Buffalo Officials Trying to Save Out-Of-Code Buildings

Local lawmakers are taking a step forward in their efforts to create pathways for run-down buildings in the city of Buffalo to be renovated and repaired — while holding the building’s owners responsible for footing the bill.

Introduced by State Senator Sean Ryan and Assemblymember Jonathan Rivera, the City of Buffalo Historic Preservation Receivership Act, also has the support of Fillmore District Council Member Mitchell Nowakowski and various community groups. If the bills are passed, the city-appointed organization would become involved in a receivership to pay up-front for the repairs, and then retroactively bill the property’s owner to pay them back.

Buffalo’s housing court can engage in receiverships but there is no method or procedure currently to fix code violations, which make buildings more hazardous to the neighborhoods in which they stand -- for example, the building in the Cobblestone district that caught fire last month. If this bill passes, such protocols would be created to allow the city to take more action, and faster, to build receivership, and should make repairs happen before further damage is caused.

The Cobblestone building, at 110/118 South Park Avenue, had been the topic of a longstanding dispute between the city and the building’s owner, with the city winning approval to tear down the buildings under the premise of eminent domain. The owner has stated he intends to appeal the decision.

If nothing else, the fire, which has been deemed suspicious and is currently under investigation, might have been a tipping point for those local elected officials to push harder to prevent others like it in the future.

“Neglected properties are a significant issue in our city, contributing to hazardous living conditions and diminishing the quality of our neighborhoods,” Councilmember Nokawoski said earlier this week. “By enacting the Historic Preservation Receivership Act, we can take a proactive approach to rehabilitate these properties, ensuring safer and healthier homes for our residents.”

“We have many more historic buildings that can become assets for the city’s future, but only if we take action to ensure they are preserved and restored,” added Sen. Ryan. “It is long past time to stop letting neglectful owners chip away at our historic neighborhoods piece by piece through their inaction. Buffalo’s Preservation Receivership program already provides the framework we need to put an end to decades of demolition by neglect.”

Preservation Buffalo Niagara, a leading force for restoring and bringing up to code older and historic buildings throughout the region, stands ready to work with city and state officials on further restoration. “This resolution is being made so we can unstick the hundreds of vacant buildings sitting idle and vacant within the city,” the group says. “Our team is ready. We have trained staff, an established board committee, critical funding specifically for this effort set aside, and the real estate and construction experience to do more of this in 2024 and beyond.”