A Buffalo-based company is buying out the eight properties held by an out-of-state owner, including the Ellicott Street parcel where a building recently experienced a partial collapse and ultimately had to be torn down. Mayor Byron Brown announced not only the sale, but his instruction of the Inspections Department to draft a new plan to address other troubled privately-owned structures throughout the city.
Legacy Development will acquire eight parcels, including 435 Ellicott Street, from Bruce Adler. The parcel at 435 Ellicott is where a building housing Two Wheels Bakery partially collapsed, forcing the small business out. The building was demolished.
Mayor Brown has instructed city officials to assist the owners of Two Wheels Bakery, a tenant in the Adler-owned building, in recovering losses suffered as the result of the building collapse and demolition, including their equipment.
In all, eight parcels will be purchased by Legacy Development. Its president, Frank Chinnici, said both parties had been negotiating for about four months. The portfolio, he says, is in generally deteriorating condition, some buildings worse than others.
"Our primary focus, going forward, is to deal with 324 Oak Street," Chinnici said. "That building is, in many ways,in worse condition than 435 Ellicott Street, which actually came down."
Mayor Brown, meanwhile, has also ordered the city's Inspections and Permits Department to develop a new plan for addressing troubled, privately-owned properties.
"I want to make it clear that these problem properties are not owned by the City of Buffalo," Brown said. "They're private owners who own these properties, and they will be held accountable for the condition of their propreties."
The mayor has set a one-month deadline to complete a plan and expressed confidence that deadline will be met.
