BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The owner of the historic Cobblestone buildings, Darryl Carr, is suing the City of Buffalo and asking a judge to force the city to demolish the buildings.
In June, the buildings on South Park Avenue sustained more than $1 million in damages after a fire.
Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo said the fire began on the first floor. You can watch our report from the day the fire took place below.
The Buffalo Fire Department deemed it "suspicious" and called in the ATF to assist in the investigation.
“In the case of the Cobblestone, they didn't have the utilities — no gas, no electric going through the building. These buildings don't generally start themselves on fire, so it is suspicious in nature,” said Buffalo Fire Department Commissioner William Renaldo.
Carr told reporters a day after the fire that he's had big plans for the property.
"I basically purchased these buildings demo-ready and hired these architects — world-class architects — to reconstruct the buildings that are in a new state and develop something that would be able to pay for all the reconstruction," Carr said. "So I wanted to take the buildings down I wanted to dig a hole clean up the entire property and start from scratch."
After the fire, the city announced plans for emergency stabilization rather than demolition. But the lawsuit requests it stops the city from beginning "illegal and unjustifiable stabilization" and order an expedited hearing on the issue of the emergency demolition.
Fillmore District Council member Mitch Nowakowski said he is not shocked by this lawsuit.
"He has now spent 14 years wasting and disrespectful to taxpayers and residents in the city of Buffalo and for 14 years while he wants to waste taxpayer dollars and be in courts could you imagine if he took that time and energy and actually put it into adaptively reusing his building?" Nowakowski said. "My thought is that when will the sheer stupidity stop?"
Nowakowski said the buildings have been in and out of housing court for 15 years. Last month, a judge ruled in favor of the city in an eminent domain fight.
"The city is moving swifter and swifter in taking control," he added.
Nowakowski said the city is now waiting for Carmina Wood Morris, a design firm, to present an emergency stabilization plan as this legal battle plays out.
"Making sure that we hold landlords accountable and that we make sure that we provide resources so that the structure stays intact is super critical to our built environment and our identity as the city of Buffalo," Nowakowski said.
7 News reached out to Carr and his attorney and has not heard back from them. A City of Buffalo spokesperson said the city does not comment on pending litigation.
