The Packard Building has been awarded the 2009 NYS Historic
Preservation Award for “Outstanding Adaptive Reuse Project of the Year,”
by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Completed by Regan Development Corporation (RDC) in early 2009, the original Buffalo Packard showroom and
garage was converted into 40 units of fully rented workforce family housing.
Each unit has been successfully rented to families earning up to 80 percent of Erie County median income ($50,800 for a family of 4), with 7 of the units reserved for individuals and families with developmental disabilities.
The additional 8,000 square feet of first floor commercial space that is being renovated to house Child and Family Services was recently added to the National Register of Historic
Places. Pending permitting, it is expected to be completed by February.
Larry Regan, president of Regan Development Corporation, says that New York State funding for the project, which included $1,380,000 in NYS Housing Trust Fund dollars through DHCR, and $679,967 in tax credits, allowed for
syndication proceeds of $6,963,000 as sources for the development, which allowed rents to stay low. Rent is as follows:
11-
1 bedroom – $287 to 650
24
– 2 bedroom – $398 to 800
5 – 3 bedroom – $800
In addition to New York State funding, the City of Buffalo contributed $900,000 in HOME dollars to make the development a reality.
Regan says that in terms of completing a job like this, of which Regan Development has done many, it’s a matter of understanding the rules and regulations that government agencies need in place in order to proceed. “We do a lot of this in a lot of cities,” Regan says of the rehabilitative reuse at the Packard, “and it’s a matter of living with the rules that come with public dollars.” Once a given city decides the development is a good thing, they give their support, according to Regan (below).
He says the goal of the Packard’s redevelopment was to further the City’s efforts to
synergize the revitalization of the Mid-Main Street Neighborhood of Buffalo
uniting the residential areas on the east and west sides of Main Street with
new housing and commercial stores.
Built in 1926, The Packard Motor Car Showroom Service Building was designed by acclaimed architect Albert Kahn and has long been one of
Buffalo’s architectural treasures. RDC sought to return it to its original grandeur with new residential
and commercial uses. They wwre able to do this in partnership with the City of Buffalo and the State of
New York, with the vital assistance of the architectural firm of Houston,
Hamilton and Lownie and the Resetarits Construction Company (RCC) as General
Contractor.
Regan says the Packard project was nothing but positive. “From the architect to the construction people to the general contractors, it just worked,” he states.
The development was built with the latest green building
technologies and participated in the State’s Green Houses Program as well as
the New York State Energy Star Program.
Looking forward, Regan, whose company has won similar awards for the Maidenform building in New Jersey, and the armory in White Plains, NY, says he’d like to do more Buffalo projects.
“We’ve been getting calls and looking at buildings,” Regan says. “RCC is keeping an eye out for us, but nothing has looked as good to us as the Bethune Building. We’ve made a reasonable offer to the owner, and now it’s a matter of waiting for negotiations. We see that as a good potential commercial-residential mixed use too.”