, and potentially generate increased tax revenues for the City of Buffalo.”
The Langston Hughes Institute Center for Cultural History and Arts Education has been a catalyst for the development, preservation and promotion of African American heritage in the City of Buffalo since 1968. The Center is reportedly looking to relocate.