Eminent domain eyed for two derelict Cobblestone District properties

The mayor's action comes as Darryl Carr, owner of the properties at 110 and 118 South Park Ave., seeks an emergency demolition of 110 South Park in a case due back in court next week.

A resolution to take the properties by eminent domain was sponsored and introduced Tuesday in the Common Council by Fillmore Council Member Mitchell Nowakowski. That started a 90-day clock to hold a public hearing, which is when the city can legally pursue an eminent domain takeover of the properties to "better secure the structures' fate and restoration" and "benefit the historical integrity of the district," a release said.

"This case has been in Housing Court since I was in high school, and now I'm a seated member of the Buffalo Common Council," Nowakowski said. "We cannot allow a building to be in Housing Court for over a decade." 

Preservationists say the buildings, while in bad shape, are historically significant and should be rehabilitated. The district is certified by the National Park Service as a neighborhood that meets the requirements of the National Register of Historic Places.

"Deciding to move forward with the eminent domain procedure is never an easy decision," said Brendan Mehaffy, executive director of the Office of Strategic Development. "My department, the Department of Permit and Inspection Services and the Law Department felt as though this was a necessary step. At this point, rehabilitation only seems possible if the properties are owned by someone else."   

Carr said he was surprised to learn about the mayor's action.

"I just find it shocking that none of these parties have ever reached out to me personally to talk, ever," Carr said of city officials.

Scaffolding is erected around a portion of the building on South Park and Illinois Street to protect against falling bricks, with barriers and fencing in the back where bricks have crumbled.

An engineering report Carr commissioned supports his claim that the properties are unsafe and contaminated from a foundry that operated there for 38 years. He wants to demolish them to make way for a development plan he calls Unity Tower at Cobblestone Place, which would include condominiums, hotel suites, retail and dining.

Carr earlier this year asked Housing Court Judge Patrick Carney to permit the emergency demolition of 110 South Park, which the city contended should first go before the Buffalo Preservation Board. The city's position contrasts with its position on the Great Northern, in which an emergency demolition was ordered when preservationists wanted the grain elevator's future to be considered by the Preservation Board first.

Carr said he is anxious for the court case to resume so the building at 110 South Park, which was built in 1852 as a bakery and is the oldest building in the Cobblestone District, can be demolished, the brownfield site cleaned up and his project can move forward.

Nowakowski said Carney asked him to help bring the attorneys from both sides together in what was an unsuccessful attempt to reach a compromise.