Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Efforts to try and stabilize a portion of historic properties in the City of Buffalo's Cobblestone District are now in motion thanks to the work of city lawmakers.
The Buffalo Common Council voted on Tuesday to approve the emergency controlled demolition and stabilization efforts for the properties located at 110-118 South Park Avenue, adjacent to KeyBank Center. The total cost of this initiative is estimated at $395,000, which lawmakers say reflects the city's commitment to preserving public safety and addressing longstanding issues with the site.
Fillmore District Councilman Mitch Nowakowski says the city's Commissioner of Permit and Inspections Cathy Amdur has been working hard and diligently on what will be done to secure the premises, and what parts of the building will be stabilized or demolished.
"We are heading into inclement weather, and we will have more people patronizing the Cobblestone Historic District when it comes to the [Buffalo] Sabres and the arena for events. So not only will the stabilizing of the structure prepare for inclement weather, but make sure that once the eminent domain proceedings are complete, we have a structure to move into our portfolio that will then be bid-out to selected developers," said Nowakowski in an interview with WBEN.
The buildings at 110-118 South Park Avenue have been a source of concern for the city over the last several years, marked by ongoing legal battles and other matters with property owner Darryl Carr. Despite numerous attempts by the City of Buffalo to enforce maintenance and repairs, Nowakowski feels the situation has deteriorated to the point where emergency intervention is necessary.
"If we have the oldest structures go down because of the inaction of an owner for over 15 years, who purchased historic structures - the oldest in the Cobblestone Historic District; I think no one has ever asked Mr. Carr the question, 'Why would you purchase the oldest structures in a preservation district, and then completely, for years, evade preservation laws and municipal protocols that were affirmed by Judge Sheila DiTullio that said that a courts can't just arbitrarily hand out demolition orders?' They need to go through the Preservation Board and other municipal protocols, because these are what govern preservation districts and are subject to preservation laws," Nowakowski said. "I don't understand where the owner believes or feels that they are not subject to those. No one is above the law, and neither is him."
The struggles between the city and Carr dates back to, at least, 2019. The city feels the buildings, which once held promise as historic and potentially revitalized sites, have been plagued by neglect.
Despite being taken to housing court on multiple occasions, Nowakowski and the city claims Carr failed to maintain the properties, leading to their steady decline. He adds that over time, the structures became increasingly hazardous, prompting community outcry and further legal action.
"I've been working on this for a lot of years, and so for previous budgets, I worked with the Office of Strategic Planning, and we set aside about $700,000 of funding throughout our municipal budgets, projecting and having the fortitude that we will be here, that we will need to be able to stabilize this structure," Nowakowski noted. "We didn't plan for a very unexpected fire to happen in the structure where there's no electricity that's there, that's under review of the ATF. That came within a couple days of a lot of court decisions happening, so I look forward to a thorough investigation there. So the City of Buffalo is moving forward for emergency stabilization of the structures."
According to Nowakowski, Amdur says the amount of money it would cost to demolish the structure is the same amount of money it would to stabilize the structure. He adds the owner will be billed as part of this, and that will be levied to him to about a 12% interest rate.
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In recent months, the City of Buffalo initiated legal proceedings to take control of the properties through eminent domain as parts of the buildings began to collapse, raising serious safety concerns for the surrounding area. The move was supported by many local preservationists who had hoped to see the buildings restored.
"In the City of Buffalo, we are sophisticated enough to have historic structures and preservation, and have our buildings adaptively reused. And also, we're showing as a city that we, as city government, can be more sophisticated with dealing with slum and blight, people ignoring our laws and our preservation laws, and really harming Canalside and Cobblestone through just sheer inaction and stupidity," Nowakowski added.
"I'm at a point where this chapter is now closing. All of the court remedies that have been well-available to the owner are starting to come to a close. So I look forward to working with the Department of Permits and Inspections to exercise and utilize this emergency stabilization plan to see, eventually, it move into city portfolio for it to be bid-out for a developer one day to take and adaptively reuse it, and bring it back to its contributing structure in the Cobblestone Historic District."
When the Council had originally voted for eminent domain with the site, Nowakowski said city advisors, especially from the Office of Strategic Planning, said if eminent domain was successful, the city was going to need to be prepared for the next immediate steps. This vote Tuesday was the first part of the plan.
"For years, I've worked with those departments to have enough money for this day to come. It just so happens that the day's here," Nowakowski said. "I have been fiscally prudent in making sure that I could look ahead and to plan ahead, and to see that this day is here and to have the resources now to be able to do this, because it's been heavily litigated. And all the courts agree with the City of Buffalo for this use."
