Buffalo Rising Online

These floors only collapsed because no one maintained the roof. A simple investment in the roof every 25 years or so and this does not happen. Tragic and stupid!

Since seeing the BIG hole in the roof on satellite images (http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/3555/holegk6.jpg) , I've wondered if anything was happening with this building. Now, I know. Sad.

simple solution... eminent domain to take a strip of the parking lot for a second means of egress. The owner of the parking lot and corner bar can deal with it. They have a smelly bar and an ugly parking lot and it is a shame their their greed would allow two buildings to crumble in their own backyard. Talk about inconsiderate.

Also, aren't these actually two buildings, with a shared common wall? Does the city own both or just one of them?

Simple answer. The city was negligent so the city can secure the facade until a developer chooses to rebuild the rear of the buildings.

Now that the rear of the building is gone....who knows perhaps there can now be underground parking at the site.

I say this....yes buildings are integral to the period of the allentown historical district....which if correct already allowed the demolition of a precivil war building for a print ship expansion...sadly....but in this case we can save the facade.

A month ago I had the cool privilege of being invited to lead a tour of downtown development projects for Buffalo Old Home Week. Along the way, we happened upon the Well Known Developer referred to in this posting, and he generously showed off one of his projects to my tour group. At another event that evening, that developer told me about the Summit Building, and his efforts to work with the City. The next day, when I had a moment, I popped up to the Allentown station on MetroRail and took a close look at this building and its surroundings.

This property has everything going for it: it’s part of a block with outstanding, cohesive architecture. It’s across the street from Metro Rail, and next door to the striking Red Jacket, at a major gateway to Allentown. It’s surrounded by those achingly beautiful, vibrant streetscapes which make people smitten with Allentown. And it’s right next door to a vanishing breed: a fully-stocked urban arts supply store -- in Rochester we have but one left, and nowhere near this good.

I also noticed that it’s located further up the same Main Street block as the Granite Works, another situation where City-owned, neglected buildings came to the brink of demolition, despite their architectural significance, economic value, and reuse potential. The situation with the Summit Building makes one wonder if any lasting lessons were learned at City Hall from Granite Works. Having had local government experience, my fear is that development officials at City Hall may still be so shellshocked over the Webb Building experience earlier this year that they’re paralyzed with fear of a storm of criticism should they give this project to a Well Known Developer.

Well, perhaps the yellow ribbons going up can shake the City out of that shellshock with the realization that there’s a worse fate than being accused of cronyism: the embarrassment of having a City-owned building collapsing from neglect -- despite having a viable reuse proposal on the table -- right next door to the offices of the neighborhood association which represents residents of one of the largest preservation districts in the nation. And that perhaps points the way forward: as the posting points out, the neighborhood association and preservation groups are stepping up their mobilization on this situation. If the City is wise, it can use their collective support for a viable project to shield it from possible charges of cronyism. What matters now is that a viable proposal is on the table which would be a win for everyone. The developer has produced a committed end-user, and has both the know-how and intestinal fortitude to take on a building in a state of internal collapse. The City should -- learning from past mistakes, not being paralyzed by them -- act immediately to get the Summit Building in the hands of such a developer.

In this city, yellow tape and a roof falling on a city owned building means....PARKING LOT Coming Soon!!! Soon we can see it happening to the former AM&A's on Main Street and so on. We see it all the time, don't be blind folks, look around your own city and smell the asfault.

too bad about this building - hopefully an obit. wont be posted soon.

I think that the potential is there for the facade to be saved and the rear of the building rebuilt.

Everyone knows that the Trico Building Complex across the street is going to be sold and redeveloped as part of the Center of Excellence for Life Sciences. There is absolutely no reason why the facades of these buildings cannot be saved and a very nice office/apartment building built behind it. Infact, building a new building with the old facade would probably be cheaper, better and have more amenities. I can only imagine how prohibitively expensive it would have been to rewire, replumb, reroof that building not to mention retrofitting things like elevators, handicap access, safety requirements etc.

It just depends if the community rallies to save the facade....and if the city can work with a developer to do the right thing....the area is increasing in value...and it can certainly be cost justified.

I toured the privately-owned 916 Main and saw the interior of the city-owned 918 Main about 3 years ago. The roof had partially collapsed back then at 918 Main and the interior was a mess. The city should auction off ALL city-owned property on a regular basis. Try buying the city-owned empty lot at 00 Nottingham if you want to see government waste at its best.