Buffalo Rising Online

This looks like something straight out of an East Amherst condo pod.

^ Oh brother.

yeah they kind of do, but i give credit for the balconies.

I've been following how the more prosperous EV and Delaware district neighborhoods deal with "burn-outs" and comparing this rapid development with the similar house fires on the City East side that sit and languish, depress property values and breed crime in the hood.

Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/mhhq2

Joe Golembek should be lauded for his persistance in getting this issue resolved for the Potomac/Brantford neighborhood in such a positive way. I followed this story since the fire on Friday May 13th last year.

Meanwhile, Antoine Thompson Masten Councilman, how about an emergency demo for 198 Glenwood...2 short blocks from the future home of Performing Arts High School. Pics on the above link.

Dan's Law: As the number of blog comments increases, the probability of a comparison involving Amherst approaches one.

Just like people often make frivolous comparisons of minor injustices or slightly irritating people to Hitler or Nazis on other message boards, it seems like on Buffalo Rising, people throw around "Amherst" to instantly dismiss something that is new or "commercial."

Also, not everything in Amherst is necessarily bad or "evil." I have the feeling that if there was a post here about ... oh, a Trader Joe's opening on Elmwood or Hertel, there would be accolades. If they open on Maple Road, TJ's would probably be seen as an evil corporate monster akin to Starbucks, and "besides, the Lexington Food Co-Op has them beat anyhow."

Please, can we save the "Amherst" comments for projects that really have a suburban look and feel, for those developments that are out of context with an urban environment, and truly disrespectful of their setting? Let's not use it lightly to slam a project just because it has Palladian windows or neutral colors.

Thanks for a good chuckle, Sally.

Does it seem to anyone else that the garage doors seem impossibly small in relation to the rest of the building elements?

- Dan is (largely) right. - I appreciate the investment Johnson & Sons is making ....But...the design is not wise for dense/urban areas because a full one-half of the ground line is taken by TWO garages/driveways. Good planning would have nixed the extra curb cut, and forced all autos up one driveway into one hidden garage.

I was hoping for something a bit more contemporary

It must be good design - All the little people drawn in the windows are dancing.

:-)

> But...the design is not wise for dense/urban areas because a full > one-half of the ground line is taken by TWO garages/driveways. Good > planning would have nixed the extra curb cut, and forced all autos up > one driveway into one hidden garage.

That's my big problem with it, too. It has some decent detailing compared to other local infill projects (Buffalo tends not to see the higher-quality design that is typical of urban infill in many other cities, but this is a step in the right direction), and a steep roof pitch. The curb cuts ... well, I wish there was a better way, but Buffalo's not an "alley city" where driveways and garages can be easily hidden. I'd need to see a site plan before I can say "there's a better way." There has to be, though.

I've been staying out of here somewhat because of comments like "Oh brother" (see above). I hate the suburban/city skirmish but I have to say, the people chastizing urban chauvinists here for disdaining the suburbs are pretty holier than thou themselves. Why don't we all just speak our minds and stop rolling our eyes at eachother.

I'm a fan......

This is a million dollars worth of real estate being added to Buffalo's tax rolls. They're not bad to look at, so what's the problem?

Hmmm... fire-damaged building gets taken out, and someone steps forward to rebuild with an upscale dwelling which will add bodies to the population of the city and dollars to the tax rolls. Instead we could have a vacant eyesore, a weed strewn lot, or one of those dreaded "shovel ready" development sites.

Yet read these posts, and complaints abound regarding nonsense like the size of garage doors and the color of the siding and stuff like that. No wonders nothing seems to get done in this city!

This design may be imperfect but I would say that this is more than just a step in the right direction. This drawing shows a whole grammar of details that harmonize well with Buffalo domestic architecture--the keystones, the pitch of the gables and their varying scales, the mix of arches and flat windows, etc. I don't know who is the judge of "high quality" design that is so "typical" of all these other cities, but I am not seeing much of it anywhere that I go. And I wouldn't want much of what I see in other cities here in Buffalo. Maybe it's just taste.

I think they're pretty nice, too, Andrew, and a good fit overall. My nonsense about the size of the garage doors in the rendering was merely to suggest that the street-facing garage doors in actuality will have much more visual impact than the drawing indicates. That's all.

Right on Andrew! My hope is that a $1mil. infill project isn't news, but more routine throughout the city.

Hey! What's everyone so serious about? Is Amherst that bad or Buffalo that precious? Doesn't anyone laugh there? Married to a Kenmore native who wants to go home; but I'm not so sure after seeing all these angry folks.

Now we know you can buy an Elmwood Village house for 200K knock it down and sell a new place for a cool mil

some homes in the neighborhood are better looking - and let's face it some are not. i think it is great to have this turned around so quickly.

in regards to the garage doors - there is a home almost across the street from this that has a first floor garage at the sidewalk. i believe the home fronts on colonial circle. that section of potomac acts as a back alley to those homes.

