Buffalo Rising Online

YAY!!! Glad to hear it finally happened. Thanks for keeping us posted WCP.

Finally, someone will do something with the building. Hopefully they will retain the name AM&As. That name will spark nastogia that can help with redevelopment efforts.

I hope this project comes to fruition. Some 4+ decades ago this is the store where a clerk gave my brother and me a cherished souvenir of an earlier Buffalo: as boys we had ruined our dress clothes rough-housing while waiting to go to a dinner with my grandfather's business associate and his family. The wonderful staff there tailored new slacks for us on short notice, and while we waited for them to be sewn, a clerk took a big box top and drew a big Buffalo on it. I have it to this day.

What great apartments this building will make. The whole building complex for the price of one decent Soho loft apartment! Good luck, Mr. Libby.

Will these units by some miracle be for sale?

Richard and Joyce Taylor came from Toronto and invested amply and sincerely to make Taylors-- the old AM&A's-- a terrific new City-scape place of excitement.

When factors presented themselves to ensure its failure, several huge efforts by the Taylors were in place to turn that around.

And yet the City and County and Buffalo News did everything possible to appease alternative Big Developers and hurt the sincere stride the Taylors made.

Richard Taylor never gives up, and it's good to see he's made a solid break of this project, onto others. Best hopes for this building, where so much is possible.

Good luck to its and our future.

But warn-- nobody dare damn the efforts of the Taylors. While Jamie Moses and Art Voice stood up for them, with defining journalistic truth for the proceedings that occurred, our other mainstream media giant Buffalo News took illicit slam after slam.

Let's not treat other potential Toronto develpers this way. I know our money-homeboys want it all, but there's a big pizza pie of opportunity in the New Buffalo that is out there, and Buffalonians deserve more both from inside and outside help.

Bravo on this great step, and let's see all the more.

lets see how long the politicians take to start breaking these lon island developers' chops...shouldnt be long until they head for the exits like everyone else who bought here...Bethune, Tishman, etc etc etc

and by the way, "bz" is Bill Zimmermann, and he stands by his comments.

Did Taylor actually pay $40,000 in 1997? Or was that a way to circumvent the transfer tax? http://tinyurl.com/mg34e

The various news agencies seem to have missed anything positive that Taylor did with the building, beside hanging onto it and blaming the City for turning on a water valve.

you the man WCP

in what year can we expect the completion of the residential, office, and retail space there? And I sure hope that they make atleast some of them into condos...it would really be a shame if they just made it into more income restricted apartments.

Where's L?

There are many people in this city who love to see other people fail. I don't know what motivates it, but I've heard comments like bz's about Taylor being a decent guy from other people I trust. Too bad the establishment treated him so harshly.

But I'm thrilled he's sold the buildings and we can start anew.

schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun: A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.

I have no first hand knowledge of what the Taylors did or did not do, beyond their misguided attempt at an exclusive department store. I think I am the demographic they wanted, a white collar DINK (Double Income No Kids) who worked a block away, but their dress code policy had me wondering if my failure to adhere to pricey fashion standards would get me turned away at the door.

I was livid that they were thwarted from hosting a charter school in AM&As. What a perfect addition to downtown: kids coming to Main Street every day as a normal part of life rather than a rare event, like for Taste of Buffalo or a game. But the folklore is that M&T didn't want those kids, you know, "those" kids next door, and they put a halt to it.

Nevertheless, it seems all too plausible that certain well-connected developers might wish to undermine the Taylors. Can't have newcomers from out of town showing up the local players. I am sorry that their aspirations were dashed and I hope for the sake of the building that the new owners do not suffer the same fate.

haha... I'd forgotten about the dress code !! "I just want some socks and maybe boxers on sale; please may I enter? . Oh, I need a tie? Oh. Sorry. Off to Kmart with my tacky self."

Fantastic news... although I can't help but feel a bit discouraged that the residential component of the site is still more apartments. Outside of the Cobblestone project, is ANYONE going to build us some condos? (I'm presuming the Statler project is going to be on the rather price side for potential buyers... and don't get me wrong, any housing in the downtown area is GOOD housing, I just wish there were more options for those of us looking to buy).

