"A vacant Parkside Avenue church that has stood as a North Buffalo landmark for decades may find new life as a residential-based development.

Creative Structures Services Inc., a Buffalo-based construction company, has agreed to purchase North Park Presbyterian Church at 700 Parkside Ave. It intends to renovate the building into 12 market-rate apartments, as well as office space. Creative Structures plans to move its own offices into a portion of the church. The development project carries an estimated price tag of $1.5 million.

David Pawlik, Creative Structures co-founder, confirmed he will be seeking an inducement package from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency for the project, which is eligible under the agency’s adaptive-re-use policy.

The IDA has scheduled a May 4 public hearing on the project. Its board of directors is expected to vote on the project at a meeting on May 10. Creative Structures has the building under contract, with a closing set for later in May.

Pawlik, who grew up on Parkside Avenue a few blocks away from the church, said he was intrigued by the building, given its location and architectural elements. “There was something about it,” Pawlik said. He was a City of Buffalo development official under former Mayor Anthony Masiello.

The church’s main sanctuary was constructed in 1927 and an adjoining Sunday school building was built in the early 1950s.

North Park Presbyterian once had a deep congregation, but recent years saw it dwindle to just 40 members. The church closed its doors about five years ago and was marketing the property. Pawlik said that when another nearby church on Tacoma Avenue was renovated into the Tacoma Lofts, he decided to give North Park Presbyterian a good look. “There was something intriguing about it, especially looking at how well the Tacoma Lofts were received,” he said.

The Parkside area where the church is located is considered one of the most stable in Buffalo and in North Buffalo, in particular. The property is one block north of Hertel Avenue and less than 10 minutes from downtown Buffalo.

Tentative development plans call for six loft-style apartments to be developed in the main sanctuary and the other six apartments going into the Sunday school building. The plan was put together by local architect James Rumsey. Pawlik’s company will serve as its own construction manager.

The apartments will range in size from 1,000 to 1,300 square feet. All will be two-bedroom units. The office space, roughly 6,000 square feet, also will go into portions of the sanctuary. Creative Structures Services will use about 2,100 square feet of the office space. “There’s already a street buzz and it has been very positive,” Pawlik said. He plans to meet with Northwest Savings Bank regarding financing for the project, he said. Work could begin as early as June, with the first units ready for occupancy by early winter." M. Scott Allen of GAR Associates, Inc. completed an appraisal and market study on this project in 2010.

Buffalo Business First
April 2010