Buffalo Central Terminal

Business First of Buffalo, August 13, 1990 v6 n43 p4(1)

New owners take title to Central Terminal. (Samuel and Betty Tuchman purchase Central Terminal building in Buffalo, New York)
James Fink.

COPYRIGHT Business First-Buffalo 1990

New owners take title to Central Terminal

Nearly one year after negotiations started, two former Buffalonians have taken control of the 61-year-old historic but vacant Central Terminal complex.

A deed transferring ownership of the former New York Central Railroad terminal from Telesco Leasing Co. Inc. of Buffalo to Samuel Tuchman and his wife, Betty, was filed Aug. 2. Purchase price was listed at $350,000.

The deed gives the Tuchmans title to the property, which is considered a crucial element in their ability to land tenants.

Tuchman of Malibu, Calif., and his nephew, Bernard, of New Orleans plan an $80 million renovation of the terminal for mixed use including offices, retail, restaurants and possibly some apartments or condominiums. Buffalo Central Terminal Ltd., the Tuchmans’ local development company, is one of three finalists wooing the Internal Revenue Service as a tenant.

The terminal was last used for rail passenger service a decade ago. In the 1980s, different developers proposed various plans for the complex but nothing materialized. Thomas Telesco, president of Telesco Leasing, was the last owner.

Because of the complex’s historic significance and because its 20-story tower stands like a beacon on the Fillmore District skyline, interest always has been high in what to do with the terminal. Besides the tower, a neighboring four-story building, once home to Railway Express Agency, is part of the complex. Though passenger trains no longer stop there, the terminal does have train access.

Because the building has had little use for the past decade, it is in poor physical shape. It was severely vandalized and its trademark bronze buffalo is heavily damaged. Walls are smashed. Former ticket booths are gutted. Windows are smashed. Ornate brass fixtures and doors with leaded glass are gone.

“Unfortunately my client didn’t have the means to properly secure the building,” said John Pieri, Telesco’s attorney.

Gregory Davis, attorney for the Tuchmans, said his clients have hired two private security firms to watch the building. The Tuchmans are trying to restore or replace vandalized portions of the terminal.

“They want to make a statement,” Davis said. “That statement is the Central Terminal is coming back.”

Davis said the Tuchmans’ plans will receive a major boost if the Internal Revenue Service moves 300 workers into 65,000 square feet of the complex. The terminal is the only city building being considered by the General Services Administration.

Davis added the Tuchmans are talking with retailers, restaurant owners and other office tenants. Bernard Tuchman had estimated it would cost $80 million to renovate the building.

“Whatever goes in there will require a substantial sum of money,” Pieri said.

City officials have confidence in the Tuchmans.

“It looks promising,” Filmore District Councilman David Franczyk said. “It all sounds great, almost too good to be true. Hopefully these are the guys with the magic touch.”

Davis said the Tuchmans haven’t decided if they will seek public financing.

“They want to do the project in planned phases,” Davis said.

Bernard Tuchman, whose in-laws owned Dick Fisher Sporting Goods, has nearly 20 years’ experience building and developing stores in Southern shopping centers. Samuel Tuchman is a California builder.

The terminal opened in 1929 and was built to handle up to 200 passenger trains per day. It was used in the filming of two movies, “Best Friends” and “The Natural.”