Author: m_j_lambert

Chris Jacobs’ redevelopment project at 678 Main Street is set to be finished by the end of the month. The $1.36 million project is bringing new life to an ornate, yet previously underutilized building that fronts the light rail tunnel entrance. Jacobs has done several other rehabs and renovations in the city. He has parterned with Savarino Cos. in the Cobblestone District and his own firm, Avalon Development, has done a string of redevelopments in the 700 block of Main Street. He recently took time out of his busy schedule to take Buffalo Rising contributors on a tour of the progress at 678 Main thus…

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West Side & Black Rock-Riverside Neighborhood Housing Services (WSNHS) is in need of volunteers to help conduct front door surveys in Black Rock and Grant-Ferry. These surveys will be used to illustrate the residents’ perceptions of their neighborhood which allows the Neighborhood Housing Services to better understand neighborhood issues and concerns. Opening the dialogue between residents and the WSNHS means better services and programs can be offered to meet the needs of residents. The WSNHS is relying entirely on volunteers to conduct the surveys which will take place throughout June. Volunteers are required to attend an orientation meeting at the…

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Alec Baldwin seems to have a thing for Buffalo-area businesses. First, he took some time to go shopping with his mother in her favorite Wegmans store. And now, he’s starring in a New Era commerical. Baldwin, as you likely know, is from Long Island and is a longtime Yankees fan. John Krasinski – best known for his role in The Office – is a Red Sox fan. Put the two together and you have a great commercial for one of Buffalo’s best success stories, New Era Cap.

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The Buffalo Niagara Convention and Visitors Bureau is holding a press event at the Burchfield Penney Art Center today where they will be unveiling their new marketing campaign for Buffalo. The CVB Twitter account released the new Buffalo tagline: Buffalo. For Real. We’ll have more on the CVB event and marketing campaign later but in the meantime, Twitter is all abuzz with reaction to this new Buffalo tagline. And Twitter being Twitter, countless people have offered up alternative taglines for Buffalo. Here are the best we’ve seen so far: It’s amazing how quickly Twitter can fire up a hashtag and generate…

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With the third pick in this year’s NFL draft, the Buffalo Bills resisted the temptation to pick a running back and went with Marcell Dareus, DT from Alabama. The selection of Dareus is receiving widespread support as the Bills drafted a player who both fits an immediate need and has tons of talent. Indeed, this first round pick by the Bills might be the most popular choice in a decade. If you’re not familiar with Marcell Dareus, you should watch the video below. Sports Science, a feature on ESPN, put Marcell Dareus in their lab to measure his speed and power.…

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(DISCLAIMER – The reviewer here, me, is married to one of the cast members, Theresa DiMuro-Wilber. But since most other reviewers in town don’t review this scrappy little company of actors, The Brazen Faced Varlets, I’ve taken upon myself to write about their latest production. I have, with great diligence, worked to remain objective.)In the back room of Rust Belt Books, under some pretty ancient lights, and on a postage stamp sized stage, for the next couple of weeks, you will find empirical proof that the basic nature of mankind has not changed in three-thousand years. And shows no signs…

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Jason Klinger is a local filmmaker who recently worked as a gaffer on Kris Hulbert’s The Perfect House. Over the past seven years, he’s worked on his own short films which are to be screened this Sunday at 6:30 at Rockwell Hall Performing Arts Center. The three films to be screened are Homage, Zombie Loves Vampire, and The Empire Strikes Bank.Homage concerns a groups of sinister femme fatales that engage in ritual sacrifices. The movie shows Klinger’s first cinematic steps while working with Buffalo native Tim Reiley. Klinger explains, “The inspiration was basically that my pervert friend had some goth…

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In Buffalo, the only thing more plentiful than locally-produced zombie movies would be readily accessible improvisational comedy. You have ComedySportz, The Eclectic Improv Company, Defiant Monkey Improv, and if that’s not enough you have a whole other bunch of groups to check out in Rochester. And just like zombie movies, there can’t seem to be enough improv groups already to prevent others from being created. Now, another group has joined the proverbial battle royal to capture the attention of local improv-seekers: Queen City Improv.Yet, this particular group has a few things really going for it already and they’ve only performed…

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A contemporary design for Ciminelli Real Estate Corporation’s planned medical office building in the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus has been unveiled. With an estimated cost of $80 million, the seven-story, 350,000 square foot building, will be the largest privately-developed building in the medical campus as well as one of the largest single buildings undertaken by Ciminelli. It will front the east side of Main Street from High to Goodrich streets. Plans for the signature project include ground floor retail, three underground levels of parking, as well as a LEED Gold level certification. Kideney Architects is designing the building. A connection with the nearby Allen Street light…

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Despite being nicknamed “The Money Pit” by the company’s president, ZeptoMetrix’s $800,000 renovation of 878 Main Street appears to be a success. The project, nearing completion, also included a renovation of the firm’s next-door facility at 872 Main Street. ZeptoMetrix, a biotechnology firm, purchased the long- vacant structure from the City in December of 2007 for $70,000 after the firm was selected to redevelop the vacant circa-1890 Allentown property one year prior. Silvestri Architects prepared renovation plans for the three-story, 5,010 sq.ft. mansion which will become Zepto’s corporate offices. The plans called for the rear portion of the first floor…

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