Author: Buffalonian4life

Upstate economic development received a much needed boost when Governor David A. Paterson signed into law legislation sponsored by Assemblymember Sam Hoyt (A10839/S7556) amending the current Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit law to allow banks and insurance companies to now claim the tax credit. “This is a major victory for economic development in Buffalo and Upstate New York,” Hoyt said. “The amendments will create a ripple effect of private sector investment that includes the creation of hundreds of new jobs and historic structures in communities across upstate will be saved and restored.” Dozens of local projects have been on hold waiting…

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It took some time and patience from both the developer and neighborhood residents, but work to create a 14-unit apartment building at the White’s Livery site at 428 Jersey Street is a significant step closer to starting. Developer Sam Savarino is teaming with West Side Neighborhood Housing Services Inc. on the $3.4 million project. The development received $2.1 million in funding from the NYS HOME Program last week allowing the reuse project to proceed. The project is a victory for neighborhood residents who stepped in to stop an emergency demolition by the City after bricks started cascading from the neglected…

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The Lafayette Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 19. While the circa-1904 building has been a long-time official city landmark, its listing on the National Register was pushed by developer Rocco Termini. Termini needs federal preservation tax credits that are available to listed properties to help finance his $35 million reuse plan for the property. The National Register is administered by the National Park Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The seven-story hotel may be a bit shabby today, but it has a distinguished past and a potentially bright future if…

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The 31 Club, which has been opened for almost a year and a half after a meticulous restoration, is continuing in its goal to create a venue that caters to one’s more refined tastes. The handsome brick building bridges the historic West Village, Chippewa and Delaware Avenuve at the corner of S. Elmwood Avenue and N. Johnson Park. The 31 Club is looking to the past to attract new customers. The owners of the restaurant/bar have always had it in their plans to create a classic, refined atmosphere, where customers can escape to a time period where going out entailed enjoying some…

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The neoclassical beauty at 620 Main Street in the Theater District is getting a new tenant. TVGA Consultants, an engineering, land surveying, mapping and environmental firm, is relocating its corporate headquarters and 50 local employees from Maple Road in Elma. Business First broke the news this morning. The 18,250 sq.ft. property was last occupied in 2008. Constructed in 1919, the building once housed the city’s oldest jewelry store, E.B. Dickinson & Co. It was designed by architecture firm Esenwein & Johnson whose local portfolio includes the Calumet Building, Electric Tower, Lafayette High School, and the Buffalo Museum of Science. 620…

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The developer behind the church conversion at 700 Parkside Avenue says the interest in the project has been ‘amazing.’ Creative Structure Services is turning the former North Park Presbyterian Church into a dozen apartments and 5,500 sq.ft. of ground floor office space. Rechristened “The Lofts at Warwick,” the $1.4 million project is located at the corner of Parkside and Lyndhurst, one block north of Hertel Avenue. “Its amazing to me the amount of interest and activity that this is generating just through a sign out front,” said Creative Structures Services’ co-founder David Pawlik. “We’re getting calls each week about the units and…

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As the glass continues to go up on the New Federal Courthouse, we are getting a much better idea of how the glass will work with the sand-colored inner shell of the building. Still under construction, the elliptical shaped building occupies a full block of Delaware Avenue at Niagara Square, and is expected to be completed by the end of next year. The glass, delayed for several months due to testing purposes, is slowly creeping its way to the top of the 10-story building. The sun both absorbs and reflects into the glass creating a very intriguing and aesthetic appearance, but is…

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The UB Art Gallery, Center For the Arts seems to be elusive for most city dwellers who have a host of other galleries at their fingertips, or at least just a quick bike ride away. The building is a stony white and open structure planted in Amherst, just off of Millersport Highway and a mere ten minutes from its sister city campus. The artists that exhibit in the corridors are often in high demand throughout the country and are willing to swing by Buffalo for a show at the prestigious educational institute. Each opening night, the UB Art Gallery commands…

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It’s Infringement Festival weekend in Buffalo and every resident in or around the city is privy to visual, performing or media arts on nearly every corner. Getting in on the action is Lily Booth, Fontini Renzoni and Julio Martin as they open up Big Orbit Gallery this Saturday for their three solo shows. Lily Booth has developed a process of collecting neglected domestic items during thrift store outings such as table runners, aprons and place mats (see lead image). “I work with found textiles which I gather while junking with my mother, grandmother and daughters,” stated Booth. “These are hand-stitched…

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Come one, come all, to the freaky sideshow at Club Diablo tonight during Infringement Festival Buffalo! Hosted by ringleader Benjamin Wilson, this fetish circus will excite and delight crowds over 18 years of age for one night only. The group comes from a home base in Coney Island where the corn dogs and peanuts are a-plenty and the men and women alike line up to see the world’s best burlesque show. The menagerie will feature good old fashioned freaks, burlesque girls and country punk bands including The Squidling Bros. Circus, Vive Le Vox, Jason and the Punknecks, Guitar Bomb, Hickry…

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