10/21/2006

Sweet (Street) Vinyl

Checked out this new build on Sweet Street, Saturday morning. As you can see it sits on the edge of the urban prairie. Hear that the price tag associated with the construction of this house is 160K...first new build on Sweet Street in the last 100 years. That's the steeple from Transfiguration Church on Sycamore in the backyard.
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The first pic here is looking North on Sweet from the corner of Stanislaus Street and the bottom one is looking South towards the Central Terminal. Here's the map of the surrounding urban prairie. Mosque on the right and the Central Terminal in the middle down below.
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Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. Mcguire: Plastics.
See My Vinyl Collection for additional inspiration.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

160K on Sweet st?

hahhahahahhahha

fixBuffalo said...

wcp and Gabe,

I'm agnostic on the investment. Don't know if this is the first step of a larger plan...or a solo effort.

Anonymous said...

JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU...in BUFFALO , devastated neighborhoods trying to rebuild, there's always a few who only sit back and criticize when someone is trying to do something positive. I no longer feel sorry for the citizens of BUFFALO in this regard as they are the victims of their own IGNORANCE. PERHAPS SOMEDAY, THEY'LL BE AT THE PLATEAU OF CELEBRATING AND ENCOURAGING ENDEAVORS SUCH AS THIS. PITY THOSE WHO FEEL THEY ARE SO SELFRIGHTEOUS that they can sit behind their PC and only find FAULT with an attempt to rebuild an inner city neighborhood!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I didn't realize at first this was within that particular community.

Thought it was just another vinyl boondogle.

My bad.

I guess if they are selling for that much, there is probably no subsidy involved. Meaning if these houses all sell, that means there is real demand.

Not a bad thing at all.

fixBuffalo said...

"that community", as in local muslim community, has been rather insular in their outlook - I've heard - in terms of sharing future plans.

It's a door that I haven't knocked on yet...stay tuned.

Anonymous said...

way to generalize Joe D

Gabe shame on you

David If this is pure private investment then it is certainly a step forward

Derek J. Punaro said...

I know you're on this anti-vinyl crusade, but frankly it seems misguided to me. Vinyl requires a lot less maintenance, assuming it's a quality product and installed correctly. That way, in 10 years these homes will still look decent if the owner doesn't have the $5000-$10000 it costs to repaint a house of this size, and that money can be spent elsewhere.

And if these new developments fail, at least you won't have scavengers pulling the stuff off the abandoned houses to sell for scrap.

Anonymous said...

I don't think anyone is against new investment. I think what upsets some people is that older probably very well built houses with character are being allowed to deteriorate (think 109 Purdy) when they could be rehabbed. Personally, I think a neighborhood with a mix of old and new houses can be very interesting and attractive (if done right)

fixBuffalo said...

Derek...

the literature, direct personal experience and that of others suggests otherwise.

compare the two.

1. buy new at 90-120K
2. buy old at 5-10K + 30-40K rehab

lots left over for paint, tuition or whatever..."opportunity cost" is, admittedly, a difficult concept to grasp...

Maybe the price of painting a house is higher in the 'burbs...5-10K in the elmwood village for a pro-job. so not the case in the neighborhoods.

Vinyl provides the appearance of "maintenance free" and not having to care of your house.

Derek J. Punaro said...

I'm not talking about buying new vs. refurbing old, I'm simply talking about the merits of vinyl vs. wood. No (or little) maintenance vs. regular maintenance. The cost of residing with vinyl is about the cost of two professional paint jobs. If you're planning on staying in the house for a long time, vinyl pays for itself pretty quickly.

To me, vinyl provides the ability to BE maintenance-free so you CAN care for other areas of your house.

Anonymous said...

But it is ugly and it really is not maintenance free. It often develops leaks which are hidden behind the maintenance fee facade. Water works it destructive power unseen and undetectable until the problem is very bad.

Anonymous said...

I hesitate to respond to this post but I feel I have to
Yes this house is being built without any subsidies,
The 16 block area around the mosque is getting alot of money pumped into it courtesy of Louise Slaughter and some from the City of Buffalo
I am happy to see investment in the Fillmore district..Loepere,Sobieski,Rother, Woltz,Stanislaus, Sweet has many vacant properties and vacant lots so of course its a prime spot for redevelopment.I have heard from several neighbors they feel its unfair that a large pot of money is being spent in this area when many feel they have stuck it out all these years and deserve the same treatment but I have been told there is grant money available to owner occupants in the Fillmore district for rehabs and repairs But...if you owe the city of Buffalo anything on back taxes,water bills,user fees etc... you can not get anything

Derek J. Punaro said...

Steel - beauty is subjective. Not all vinyl looks the same. Hidden maintenance problems can exist in ANY house, regardless of what it's cladded with. Generally the roof is a much bigger problem than the siding.

I'm not saying that we should reside the world in vinyl. For architecturally significant structures, the historic correctness should be preserved. But when it comes to the average individual's home, NOT creating a maintenance sinkhole rates pretty high on the list.

P.S. David - this template doesn't give you the ability to subscribe to a comment feed for a particular post. I think you had that before. It would be helpful to add that back in!

fixBuffalo said...

Derek,

Wish I knew how to tweek the template to allow for this...

Meanwhile, you may want to check out this service - Commentful - for a web 2.0 service that might meet your needs.