fix buffalo today, archive

Allita Steward - Community Planner - Office of Strategic Planning
Room 920 City Hall
Buffalo, New York 14202
Phone: (716) 851-5050
Fax: (716) 845-0172
asteward@city-buffalo.com

Victor C. Laudisio - Customer Relations Coordinator, U.S. Postal Service
1200 William St. Room 200
Buffalo, NY 14209-2407
Phone: (716) 846-2536
Fax: (716) 846-2407
victor.c.laudisio@usps.gov

William S. Moncrief - Real Estate Specialist
Northeast Facilities Service Office
6 Griffin Road North
Windsor, CT 06006-0300
Phone: (860) 285-7181
Fax: (860) 285-1287
william.s.moncrief@usps.gov

Robert Lipman - President
The Crown Partnership, Inc.
45 John Street, Suite 1011
New York, NY 10038-3706
Phone: (212) 349-9400
Fax: (212) 843-8224
robert.lipman@crownpartnership.com

The Postal Service has specified their preferences for the new post office location to have available:

• 11K sq. Ft
• 67- 73 parking spaces (to accommodate 21 customers, 28 employees, 16-21 postal vehicles)
• A 1 story stand alone

The current location has a site area of 29,438 sq. ft. which includes:

• 6550 sq. ft. Net floor space
• 21k sq. ft. Parking and maneuvering
• 159 sq. ft. Ramp and stairs
• 205 sq. ft. Basement
• 101 sq. ft. Dock and maneuvering
• 423 sq. ft. Platform

• Introduction of Marvin Randolph
• 45 Day period started on June 28th
• Site selection is being performed, site to be determined after 45 day period by the private site selector
• City proposed sites to Crown Partnership

• Owner of Buffalo Motor Lodge will sell for $2.2 million (unofficially, according to broker from Pyramid Brokerage)
  
• Would eminent domain be used to take a property?
• Leasing back the PO from a developer – are taxes paid to the city on property?
• PO would like a 1 – Story, stand alone structure
• Community wants Proper Urban Design consistent with the Transit District Overlay
  
• 2 – story Post Office:
• Back Bay in Boston
• Potomac in DC

• Loss of PO jobs to Rochester? Losses are typical of nationwide PO consolidation PO needs 11,000 sq/ft
• Passports = $$
• Customer Parking
• Handicap Access
• Dock Security
• Dock Access – 6, 40ft vehicles a day, plus UPS
• Interior parking for PO Jeeps – 21 vehicles

• Balcom – possible traffic circle proposed by Bethel, still needs seed money
• Main & Ferry – Willoby Insurance/1.6 Acres $500,000 (unofficial, according to broker from Pyramid Brokerage) Near the new Performing Arts High School
• Jefferson Avenue
• PO not married to Main Street
• PO 1 mile, preferably ½ mile radius from current location
• Gas station just beyond Utica
• Just over an acre
• Gas station contamination
• City site-remediation reimbursed by the State
• Very time consuming process

• PO relocation ~ 18 months to opening in new location
• Major cross street location?
• Good for customer access
• Safety-wise, not a problem
• Houses behind a commercial property - Ferry & Main
• Hold-out – would city take the property through eminent domain Federal government?

• Society of St. Vincent de Paul Building and Enterprise Car Rental site Large site
• Need to relocate services provided on the site
• Packard Building
• Cash owns the homes behind the site also

• Main & Ferry – Car wash and Glass place
• Corner Building owned by Scot Fisher – owns Oxford to Main on Ferry
• Urban Corner – when included with two other possible developments
• CAO property at Dodge and Parade
• Focus on Main & Ferry
• $32 million is being spent at New Performing Arts High School

• Upcoming Meetings
• Wednesday July 20th, 2005 @ 6pm
• Tuesday July 26th, 2005 @ 6pm

Same information covered at all three meetings, opportunity for all in community to participate.

July 20th -- Meeting Notes

• Rundown of Post Office requirements
• Locate within ½ mile radius of present location
• Preference for Main Street
• Current PO is 7333 sq/ft
• New: 11,000 sq/ft
• Parking – 67 stalls: 21 for customers, 28 for employees, 17/18 for PO vehicle parking
• Preference for a 1-story “cookie cutter” structure
• Based on community feedback, open for anything
• PO Real Estate Department makes the final decision on location
• PO is soliciting input from the community as to site locations
• PO will advertise for site solicitation within 15 days

• Councilman Thompson:
• Push to locate PO on Jefferson Avenue
• Requested map with locations of facilities in the city
• Wondered if the East Side is underserved by PO locations
• Jefferson Avenue is undergoing significant improvements, and the PO relocation could help keep the ball rolling
• Possible Jefferson Avenue locations:
• Jefferson and Woodlawn
• Jefferson and Riley
• Numerous city-owned properties at both corners
• Maybe a small retail site on Jefferson?
• Does not necessarily make sense financially to the PO
• These are called ‘Contract Stations’
• Invited all in attendance to a Breakfast Meeting on August 13th at the Delevan/Grider Center

• Residents who live west of Main Street may not make the trip over to Jefferson Avenue
• Possible traffic congestion on Jefferson with new developments there
• Residents from west of Main Street who walk to the PO will probably not walk as far as Jefferson Avenue
• Problems with routing PO delivery trucks to Jefferson Avenue

• Possible PO site: Main and Harvard – currently the site of a parking lot
• Can pull customers from both the west and east sides of Main Street as well as Canisius College students
• Located closer to the Scajaquada Expressway (NY-198)
• Could bring cross-Main Street residents together in one location
• Could be impetus for strong corridor development between Delevan Avenue and Ferry Street

• New PO location should be placed away from “nefarious” activities
• Should protect pedestrians from criminal activity

• Correspondence can be sent to PO at:
• Dave Patterson – located at 1200 William Street
• Dennis Wnuk – located at 1200 William Street
• Bill Moncrief – Real Estate Specialist

• Timeframe:
• 18 Months from start to finish
• Construction
• PO will solicit local companies
• Will follow diversity standards – Allita will look into what these standards are

• USPS is becoming more retail oriented
• What is the current number of walk-in retail transactions
• New PO may include more PO Boxes, passports, more service windows
• Final decision: about 75 days from first public meeting

• PO Advertisement:
• Will solicit comments from public as to possible sites
• Will include all the parameters for which the PO requires for a site

Related Post: 14209 Re-Location Archive