This story originally appeared on Views of BuffaloThe Marlowe Theater at 257 Virginia was originally built as a modest movie house in 1915 by John R. Oshei, the same man who founded the Trico Corporation. Oshei owned and built a number of other theaters throughout Buffalo including the Teck Theater which was located in the 700 block of Main Street in downtown Buffalo. The theater was named after one of Oshei’s favorite actresses, Julia Marlowe. In 1929 the Marlowe changed hands and was purchased by Matthew M. Konczakowski who used the Marlowe as his base of operations for the handful…
Author: Mike Puma
Build it and they will come. For downtown residential, that has certainly been the case. Since First Amherst Development’s Lofts @ Elk Terminal opened in 2002, over 700 units have been brought online stretching from the Cobblestone District to the Medical Campus. Downtown residential was only a planner’s dream before then. For the longest time, residential use wasn’t a viable option for downtown building owners. Early residential projects such as Ansonia Centre, the Roosevelt and St. Mary’s Square all got off the drawing board due in part because of subsidies from Urban Development Action Grants. Lofts @ Elk Terminal proved…
Benderson Development is putting a 96-room Courtyard by Marriott in the Donovan Building at 125 Main Street. The hotel is taking three floors in the eight-story, 160,000 sq.ft. building that Benderson is redeveloping. Law firm Phillips Lytle has signed on for the building’s top four floors. Business First has the story: The hotel will anchor the building’s second, third and fourth floors while the Phillips Lytle LLP law firm has agreed to lease the upper four floors. The hotel is scheduled to open in late 2013, just a few weeks before Phillips Lytle moves into the building. Buffalo Lodging Associates,…
The architectural firm responsible for Baltimore’s Inner Harbor will design Buffalo’s Choice Neighborhood plan Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority officials said Monday. The $624,000 contract will result in a dramatic remaking and revitalization of the Commodore Perry public housing neighborhood by Philadelphia-based Wallace, Roberts & Todd (WRT). The BMHA Perry Choice neighborhood is bounded by South Park on the south, Smith Street to the east, Sycamore to the north and Michigan Avenue to the west. WRT, which has long experience with Hope VI projects, designed the Lakeview Hope VI development on the Lower West Side in 1998. Working with WRT will…
Anyone who has walked by the Hotel Lafayette in recent weeks has been sure to notice the massive improvements being made on the exterior. New windows have been installed in the upper floors and the original windows of the first floor have been restored. Gone is the big blue wall and covered windows which once dominated the ground floor spaces. Beautiful, natural light now floods the ballrooms, which look astounding after months of hard work. Rocco Termini is still very much on schedule for his official opening of the building later this year on May 1st. Although there have been…
Come out and join preservationists, urban planners, architects, and laymen for a great drinks and even better conversation about historic preservation in Buffalo. Buffalo’s Young Preservationists (BYP) are hosting their monthly happy hour at the Essex Street Pub (530 Rhode Island Street) tonight from 6pm to 9pm. It’s a casual event with great opportunities for networking and discussing future BYP projects and events. Buffalo’s Young Preservationists is an inclusive group that welcomes interested young people from all related fields to join in celebrating our region’s built history through preservation-related events as well as innovative new partnerships to specifically engage this generation in…
This is the second part of a two part seriesThe halls of St. Matthew’s School were once filled with the sounds of students rushing to their classes, but now the building serves as a temporary home for refugees awaiting a new life. Vive La Casa (50 Wyoming Avenue) is housed in the former school building for the St. Matthew’s parish and has been active there for nearly 20 years. Vive La Casa is a non-profit organization and the largest refugee shelter in the country. Refugees come from over 100 different countries and Vive has served over 80,000 refugees seeking asylum…
A Press Release from the Seneca Nation of IndiansThe Seneca Nation of Indians today took out a full-page ad in The Buffalo News pointing out in the wake of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s pledge of $1 billion in incentives to the region that the Nation already invested that much in its local businesses. “The Seneca Nation of Indians Welcomes Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Pledge of $1 Billion to Buffalo and Western New York,” the ad headline reads. “This is our home. Where we have invested $1 billion of our own funds to build new businesses and create new jobs.” The ad comes…
William Campbell is planning big things for the future of brewing in Buffalo. Bill is the owner and founder of New Buffalo Brewing Company, an upcoming microbrewery looking to introduce a variety of high-quality beers to the area. Currently the company is in the development and testing phases of their beer with a proposed opening date of August 2013. Campbell is proudly serving as an officer in the United States Air Force, attached to the 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas. His unit is awaiting a deployment to Afghanistan this spring. Even in his absence, the upstart company will…
Monthly social organization Ladies of the Vine Wine Club is going global for January’s gathering, in the second of a series of dining experiences where members will be given the chance to sip, sample and savor cuisine and wines from around the world. On the heels of “Visiting India” in November, which was the first “Ladies of the Vine Goes Global” event, the club received several requests to add more ethnic dinners to their monthly rotation. Thanks to the popularity of the last event, the club is offering “Ladies of the Vine Goes Global” every other month, discounting the usual ticket…