I agree with Eric "This design may be imperfect but I would say that this is more than just a step in the right direction. This drawing shows a whole grammar of details that harmonize well with Buffalo domestic architecture--the keystones, the pitch of the gables and their varying scales, the mix of arches and flat windows, etc."

The point that everyone is missing whether out of ignorance or stupidity! Once this is built the surrounding 8 blocks are going to have a huge appreciation in the value of their homes as people who couldnt afford the 300k+ price choose adjacent property and remodel it. Inturn the community surrounding those eight blocks will see an appreciation in housing value too substantiating the feasibility of infill residential and commercial development!

I give complements to the developer for high density, quality material, and quality design that blends many of the architectural features that in the surrounding community and the architectural features that buyers want living in the city (such as garages and porches)

The more of these developments we have....the more likely we will be able to stop demolishing and save the rest of our existing structures!

Now if we could see this kind of interest and infill development in the cities other districts, then we might actually be able to make a dent in stabilizing some of our more marginal districts but it might take combining the BMHA and the Department of Urban Renewal and HUD into one organization promoting mixed income multi-use residential and commercial development instead of spending it on bureaucratic salaries and patronage!

I would love to see many, many more developments like this around the fringe areas of downtown. This is the perfect type of mixed options an up and coming city should offer. Everyone and every family is different, everyone cant live in lofts renting downtown. This gives options in Buffalo. I love that the people will be owning instead of renting I hope this is the first of many more. Buffalo has plenty of room and the more people moving in to Buffalo the more opportunity forbusiness and an expanding tax roll.

alot of good thought on this project today. lots of complements, some good criticism, and only a little of the typical stone throwing.

more please.

How about props to the architect, Kathy Kinan, who also designed the Fleet Feet Store and the Auburn/Elmwood storefronts. I am biased, since I know and like Kathy, but I have also noticed that she can design for Elmwood without spawning outrage. She gets it. Unlike imported starchitects, she lives in the village with what she designs. Her works fits in. I wish she'd had a crack at the hotel on Elmwood. No disrespect to Karl Frizlen, who I also know and like, but I think Kathy's work might have satisfied more people at the start and needed less redesign.

Looks great to me, and I thought there was something different about it - confirmed when Obstructionist mentioned Kathy Kinan. The quick sale of 2/3 says much - watch the last unit get snapped-up.

Methinks we need more female architects.

I didn't mean to knock this project. I do think this is totally a wonderful thing being built.

I can appreciate the concept and still play armchair architecture critic. My main gripe is that in this rendering the roof looks very exaggerated.

And as Steel said, something more contemporary would have been nice. Other cities have had great infill contructed that very smoothly blends modern with historical.

Other than that, a million bucks worth of new real estate on such a tiny lot is awesome for the neighborhood and for Buffalo.

But what they

Wouldnt it be great if we could get some of build some of these great townhomes in South Buffalo by South Park and the Botanical Gardens, by Cazenovia Park, by the Science Museum on Best, the Central Terminal or the Broadway Market.

Hey I love it. There are some people that want new homes with the look and feel of old homes (pic up new old homes magazine)...and there are some people that love the authenticity and distinctiveness of old homes. THERES ROOM FOR BOTH IN OUR COMMUNITY!

BUT HEY GUYS....LETS SPREAD IT AROUND TO ALL THE DISTRICTS OF OUR CITY!

Gabe, please forgive me if I appear avuncular, but a passion for something so important as our cities and our environment is nothing that requires explanation. You'll know you're old of mind when these subjects fail to excite you or generate a simple-minded consistency. We're all troubled very and hopeful at the same time.

Kathy's work looks the same as Frizlen's if you ask me. I thought that he had done this.

westcoastperspective> Do you have any rendering of this buildings elevation as viewed from Brantford Place? Being on a small corner lot, the side load garages are likely the only feasible way to incorporate parking into the townhouses.

Regardless, I'm excited to see new infill in the Elmwood Village. Lets hope this encourages more development in the few empty lots in the area. I can picture a similar scaled infill project happening on the only empty lot on West Utica between Elmwood & Ashland (near the Elmwood Lounge).

Why not be more encouraging? Whats wrong with empty lots along the Elmwood Corridor between Main and Niagara Street!

Whats wrong with Cazenovia Park or South Park and the Botanical Gardens? These are great places for infill redevelopment too!

Whats wrong with the Science Museum and Humboldt Park? These are great places for infill redevelopment too!

I applaud the development on Elmwood but Im getting alittle tired of the parochial myopia residing at Forever Elmwood as it refuses to act as a westside chamber of commerce and use its influence to encourage residential and commercial redevelopment on the westside (especially as Elmwood is becoming fully built).

Sorry, we weren't supplied the Brantford Pl. elevation...but here is another along Potomac showing its neighbors:

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/5945/60branfrd9eh.gif