The way may be open for developer TM Montante to re-start its plan to build and re-build on the old Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital site in Buffalo. After weeks of backroom talking and maneuvering, the Common Council on Tuesday approved a little-used designation for the site as "blighted," clearing the way for new financing for the developer.
The project has been stalled because Montante hasn't been able to arrange the financing to pay for the redevelopment. The only construction has been on two sites the developer sold off and later developed by others.
Another major issue has been the 7,000 tons of construction debris on site. For months, residents of Canterbury Woods on Gates Circle and from the surrounding upscale neighborhood have been putting pressure on Common Council members to force removal. Trucks finally began hauling away debris last Thursday.
City Hall came up with a complicated scheme, nicknamed Section 16, which would allow financing. Every project would have to come to the Common Council for approval, with promises of substantial affordable housing on the site.
On Tuesday, a Council vote approved invoking Section 16. Montante President Chris Campos said there will be construction now.
"1275 Delaware, which is the medical office building that was built in the 1950s, that's something that we're looking to do an adaptive reuse project," Campos said, "and, yes, now that we've gotten this area designation, we can move forward with the acquisition of the garage from the City of Buffalo and we do feel that those are projects we can start moving forward in the very near future."
The site's parking lot on Linwood Avenue requires major repairs, but the garage purchase would provide all of the parking Montante needs for its plans.
The Council retains a hammer in this case, since it has to approve every project and will require the affordable housing and unspecified community benefits from each phase. Council President Darius Pridgen said that will happen.
"From the beginning, I asked Montante when they came to us, I asked, because the people asking for affordable housing and to see if there was a way that that could work," Pridgen said. "With Article 16, we do have that oversight and be able to monitor the project, but right now there is no tax break being given. It's a designation."
Lawyer Arthur Giacalone said Pridgen acted as a lawyer and he isn't.
"He looked into all the issues, even sent his staff to the law library and decided there weren't any problems," he said. "They did not even get a written opinion from Scott Billman, the BURA general counsel and they didn't even ask Mr. Billman when he showed up late for this proceeding whether or not or how this particular act complied with the intent of the statute."
While memories are fuzzy, the last time the Section 16 statute was used was apparently in 1997, when it was used to save the historic Market Arcade. This is an urban renewal agency designation that was never approved by the BURA board but sent along by staff.
