A strip of decrepit buildings along Grant and Rees streets near Buffalo State College may soon be coming down. The residential structures are owned by Bflo West Side Properties LLC and Elmwood Village Contracting, affiliates of real estate firm Greenleaf & Company, and a group of investors from Amherst, Massachusetts going by the name of Buffalo Suites LLC. Greenleaf, partnering with the out-of-towners, is eyeing the assemblage for a new-build residential project geared towards Buff State students.
The residential properties were acquired one year ago when Buffalo State College invited dorm proposals from developers to help ease its space crunch. The companies own 23 properties and are said to have others on the block under option. “The request for proposals resulted in land speculation in adjoining neighborhoods,” says Bob Franke, Executive Director of the Grant-Ferry Association. “Unfortunately the college changed course and decided to do the dorm project on their own.”
Greenleaf was one of nine developers that responded to the college’s request for proposals. All were rejected in April 2008. The college told Business First that none of them “completely responded to our needs.”
Buff State is moving forward on a two-building dorm complex at the northeast corner of Grant and Letchworth streets. It will be built on what is presently a surface parking lot. The four-story dorm buildings wrapped around a common area will include a total of 506 beds in 4-bed apartments, each with single rooms and full-kitchens.
But Greenleaf has not given up. The company recently offered to build a 500 bed dorm project on its nearly three-acre site on Grant and Rees streets and also construct a 300-car parking ramp on the college’s surface parking lot.
“They would get our land, not lose their existing parking lot and get additional parking for 200 cars,” says Greenleaf General Manager James Swiezy. “We agreed to do this for $50 million dollars, which is what they are paying just for the buildings.”
The response from Buffalo State College to the proposal has been lukewarm according to Franke. “Buffalo State is on a fast track to get their dorm project started and does not appear at all interested in thinking outside of the box. It has been a frustrating process for the community. We are looking for a result that benefits everyone.”
In the meantime, the properties have been written up for Housing Court. “The structures need to be taken care of or demolished,” says Franke. “We support Greenleaf’s efforts to keep trying to do a dorm project on the site.”
Franke says he is in favor of demolishing the properties. “I would normally be against haphazard demolition because it creates unbelievable damage to existing neighborhoods. With Buffalo State being right there, and the Richardson Complex, it makes perfect sense to have that land as a developable piece of property. I’m not opposed to demolition as long as there is a plan going forward. I don’t want to see the site sit vacant for twenty years.”
“If we cannot get an agreement with Buffalo State College, we will build student housing without the support of the college. I have preliminary drawings to build 150 beds,” says Swiezy. “Once we have chosen a project, we will move to take down the houses.”