Housing Opportunities Made Equal has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. $20,000 will be utilized for the “Home for HOME Project,” and $5,000 to provide free training for landlords in 2010. The “Home for HOME Project” will save an architecturally significant building on the corner of Main and Ferry Streets in Buffalo. After renovation and new construction, the building will house HOME’s offices as well as ten units of energy-efficient, barrier-free, affordable housing. The total cost of the project is $2.7 million. With the help of the $20,000 from the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, only…
Author: JohnInCambridge
J. Roger Trettel’s 1876 Buehl Block LLC’s renovation plans for a Cobblestone District building were approved by the Preservation Board on Thursday. The two-story property at 49 Illinois Street will be renovated for commercial uses. The developer purchased the brick structure, located between HSBC Arena and the Avalon Development/Savarino Cos. mixed-use Cobblestone Lofts project on Mississippi Street, in April 2008. Each floor is approximately 5000 sq.ft. and will be “loft-like” with exposed beams, old industrial hardware, and large windows. The building can accommodate a single user or one tenant per floor. A third floor addition (below), which would mimic an…
We haven’t visited Ulrich’s in a big way since Anthony Bourdain’s visit earlier in the year, except to show you plans for their renovations.Owner Jim Daley gave us a nudge this week to let us know the new 16-seat dining room was open and ready for holiday business. The room, a former 19th century barbershop and later a sometimes hideaway for Courier Express and Trico workers, had been nothing more than a store room for the past 25 years.Now a quaint seating area with exposed 1866 brick walls, a view of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus on one side and Ulrich’s…
SPoT on Elmwood has opened its new space, and the former location is getting the finishing touches that will allow faithful patrons to enjoy the coffee shop as a whole this coming Thursday.According to Vice President of Facilities Luke Goetz, it’s been a long time coming, but SPoT fans are sure to think the new build-out is worth waiting for. There will be two entrances, a revved up menu including pizzas (like in the Toronto and Williamsville SPoT locations), Belgian waffles and breakfast all day, with plenty of lounge space – and best of all for some of us -…
The City of Buffalo Common Council will conduct an open review of those seeking the Ellicott District Council member seat on December 28th and 30th. Members of the Council will review resumes and letters, and each candidate will be present and able to make statements and answer question. The public is invited to attend. The meetings will be held in Common Council Chambers on the thirteenth (13th) floor of City Hall and will start at 9:30AM in the following order: Monday, December 28th: …
The owners of the proposed Colvin Estates subdivision in North Buffalo are in line for a nice Christmas present: $642,000 in City funds to build a new road through their 23-acre property. The subdivision will occupy former rail land connecting Starin and Colvin avenues between Taunton Place and St. Lawrence Avenue. The infrastructure work was reinserted into a City Council-approved capital budget which Mayor Brown can still veto. Given the unanimous Council vote in favor of the revised capital budget, any veto is likely to be overturned however. “It’s a project that, if done right, could produce tangible results,” Delaware…
The Department of State has revoked the real estate broker’s license of James Graham of Genesis Realty, with the input of Buffalo’s Anti-flipping Task Force. In looking at Graham’s history, there are many tales of woe based on bad deals that the realtor pushed on unsuspecting buyers through his Rochester based company, Genesis Real Estate Investments LLC, some stretching as far as Australia.This Rochester Business Journal article from 2006 outlines Graham’s career in glowing terms, including his part in co-founding Cornerstone Realty LLC with fellow realtor Daniel Glushefski before moving on to found Genesis. A look at the websites of each realty…
We know that Buffalo Public School District test scores and scholarships are on the rise, due in part to curriculum set in place by Superintendent of schools Dr. James A. Williams, and through partnership with a University at Buffalo.Yesterday, national attention was given to the great initiatives set in place by UB and the Buffalo Public Schools in this New York Times article. Groundbreaking research through a program called “Building Blocks” at the Stanley M. Makowski Early Childhood Center, Buffalo Public School 99, has netted information based on cognitive science in relationship to how young minds work.Principal Dawn DiNatale (left) points…
A new shingle has been hung at the Hyatt hotel- “For Lease.” Pyramid Brokerage Company has been retained to refill the retail space in Six Fountain Plaza, a three-story building fronting both Main and Huron streets. Up to 12,000 sq.ft. of space is available on the ground floor and the sunken plaza level. The building opened in early 1985 2005, one year after the hotel. Both were constructed by developer Paul N. Snyder. Built as office and retail space and designed to complement the hotel’s atrium, the building was converted to a conference and training facility in 1997. M&T Bank was an…
It was one of those dark winter nights, when the day is done late, the cupboard is nearly bare, and all you want is good food, fast.We ducked into Hardware. It was darkly cozy inside, with patrons lining both bars, and a few people seated – we’d beat the evening rush. The walls at Hardware are regularly covered with a rotating display by local artists, and the glow of low-lit halogen tracks were just enough to enjoy the art, see our menu, our food and give a soft glow to the orange walls. It was comfortable to say the least.The…