After inquiring about a property that is no longer on the market, Ed Mills of Militello Realty suggested that I take a look at another property that he was listing (for a BRO article). After taking one look at the listing sheet, I was hooked. The former Chase Bag facility is one of those building complexes that we are seeing fewer and fewer these days, dues to past widespread demolitions. Fortunately, a number of the remaining building arrangements have been converted into loft living spaces by a number of proactive developers.
This 91,484 square foot series of buildings, located at 155-175 Rano Street, is loaded with potential, as you can see. “The former Chase Bag facility is in three connected buildings – all built in the 1800’s on 1.93 acres zoned M2 with an asking price of $950,000 ($10.38/sf),” Ed told me. “It is just north of Hertel, between Military Road and Niagara Street.The buildings were renovated by BERC in 1991 and are in very good condition. BERC has been operating it as a business incubator (River Rock Industrial Incubator). It’s a very attractive building that could qualify for historic tax credits and would make a great conversion to residential or mixed use. There are three elevators, it has a wet sprinkler system and reportedly the asbestos was removed in 1991 – which can be an expensive part of redevelopment.”
As it becomes harder to find these types of large footprint brick structures in Buffalo, gems like this will be few and far between. These buildings are in a prime location, close to Hertel and Chandler Street, which is on its way towards doing some great things. This would be a big win for the city, to get so much square footage converted into residential or mixed use. Any city would kill to have an opportunity along these lines, with such handsome structures, and in pretty good shape.
Get connected: Edward N. Mills, SIOR | J.R. Militello Realty, Inc. – API Global | 268 Main St Suite 300 | Buffalo, NY 14202 USA | Tel: (716) 856-2872