Nowakowski still believes that Carr's plan, in the end, was to flatten the historic Cobblestone properties, that date back to the American Civil War, and utilize the space for service parking next to KeyBank Center.
"My predecessors in the early, mid-'90s were very, very, very careful with the way they crafted the Cobblestone Historic District legislation when they made it a historic district, because so many structures were getting taken down for ugly service parking lots to accommodate parking in-and-around arena. That's not how you build an urban area. That's not how you respect Canalside and historic districts that I'd like to see as an entertainment district," he said. "There's parts where you can't be so car-obsessed and just have a proliferation of surface parking lots. Every time I see a surface parking lot, I see broken glass, I see lines, I see them utilized for a game, and then driving down the Thruway and driving around, I see nothing happening there because they're just ugly surface parking lots. But the structural integrity and the integrity of these structures in the Cobblestone Historic District have to be respected, and other people have utilized historic tax credits to get their projects up and ground."
The Council voted 8-1 to approve the funding for the stabilization efforts for the properties located at 110-118 South Park Avenue. The only no vote for the funding came from University District Councilman Rasheed Wyatt, who feels this kind of money is not something the city is ready to utilize at this time.
"It is not my business what another Council member does in his district, however, when we're looking to spend almost $400,000 on something that is not ours right now, I don't know if it's a smart move, especially when we're cash-strapped right now," said Wyatt during Tuesday's meeting. "I know we've budgeted that money, from what we have been told, but to budget $400,000 when I can use half a million to do curbs in my district, is more appropriate. But again, whatever you do, as far as your arrangement or whatever is going on with the owner of that property, that's a whole 'nother issue. But at the end of the day, this has not been finalized in the courts. So for us to put $400,000 on the table and not know if we're going to get that money back, it doesn't seem like a smart thing to do, especially right now where we are."
Nowakowski didn't feel that Wyatt's comments were said in good faith.
"The fact of the matter is Council member Wyatt, who does not represent this area and does not have any other preservation districts in his district, is trying to use that argument to lessen my argument. And the fact of the matter is, I have properly planned for many years in the city budget to have money to be able to do this, because I knew we would end up getting here. I knew what I was doing was right," Nowakowski stated. "The resources have always been allocated and planned for this day, so the fact of the matter that we're using it now is, to me, not applicable. And this is coming from a Council member who has served three times the years that I have on the Common Council, and approved budgets and uses taxpayer dollars that I don't necessarily approve of in his district. His comments can be kept to himself."
Meanwhile, Carr says he first heard of Tuesday's planned vote from the Common Council on the funding to stabilize the properties he owns on Facebook.
"I went to the meeting and they appropriated $400,000 to stabilize and partially demolish some of my buildings. And then they also picked a contractor to do this," said Carr in an interview with WBEN. "I'm not sure where it goes from here, I'm not sure what really was approved and what wasn't approved. I'm sure I'll find that out tomorrow, most likely, and I'm still in communication and talking with the city. That's about all I can say right now."
Following Tuesday's Common Council meeting, Carr was hoping to get some more answers from Council President Chris Scanlon. While there wasn't much of a conversation to be had, Carr does hope that in the coming weeks, more conversations can be had over the matter.
"I believe that my contractors are in contact, and have been contact with the city, so we're trying to finish our own plan. And our plan was basically to go in there and clear up the debris, and the portions of the buildings that actually are down to the ground. And then have a structural engineer come in and really assess the situation, so we can come up with a better plan than just looking at the outside of the building," he said.
At this time, Carr says he still hasn't received any sort of update into the fire that caused substantial damage to the buildings at his property on June 18.
"I'm not sure if the investigation is finished. I reached out a few times to the fire investigators, I'm still waiting for some replies, if they're actually even finished. So I haven't entered the building for those reasons, because I'm not sure if the investigation was even finished," Carr noted.
While Nowakowski says he is not entertaining any more ideas of engaging in any back-and-forth with Carr, saying his counsel can speak with the City of Buffalo, Carr would like to open up a conversation with either Nowakowski or Scanlon in an attempt to save himself and the city money.
"I don't believe that public money should go into this. I never asked the city for any money, nor did I ever receive any money from the city since I've come down here 25 years ago," Carr said.
"I just hope we can open communication up with the city better than it is right now, and we can resolve all these issues we have."