They are seemingly everywhere you turn in Western New York; “white elephant” buildings, structures that are historic or beloved but also vacant, underutilized and in need of substantial financial investment to return to past glory and/or a future use.
Speaking in the stabilized, but in-need-of-investment concourse at the landmark Central Terminal, New York State Senator April Baskin announced her plan to introduce legislation geared to make "white elephants” more attractive to developers across New York.
Since 2010, The New York State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit has been capped at $5 million. Baskin’s bill would raise the new limit to $15 million in credits for big, long-vacant structures, which Baskin said would make rehabbing them much more appealing.
More than anything, Baskin said these credits would help already working structures, like the HH Richardson Olmsted Campus and Buffalo’s Central Terminal take their impact to the next level.
“It’s running, it's functioning every single day, they are building on the vision,” said Basking on the Central Terminal. “The Fillmore District is thriving, but we know it could be better.”
The investment needed to take Central Terminal from its current condition to an event space with apartments is well beyond $200 million. That’s why Fillmore District Buffalo Common Council Member Mitch Nowakowski says private/public collaborations like these credits are important.
“This building is so monumental that it’s going to get $300 million like that,” Nowakowski said, snapping his fingers. “It’s going to be a piecemeal, phased approach to get this up to its highest potential.”
The slow-but-steady approach is working at the Richardson Olmsted Campus, said Executive Director Paris Roselli.
“By doing this, we save communities from blight, we save municipalities from having to police, manage, and even demolish these vacant structures,” Roselli said. "We now have an opportunity to reactivate these properties, while preserving the fabric of the community and saving a piece of history.”
Tackling small projects as they can be funded isn’t splashy, said Monica Pellegrino Faix, Executive Director of the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation, but it is the approach that will see the landmark East Side building be a part of Buffalo’s future.
“This is happening. It’s hard, that’s not anything new,” said Faix. “But we have great momentum moving forward. This is a generational investment in Buffalo."
