Preservation Ready Survey of Buildings, Downtown, Northland and Fougeron/Urban Survey Areas, City of Buffalo, Erie County, New York, December 2013

Panamerican Consultants, Inc.

From introduction: "The City of Buffalo contracted Panamerican Consultants, Inc. (Panamerican) to conduct a Reconnaissance Level Preservation Ready Survey of the historic building stock in the central business district (Downtown) of Buffalo and two industrial clusters (Nodes 1 and 2) along the rail line known as the “Belt Line” (Figure 1.1). The goal of the project was to identify properties that may be eligible for various incentive programs and historic preservation tax credits to assist with revitalization of those areas of the City. Data collected from this survey forms the foundation for the Preservation Ready Database which will be maintained by the City. The Buffalo Preservation Ready Survey also includes a Building Conditions Study of six buildings/building clusters (Watts Architecture & Engineering [Watts A-E]) and an Environmental Conditions Report (Panamerican Environmental, Inc. [PEI]) of four building clusters in the survey area... Downtown Survey Area. The Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Buffalo Urban Development Corporation defined the boundaries to include the CBD and the Buffalo Building Reuse Boundary. The downtown section was expanded slightly to include additional properties on opposite sides of streets forming the survey boundaries. The Downtown survey area encompasses the City’s central business district (CBD) which extends north from the Buffalo River to Goodell and Edward streets between Michigan Avenue to the east and South Elmwood Avenue to the west...The area includes government buildings (city, county, state, and federal), a variety of commercial establishments, apartment houses, hotels, theaters, major league sports venues, light industry, and isolated residential areas (primarily in the eastern sections). The area also encompasses much of the significant nonresidential architecture in the City of Buffalo. The two Belt Line nodes were identified by the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Buffalo Urban Development Corporation as having future development potential. Node I is roughly bounded by East Delavan and Northland avenues on the north, Grider Street on the east, the Belt Line railroad and East Ferry Street on the south, and Fillmore Avenue on the west. Properties included in the survey consist of light to medium manufacturing facilities, all of early to mid-twentieth-century construction. Some of the former and present industries included Otis Elevator, Buffalo Stainless Casting, Northland Rubber, Niagara Machine and Tool Works, Buffalo Foundry and Machine, Bufloval Equipment, Curtiss Wright and Houde Engineering. Belt Line – Node 2 (Fougeron/Urban) Survey Area: This area is roughly bounded by French and Urban streets on the north, Barthel Street and the Belt Line railroad on the east, Genesee Street on the south, and residential blocks east of Kent Street on the west. Properties included in the survey consist of light manufacturing facilities, all of early to mid-twentieth-century construction except for the former Flierl Planing Mill on Genesee Street which dates to the late nineteenth century. In addition to the former planning mill, some of the former and present industries included the National Biscuit Company, Ward & Ward Bakery, Valdutten Hoper, Sons Shoe factory (U.S. Shoe Co.), and Buffalo Shirt Company. Like Node 1, the survey area is surrounded by residential neighborhoods and is intersected by the Belt Line railroad." Funding was provided in part by a 2012 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Buffalo (project number NY-12-046) administered by the New York State Historic Preservation Office (grant number 36-12-41939) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Buffalo, New York is a Certified Local Government.

Preservation Ready Survey of Buildings, Downtown, Northland and Fougeron/Urban Survey Areas, City of Buffalo, Erie County, New York, December 2013

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