The Buffalo News | NFTA plans new stair tower for DL&W terminal rehab
It's going to get a little narrower to drive on South Park Avenue near the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal at the foot of Main Street.
In preparation for an $87 million redevelopment of the two-story building into a new Metro Rail station and upper-level entertainment venue, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority wants to build a glass-and-metal stair and elevator tower on the side of the structure facing South Park at Illinois Street, in front of the brick façade, balcony and railings.
That will create an attractive new entrance to the long and slender building that is largely impenetrable now, while offering pedestrian access for both the trains coming and leaving the new train station serving the KeyBank Center, as well as for the waterfront music center upstairs that developer Savarino Companies plans to create.
But because of the location of the train tracks, and the platform and balcony protruding from that side of the building on both levels, people seeking to enter the building – including for the trains – must go upstairs, cross over the tracks, and either stay on the second floor or descend to the first. And the stair tower addition will jut out partway into the street.
So the NFTA is asking the Common Council to close and "abandon" that part of the roadway – measuring 32 feet wide by 95 feet in length, and totaling 2,743 square feet – and to grant an easement so the agency can purchase the land for $1. The Council will review the NFTA's request Tuesday before referring it to the city Planning Board for consideration and a recommendation. A public hearing will be held at 1 p.m. June 6 in Council chambers.
The new stair tower is part of the larger rehabilitation and revival of the historic train terminal at 15 Main St. Designed by railroad architect Abraham Bush and built in 1917 for the Lackawanna Railroad, it served Erie-Lackawanna passengers until the last train left in 1962. Since 1984, it has housed the Metro Rail Yard and Shops complex on the first floor, but the second floor has been vacant for 60 years.
Plans call for transforming it into a new multifunctional public space and transit hub through a collaborative project between NFTA and Savarino that will extend the commuter train line and draw visitors to the building, which was just deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. That also means the project qualifies for historic tax credits.
The NFTA already spent $37 million in state and local money for preliminary improvements to realign the Metro Rail tracks in the yard, with another $20 million to construct a new Metro Rail station on the first floor along the Buffalo River side. It also received a $2 million federal grant to build a new skywalk from the terminal into the adjacent KeyBank Center. A separate pedestrian bridge will connect to the parking ramp.
Now the agency and Savarino plan to spend another $30 million allocated in the 2022-23 state budget to restore and repair the train shed's second floor so it can host live music events and other activities. The entire building will be owned by NFTA, but Savarino will lease 7,000 square feet of first floor platform space, as well as 80,000 square feet of indoor space upstairs and another 40,000 square feet of outdoor deck space.
Savarino has previously said he sees a gap in music venues between the Cobblestone District – where he owns the 400-person Buffalo Iron Works music club – and the Outer Harbor, where the planned new amphitheater will be capable of seating 8,000. And he believes he can fill that niche by using the DL&W's 40,000-square-foot outdoor deck to accommodate 4,000 to 5,000 guests.
He has also talked of an 8,000- to 10,000-square-foot public market, artists' studios and food stalls in the interior, along with a moveable stage for concerts or other performances. The new venue is expected to open in 2024.
PILOT agreements
The Common Council will also consider payment-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangements on properties for two unrelated affordable housing projects in the city – the Francis John and Frederick Douglass II Apartments and Mt. Olive Senior Manor.
In the first, Bridges Development Inc. and Savarino are teaming up in a $47.53 million rehabilitation and renovation project to buy and preserve 174 units of low-income senior housing at 1201 Broadway and 210 Jefferson Ave.
The project will be financed with 4% federal low-income housing tax credits through the New York State Housing Finance Agency, and all apartments will be available to households earning no more than 50% of the area median income, or AMI.
With the second, People Inc. is working with the nonprofit development arm of Mount Olive Baptist Church to remediate a vacant brownfield site at 701-703 E. Delavan Ave. and then construct a 65-unit apartment building for seniors ages 55 and older.
The 67,908-square-foot building will include 61 one-bedroom and four two-bedroom units, with 20 one-bedroom apartments reserved for homeless frail and elderly seniors with income at or below 50% of the area median income. Of the remaining 45 units, eight will be targeted to households earning at or below 30% of the AMI, 19 are for those earning at or below 50% of the AMI and 18 are for those at or below 60% of the AMI.