BadPoliticans- Stop raining on Buffalo's parade. Why have the negative attitude instead of believing that change is in the air? We need optimism, not a bunch of "the glass is half empty" thinkers that can only see defeat in the sight of victory.

RepatED:

Your going to see plenty of condos coming on line in the next couple of years. Palidino is building his 14 story tower on the waterfront and other existing rental properties are going to convert.

Developers sometimes need to collect rents for a few years to get them, financially, to the point they need to be to make their profits.

RepatED: What tower is this on the waterfront? This is actually great news that I cannot keep the projects straight!!!

HASHMA, get a dose of reality you clueless nut. These poor developers are going to get berated by Byron and CO. and the idiotic Council members.

poor developers?

What 14 story tower? I haven't heard of this.

GGETACLUE HASHMA, back up your point, please. Buffalo's government needs to be fought with sometimes to get something done. Now is not the time, we haven't seen Byron in action yet so I wouldn't lump him together with Massello's old cronies.

This 14 story tower:
Ellicott Development intends to build three distinct types of residential buildings: a 14-story, 46-unit condominium tower at the corner of Lakefront Boulevard and Waterfront Circle, with units priced from $255,000 to $540,000; 25 2 1/2-story townhouses along Ojibwa Drive, across from Rivermist, with prices ranging from $275,000 to $310,000; and a four- to six-story, 50-unit apartment building, with rents ranging from $1,250 to $2,400 per month, along Lakefront Boulevard to the east of Admiral's Walk.

Yea! Another score for Buffalo and hopefully the final chapter on any discussion of demolishing AM&A's. Does anyone remember when the Buffalo News and many developers claimed the building could never be renovated and that demolition was the only option?

Remember when everyone said demolishing the building was a done deal and nothing could be done about it?

Chris H, its intresting, ins't it? We always think the worst of every scenario and somehow the best somestimes comes through for Buffalo!

Chris H,

Take a look at the recent Bass Pro postings. It seems many feel the same way about the Aud.

The Aud is coming down over our dead bodies, for sure.

Chris H...I'm not sure if you are serious, joking or being sarcastic, but if serious, where is the historic value in the Aud in that it MUST be saved from the wrecking ball?

I'm sorry, but I don't see it. Yes the front entrance is very nice, but there is nothing on the other 3 sides or the inside that would make me stand up and say that it should not be demolished.

Chis H.....

You want to keep the Aud?.....seriously?

Even IF Bass Pro agreed to re use it, the exterior would look completely different than the Aud you know and love, and the interior of the building would be completely unrecognizable. Why spend 3 times as much $$ just to disguise the place.

Tear it down, and move FORWARD...

Make sense?

Hey Ken the Boston Garden & Montreal Forum held much more significance than the Aud and down they went. Next year Yankee Stadium will be turned to dust as well as Shea Stadium. Sports arenas and stadiums have little value as re-use so away with them, especially on the waterfront.

MD...I agree with you and am well aware that numerous arenas with much more history have gone by the wayside including the Detroit Olympia and Chicago Stadium.

Save the damn AUD? Are you people serious??? If Yankee Stadium, the house that Ruth built, can be demolished so can the crappy Aud, where we won NO Stanley Cups or anything else!!!! Wake up people

Yes, and the Vandals destroyed the Colisseum in Rome. Why shouldn't we do the same?

Hey, the fact that Elvis played there twice is enough reason to get it landmaked. Let's not even mention the architecture of the 1930s-era facades (not the steel panels) that are actually quite rare. WPA-era architecture is so precious because little else was being built at the time, and represents a key period when Art Deco was giving way to early Modernism which the Aud represents. The same style can be seen at Rockefeller Center where subtle Deco details were muted compared to the heroic mass of more-stark structural elements like the piers at ground level -- same at the Aud.

What's not to save? Is the giant parking lots across the street more precious than our grand old stadium?

Chris...If Bass Pro signs the deal, the Aud is coming down. I just see no argument that will save it from the wrecking ball nor should there be one. There are plenty of architectural gems throughout the city that are worthy of being saved...this isn't one of them.

Best case scenario...the facade will be saved and then everyone will bitch about how it was not integrated without the new building ala HealthNow.

That should read...

Best case scenario...the facade will be saved and then everyone will bitch about how it was not integrated with the new building ala HealthNow.