Housing eyed for 23-acre site in North Buffalo

[steven]

A North Buffalo land owner is offering up a former railroad right-of-way as the next great place for urban residential development.
Businessman David Gordon has put a $2.5 million price tag on the 23-acre parcel of land that fronts Colvin Avenue and extends east along the former rail bed to Starin Avenue. The property is bounded by St. Lawrence Avenue on the North and Taunton Place on the South.
Alan Hastings, of Hastings Cohn Real Estate, who is handling the sale, has posted the property on LoopNet, a national real estate Web site.
"We think we've been in contact with most of the residential developers in our market, so we thought we'd try some out of town exposure," Hastings said. "We've gotten some interest. There are no offers in writing yet, but there are discussions."
The property, which is zoned R1 and R2, could accommodate more than 100 single family homes and another 23 two family residences under one of the site plans Hastings and Gordon have discussed. This is the second major residential development floated for North Buffalo in recent weeks. Natale Builders, of Clarence, has proposed constructing a mix of single-family homes, townhouses and senior apartments on a 30-acre site, located directly east of Gordon's property, along the same rail bed.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial...17/1032576.asp

[ForestBird]

One wonders about the value of the land: If it is worth anything like $2,500,000 , why did the NFTA sell it for only $100,000 three years ago? Something smells, sez me

[Linda_D]

One wonders about the value of the land: If it is worth anything like $2,500,000 , why did the NFTA sell it for only $100,000 three years ago? Something smells, sez me

Businessman David Gordon has put a $2.5 million price tag on the 23-acre parcel of land ... Alan Hastings, of Hastings Cohn Real Estate, who is handling the sale, has posted the property on LoopNet, a national real estate Web site. "We think we've been in contact with most of the residential developers in our market, so we thought we'd try some out of town exposure," Hastings said. "We've gotten some interest. There are no offers in writing yet, but there are discussions."

The owner is asking $2.5 million. Maybe he's asking more than Buffalo developers think it's worth which is why he's trying to market it nationally. $108,696 an acre seems excessive for bare residential land without existing utilities (roads/water/sewer) and a greenway easement anywhere in WNY except directly on the water. By the time the roads and utilities are in, the cost for each lot for the 100 one-family and 23 two-family homes could exceed $50,000 each including $20,000+ for the land. With the cost of building running a national average of $95 a square foot, the price of a double would run somewhere around $200,000. Who would pay that kind of money for a two family in WNY???