The News’ question to developers: How would you resurrect the Central Terminal?

The Richardson Olmsted Complex is opening a hotel.

The Guaranty Building thrives.

While the future of these once-neglected architectural gems is secure, uncertainty still surrounds another – the Buffalo Central Terminal.

The East Side’s art deco marvel – with its 16-story tower, grand concourse, mezzanine and baggage building – has defied easy answers since Amtrak left the station for good in October 1979.

Earlier this month, Central Terminal Restoration Corp. asked for proposals from developers. The not-for-profit group, which took ownership of the abandoned train station in 1997, hopes to find a developer with the vision and means to put the building on the track to recovery.

“The Central Terminal is a breathtaking facility. It deserves our attention and creativity as a community,” said developer Jake Schneider, who toured the site after the redevelopment call went out. But the brick and masonry complex – which measures 523,000 square feet, the equivalent of nine football fields – poses a monumental challenge. It needs extensive stabilization and restoration work, and the price tag for resurrecting the 1929 building has been put in the neighborhood of $70 million.

The many abandoned houses in the impoverished neighborhood a couple of miles from downtown add to the difficulty.

But the time has come for the Central Terminal and its neighborhood to be part of Buffalo’s resurgence, said Eddy Dobosiewicz, president of Forgotten Buffalo, which offers tours and promotes city neighborhoods, particularly those on the East Side.

He said he resents that Buffalo’s political and cultural elite rallied around the Martin House and other landmarks but ignored the largest art deco train station in the country because it’s on the East Side.

“It’s staggering how such a large part of a city is allowed to deteriorate,” Dobosiewicz said. “The Central Terminal has been standing guard. It’s now time to turn it into the showpiece it was.”

The Buffalo News asked several developers – Paul Ciminelli, Rocco Termini, Jake Schneider, Carl Paladino and Nick Sinatra – how the Central Terminal could be reused and under what conditions.

All of the developers believe that the complex deserves to be saved, and that it can be done. But most of them said its chances of being revived would improve if done as part of a larger project aimed at reinvigorating the entire neighborhood. The City of Buffalo would need to help with infrastructure, demolition and housing rehabilitation, they said.

Given the Central Terminal’s size, it almost certainly would need to be broken into separate projects.

Within that context, each offered ideas on how to save the Central Terminal.

Living in the tower

The tower’s top 12 floors – above the main concourse and mezzanine floors – would offer loft-style housing with expansive views of the city and Lake Erie.

Underground parking with 450 spaces makes it more enticing.

Several years ago, Uri Kaufman, a Long Island developer, considered using low-income housing credits to put housing in the terminal. The local developers talked about the prospect of market-rate and midrate housing.

Paul Ciminelli, whose developments include Conventus, Bethune Lofts and New Era Cap Co. headquarters, said market-rate rental housing could work in the tower as part of a mixed-use plan that includes commercial space.

Termini also said market-rate housing could be successful, especially by appealing to artists.

“You need to make them real lofts. A lot of artists are looking for places to go, and this might be a good spot for artist lofts,” said Termini, who has developed a half-dozen downtown loft-style apartments and Hotel @ the Lafayette.

Paladino envisioned midmarket housing as part of the mix.

He called the location an asset.

“Its central location is awesome,” he said. “It’s in a transitional area, but because of the vastness of the property, it really is unaffected by the condition of the neighborhood around it.

“I think in a day where the prospective rents and occupancy costs are manageable, it has a future, and a very interesting one,” said Paladino, whose developments include the Fairmont Creamery, Ellicott Square and Graystone. “Something that isn’t your normal use. Something on the edge.”

Schneider, whose projects include the Apartments at the Hub, Historic Warehouse Lofts and Lofts at 136, also saw a housing future in the tower. But, like the others, he struggled with present-day limitations.

“There are some interesting components of the tower that would be terrific as housing, but there is no infrastructure,” he said. “You can’t put housing in an island of property that’s not up to the same level.”

Paladino disagreed.

“I think you could create a little island of success that would hopefully be a catalyst for others in the area,” he said. “But forget about rehabbing the neighborhood. That’s for dreamers. You’re making a hopeless cause if you try to go outside the property lines.”

‘Co-working’ concept

Ciminelli said nontraditional office space, where workers also live in the building, could fit there. He has seen examples of this in Seattle and Portland, Ore.

“There are new trends with younger people called ‘co-working environments,’ which have an open office plan where people basically walk in, plug in and work,” Ciminelli said. “The space has got a very eclectic finish, and it’s that way for the social aspect of it.”

Paladino said office operations and possibly light manufacturing and storage could find a home in the baggage building. Schneider also thought the baggage building had potential for office space.

The Central Terminal could become a brewery hub for a city that seems to be adding a new brewery every few months, Termini said. He suggested the mezzanine and concourse levels for this.

