It's likely the smallest component of the Elmwood Crossing redevelopment project, but the proposed EduKids day care on Hodge Avenue is proving to be a big headache for Nick Sinatra and William Paladino.
Elmwood Village neighbors on Monday criticized the redesigned look of the existing building and a proposed addition, calling it "awful" and inconsistent with the neighborhood and that street in particular.
"This has no business on Hodge, at all," said Jeremy Toth of Ashland Avenue. "This plan needs to be completely reworked. It’s not appropriate for Hodge Avenue."
The plan called for recladding the current two-story brick building at 125 Hodge with a light-colored clapboard cement siding, adding windows and doors, and constructing a one-story addition to create a new 11,000-square-foot building.
But the critics said it looked more like it belonged in the suburbs – or even in New England.
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"This design does not fit into the architectural design or landscape of this historical neighborhood," said resident Linda Gellman. "It looks like a medical building. It belongs in Lancaster."
The intense pushback prompted the Buffalo Planning Board to table the proposal. With no additional meeting this month, that means it won't come back up for review until January.
"We can find a happy place, taking the comments we got from the board," said Tom Fox, director of development for Ellicott Development Co., which is one of the partners on the project. "Everybody appreciates that it is needed and it's a good, high-quality local operation."
The day care is part of the larger $100 million Elmwood Crossing project that Ellicott Development and Sinatra & Co. Real Estate are undertaking. The developers are seeking to convert the eight-acre former Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo campus into a new mixed-use community, with more than 220 apartments, 27 condominiums, 22 townhouses, a 75-room hotel, an urban grocery, boutique shops, office space and the day care.
They've also completed environmental reviews and obtained city approval of a planned-unit development designation for the entire site, which will unify the campus under one set of zoning and land-use rules. They're negotiating a purchase contract for the Gallagher Parking Ramp.
And they've started on their first phase, with a new five-story building that is now under construction at the corner of Elmwood and Bryant Street. The next step is to convert the former Hodge Pediatrics building into a new home for EduKids.
Plans call for renovating the existing 5,400-square-foot building, and adding a new 5,500-square-foot section. A separate one-story masonry garage and an electric substation will remain on the property, untouched. The driveway and entrance to the 600-space parking ramp are connected to a drop-off area for the day care and 13 parking spaces.
The day care would occupy the entire first floor, with up to 125 children from infants to 4-year-olds, and a playground in back, surrounded by a four-foot fence.
Meanwhile, a single 700 to 800 square-foot apartment would take up the second floor – enabling the developer to qualify for a lucrative but controversial 485-a tax break that's been widely panned by community activists.
As one of the requirements for early childhood centers, the developers needed to add more windows and exit doors. But the rest of the effort to brighten up the 25-year-old Arts and Crafts-style building's exterior backfired on the developers.
"Our neighborhood probably could use a day care facility, but the existing building is far more interesting than what is proposed," Gellman said.
Critics also took aim at the design of the driveway and the parking, which they said would be hazardous for the young children and their parents.
"It will be absolute chaos in this little stretch of a driveway," Toth said, referring to drop-off and pick-up times. "That’s not going to accomplish anything but destroy the pedestrian quality of Hodge."
Planning Board members echoed the concerns. "I’ve always been concerned about this traffic pattern, and I think we need to be realistic," said Vice Chair Cynthia Schwartz. "If you’re arriving with an infant or toddler in a car seat, this is not a quick process ... I just think that you and EduKids really need to be talking about the realities."
Fox acknowledged that "this isn't the first we've heard that residents don't like" the design, but said the developer is responding to both the existing building's shape and the needs of its future tenant. And he noted that the first floor of the parking ramp, behind EduKids, will also be available for parents to park.
"The building, as it stands, is out of place with neighboring buildings. We knew that from Day One. It doesn’t match anything up and down street," he said. "But it’s a building with good bones. We can’t make sense of tearing it down for infill."
