BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - A three-story building at the corner of Oak and Genesee Streets in Downtown Buffalo partially collapsed Friday morning.
Nobody was in the building at the time of the collapse and no one was hurt. Buffalo Fire told reporters on Friday there were several people working inside of a one-story building next door. They evacuated safely.
Buffalo Fire will partially demolish the building on Friday afternoon but structural engineers will need to determine if demolition will be needed for the entire building.
"There is a concern (more will collapse)," Buffalo Fire Commissioner Bill Renaldo said. "That's why the area is (sectioned) off. If we get some high winds and inclement weather, that could cause a further collapse. That's why we want to take down the portion of the building that looks like it may come down at any time."
The 33 inbound is closed at Locust Street to Oak Street.
Legacy Development purchased the property in April 2020 from Downstate investor Bruce Adler. Their goal was to restore the property.
Eamon Riley, Assistant Vice President at Legacy Development, claimed years of neglect by Adler contributed to the collapse.
"We're absolutely devastated by the collapse," Riley said. "We acquired these buildings at the height of the pandemic last year and were unable to immediately access the resources necessary to rectify the longstanding neglect at the hands of the previous landowner, Bruce Adler. We were diligently working on a stabilization plan. Our architect was on the phone with our engineer at the time of the collapse today. I was in the middle of a financing request for it. Unfortunately, we were unable to get to the finish line in time."
Riley said they knew of the unsafe conditions in the building and haven't had any employees inside of it for eight months because of the concerns.
"The unsafe condition of the building really rendered it difficult to find contractors willing to do the work on it," Riley said.
Legacy had plans to turn the building into a mixed-use building with residential apartments on the third floor.
Riley said the building, which was built in the 1880s and sustained a fire in the 1980s, sustained water damage over the years which may have contributed to the collapse. Fire officials have not officially determined a cause of the fire.