He had Germany in mind, although a train station in Anchorage, Alaska, and a station in Fargo, N.D., were once used as craft breweries.

“You could put a number of different breweries in there, and have that Central Terminal be a giant brewhouse, where everyone comes to drink beer,” Termini said. “You see them in Germany, where 500 people are sitting around drinking beer and having sausage. You make it an experience.”

The baggage building, he said, would be ideal as a local food incubator.

“We don’t have one in Buffalo, and it’s where small artisans could operate,” Termini said. “The guy who makes pierogies, raviolis, food truck guys looking for commissary space – you turn that into a food factory where all these artisan foodies operate out of.”

Return of rail

Returning rail to the Central Terminal, as part of a mix of uses, has long been considered.

Track used for freight remains within 10 feet of the station. Amtrak passes within several hundred feet.

“It would take very little for Amtrak to once again pull into and depart from the Central Terminal,” said Paul Lang, vice chairman of Central Terminal Restoration.

Paladino also wants to see trains return.

“It would be appropriate to take that stupid downtown station and think about putting it in there,” Paladino said. “It’s more central for the community, and it could provide greater security than you get down in that little area there.”

A new Bills stadium could be built near the Central Terminal, Ciminelli advocates. He sees a stadium as a catalyst for neighborhood renewal and for returning the train station to its roots.

“You would use Amtrak and Metro Rail in repurposing it as a train station, as part of the overall amenity package for the stadium,” Ciminelli said.

A recent study commissioned by the state that looked at potential sites for a new stadium rejected the Central Terminal site, but Ciminelli said he remains convinced it’s a good idea.

Market, museum

An open-space market, similar to Chelsea Market in New York City, could be a potential centerpiece in the concourse, Sinatra said.

The key to that working, he said, would be a critical mass of people living in the area within walking distance.

“I think that is possible in that neighborhood because it has great bones for redevelopment,” said Sinatra, who at 33 is the most successful young developer working in Buffalo. “But it would take a lot of capital and vision, and not just one developer’s vision. It would need an entire community’s vision, with a master plan to rebuild the terminal around a master tenant in the space.”

Lang said he and others in the station’s not-for-profit group have heard other ideas on how the complex could be used.

They include turning it into a museum, similar to stations in Cincinnati; Kansas City, Mo.; Omaha, Neb.; and Little Rock, Ark., or as a charter school or college.

Focus on neighborhood

Most of the developers said that improving the neighborhood is essential for the Central Terminal to become a successful project.

“The building alone can’t be an oasis in the desert,” said Ciminelli, who is vice chairman of the Richardson Center Corp., which is overseeing the Richardson Olmsted Complex’s restoration.

Ciminelli pointed to his company’s collaboration with the city on a large housing project in the Central Park Plaza area.

“We’re not just doing Central Park Plaza. We’re redeveloping the whole neighborhood,” Ciminelli said. “The city is providing infrastructure beyond the development, and it’s a very collaborative process to create a ripple effect. We couldn’t have attempted what we’re doing without the city.”

He said the same approach would be needed at the Central Terminal, with the city helping to redevelop homes, improve infrastructure and demolish some buildings.

“It’s a bit of a paradox,” Ciminelli said. “It drives the cost of the project up, but in the end it makes it more financially viable.”

Termini stressed the need for financial incentives to go with historic tax credits, which he has used for projects.

‘It’s just not ready’

Any Central Terminal project is still “too big of an uphill climb,” Sinatra concluded.

“The structure is moving when you first see it, for people who like architecture,” Sinatra said. “But the hurdles, at least at this point in time, are insurmountable. It’s one of those things that’s always going to be a nay at the end of the day.”

Schneider, who said he hoped to respond positively to the nonprofit group’s request for proposals, concluded that it just wasn’t feasible because of the location and cost.

“It’s just not ready,” he said.

Schneider said the task would be better suited for government to tackle.

“I think the State of New York and the City of Buffalo have to look at that as a strategy to bringing that neighborhood back. It’s a catalyst piece,” Schneider said.

Paladino voiced more optimism about the Central Terminal, but not the neighborhood.

“I think it will have its day,” Paladino said.

Paladino, who grew up on the East Side, retains a “certain affection” for it.

“If I had the time right now, I would be bidding on it,” he said. “But right now, my plate is full. I saw the brochure, and to be honest, I hope no one else bids on it so I have some time to go back and take a look.”

Termini said time is on the Central Terminal’s side.

“Look at Larkinville 15 years ago. Do you think that was any better?” Termini asked. “Did you ever think anyone would spend so much money around the Central Park Plaza? That’s comparable to where the Central Terminal is. That shows you that in time, any area can be turned around.”

email: msommer@buffnews.com