Promising plans to put four apartment units in a Delaware Avenue mansion and construct four units on an adjacent parking lot are being held up at the Planning Board. Architect/developer Karl Frizlen is part of a development team proposing a $6 million refurbishment of the Foster Mansion at 891 Delaware Avenue near Bryant Street. The Buffalo Planning Board tabled the matter on November 18 and again on December 2 when area residents and the owner of neighboring 877 Delaware Avenue objected to the plans, particularly the proposed townhouse units.
The Foster Manor property includes the main 8,200-square-foot mansion and a large carriage house. The Foster family home at 891 Delaware Avenue had been donated to Canisius High School in 2006 by Michael J. DeRose and family and was later sold. Current owner 891 Delaware LLC bought the main house and carriage house in April 2013 for $777,000. Frizlen’s group is proposing to purchase the property.
The multi-faceted proposal includes:
1. Refurbishing the mansion back to residential use (from commercial) and accommodating four high-end apartments. The exterior work is limited to painting trim and roof overhang, re-pointing stone where necessary as per Department of Interior Standards, potential in-kind roofing replacement, replacing existing gutter system with period-appropriate gutters. Interior intervention is as minimal as possible and maintains and restores all the building’s prominent features such as but not limited to: fireplaces, staircase, wood wainscoting, doors, windows, trim, baseboard, wood/tile floor.
2. Refurbishing the carriage building into one residential unit that one of the development group partners will occupy. The ground floor will accommodate a car garage and storage. The second floor is currently an open space without finishes and will be retrofitted into one luxury apartment. All windows will be replaced with Pella replacement windows to comply with Department of Interior Standards. The exterior work is limited to painting trim and roof overhang, re-pointing stone where necessary as per Department of Interior Standards, potential in-kind roofing replacement, replacing existing gutter system with period-appropriate gutters.
3. An existing asphalt parking area will be used for the construction of four townhomes in two buildings, with each townhome accommodating a two-car garage at ground level, living-dining-kitchen on the second floor and 2-3 bedrooms on the third floor. The roof will be vegetated and accessible from each apartment. Exterior building materials are brick and pre-cast stone panels.
4. The wrought iron privacy fence along Delaware Avenue will be left in place and slightly modified. The existing landscape will be left in place and further enhanced. The driveway within the property will consist of interlocking pavers and curbing. The landscaping will consist of medium size flowering trees, ground cover and sod. The exterior lighting will be wall-wash fixtures on buildings and indirect down-lighting under soffits.
Frizlen’s group redesigned the townhouses based upon feedback from the Preservation Board. The previous modern design has been replaced with a more traditional look. The townhouses, set back 15 to 25 feet from the southern property line, have drawn the angst of neighbors.
From The Buffalo News:
“We don’t object to restoring the mansion and carriage house, but the change to the footprint is what we object to,” [877 Delaware co-owner Rock] Doyle said, referring to the townhouses. “This will have a major impact on my property and its value.”
Doyle, a health care administrator, and [Dr. Andrew] Covey, a physician, said their mansion was split into nine apartments and a law office when they bought it in 2006. They have since converted the residence into two units, a main home they live in and a third-floor apartment they rent out. In 2012 they purchased, for $230,000, the carriage house behind the main house, which they also use as a rental unit.
Doyle and Covey have an expansive view of Delaware Avenue from the northern side of their home, as a parking area on the DeRose property separates their mansion and the DeRose Mansion.
“We now have a beautiful view of Delaware Avenue,” said Doyle. “The new units will block the views. We don’t want to be entombed by another property so close by.”
The local block club also objects to the design.
“These are turn-of-the-century mansions,” said Bill Sunderlin, of the Bryant-Summer Street neighborhood association. “The townhouses do not fit in the character of the neighborhood.”
Frizlen said his group is open to redesign suggestions but says the townhouses are a necessary component to make the project feasible.