After a year of fixing the multitude of structural issues and code violations, six months of waiting for plans and permits, and six months of building or more to the point, rebuilding, work at 537 Main Street is nearing completion. Paul and Sandra Wilkins purchased the building that is directly across from the Hyatt on the last day of December 2011. They plan to open a restaurant on the ground floor and live on the second and third floors. They are amongst a handful of new investors and owner/occupants that are turning this critical block around one building at a time.
Apart from all of the uninteresting items that needed to be done such as new beams, steel lintels, bracing on the front of the building to hold the front wall on, and more, there have been some exciting changes inside. The beautiful black front door has been created. It is actually the original door that Paul and Sandra restored over several weekends (below). All of the windows have been restored and repainted on the outside. The outside sills on the third floor are currently being rebuilt. The treads on the original staircase leading to the residence have been refinished.
“It took Paul about 45 minutes per stair just to get the old, broken tread off,” says Sandra. “I’m currently restoring the original hand rail and stripping the banister and posts at the top of the stairs.”
When the couple purchased the building, the back of the 2nd floor had openings for six windows – two existed but were broken and four were boarded up. All of those windows have been replaced. The second floor is entirely framed out as the first floor of living space including kitchen, dining room, living room, full bath, and theater.
A new staircase has been built and installed. The third floor has not only been framed out as the master suite – but the entire back of the third floor has been redesigned and rebuilt. The shed roof that sloppily covered the back area of this floor (above) has been removed and a room which will be a gym and outdoor patio space has been added (below).
They are currently waiting for their mechanical, electrical and plumbing permit. If things go according to schedule, they will move into the residence by Christmas or shortly thereafter. Work on the first floor will then start.
The necessary fire corridor, restaurant bathroom, and kitchen have been framed, and the bar and sandwich bar will be built in the next few weeks. The restaurant is expected to open in the spring. They are working with Ben Siegel of BMS Design Studio on the building’s make-over.
The restaurant, Raclettes, will be a an eclectic, French themed restaurant based on Paul and Sandra’s 20 plus years of travel that have started and/or ended in Paris almost yearly. Combining elements of casual eating, an extensive wine list and grab-and-go baguette sandwiches for the in-a-hurry lunch crowd, will make this unique restaurant an exciting new venue for Buffalonians.
Paul and Sandra scoff at being called pioneers.
“We have been called pioneers by many people, crazy by others,” says Sandra. I think Don Warfe and John Volpe [of 501 Main Street] are the true pioneers. We did try to do this about ten years ago with various buildings in the area, so I would say we may be pioneers but we are definitely following in their footsteps.”
The move to downtown has been a long time in the making. About 10 years ago, Paul and Sandy tried to find and purchase a building on Main Street and actually came very close to purchasing 510 Washington.
“The City of Buffalo was almost impossible to work with back then and we were so discouraged that we purchased 25 acres of land on Grand Island and built a big house that resembled a really big loft apartment,” says Sandy. Then, a couple of years ago, looking for a place to lease to open a restaurant with an experienced family member, I saw 537 Main. Paul was literally putting the last tile on the wall of the bathroom he had just added to the house, when I walked in and said, ‘We’re moving!”
“Today, the change in the attitude at City Hall is astounding. Even before we purchased 537, City planners and inspectors were eager to help us; to understand the code, to help make the plans we had work despite the obvious issues with the building such as no second egress),” Sandy explains. “They were amazing and so what did we do? We sold our beautiful home with the salt water pool and 800 square foot closet and outdoor kitchen, along with property in the southern tier, and my Mercedes sports car to move downtown. To live the dream we had 10 years ago! And we have been living in an apartment on Main Street almost a year now and we love it.”
“While we have been thrilled since the moment we purchased 537, it is so much more exciting for us now that the Carminas are planning to move into 9 Genesee, that 535 Main will also have residential units, and that we hear rumors of more development in the works on the block.”
“Buffalo is the best city in the world – and we have traveled to over 25 countries,” says Sandra. “I am a Niagara Falls native but Paul is from England – and he agrees that downtown Buffalo is the best.”