Michael
Giallombardo - Table of Contents
Developing
Allentown
By Michael Giallombardo
Reprint.
First published in Per Niente Quarterly, Summer of 2023
I
was delighted to recently read an article in the Buffalo
News regarding the Charles
Sternberg
mansion, aka, “Old
Victor Hugo” building
on Delaware Avenue. It is now a Boutique Hotel called the “Mansion.”
It was sold to a
wonderful developer, Douglas
Jamal.
There
is a story as to why the building still exists. It was built in
1869 and went through the hands of many individuals throughout
the years and experienced many hardships. At one time it was
slated to be demolished because it was
deemed a hazard to the community. The
story as to why the building still exists revolves around a
little-known developer in the 70’s and his associate. When one
looks at the amazing transformation of th
Allentown
District, there was one person who greatly
contributed to this transformation. He
was my brother Salvatore.
Salvatore
Giallombardo, born in Buffalo, schooled in
Buffalo, and practiced law in Buffalo, was a real lover of
Buffalo architecture. As
a young lawyer in the early 60’s he had an office in the
Statler
Hotel. ( At that time many lawyers had established
their offices there.) He shared his office with another young
lawyer, Frank Sedita Jr. Practicing law was a
passion, but another passion was developing oil and gas wells in
the area. As the energy part of his practice grew, (Flint Oil
and Gas) he needed more office space.
He started looking around the Allentown district, close
to downtown, yet not as busy.
In the early 70’s he saw an old house ( 421 Franklin Street) located on the northeast corner of Virginia and Franklin. It was owned by an antique dealer who used it to store antiques. He purchased it and transformed it into a modern facility for offices. He moved his office there. A young lawyer, Joseph Fiorella went along with him. At
the time he purchased the house, the area was well known for
housing transients and the homeless. The old mansion across the
street from his office (420
Franklin) had many rooms which were rented nightly,
nothing permanent. The condition of the property, to say the
least was a mess. There were whiskey and beer bottles all over
the grounds. Looking at the condition of the grounds and the
building every day bothered him. He thought that the house
across the street and other properties around his property could
and should be redeveloped, it would be an expensive undertaking.
He
purchased
the large mansion at the northwest section of Virginia and
Franklin that rented rooms
for the night. The house had great wood and marvelous
fireplaces. He did not gut the place but refurbished all the
existing wood (Flooring, moldings trim etc.) and fireplaces and
had it look like the day it was built, including the outside
He now moved his law office there and kept the other
house for Flint Oil and Gas. He
purchased
the other house on the opposite corner, that was also a rooming
house, rejuvenated it to its original concept
and rented it out as offices. 417
Franklin Street - 2006 photo On
the last corner nothing had to done regarding the house standing
there (417
Franklin Street), it was owned by a prominent
antique dealer (Dana Tillou) who sold his antiques there.
The corner at Virginia and Franklin now looked presentable.
Salvatore was sure others would see the progress and start
buying and fixing the properties around him. No one did.
According to some, purchasing property in the Allentown district
was a losing proposition. There were still rooming houses and
the clientele who rented a lot of the houses in the area were
considered undesirables.
A lot of the houses in the area were up for sale. One house of interest was the Beach Photography Studio. It was located at Virginia and Delaware. It looked like a French manor, turret and all. Sal sold the first two building he developed, to law firms, purchased the Studio and located his office there. All this was taking place with the help of his young lawyer friend, Joseph Fiorella. A great town house next to the Beach Studio went up for sale. Joseph Fiorella bought it and moved there. The Area from Delaware and Virginia to Franking streets was now rejuvenated. It was now looking pretty good. A young couple bought one of the small brick houses in the area. This was encouraging. That was the only sale in the area besides Sal and Joe’s purchases.
More had to be done. Salvatore realized Franklin Street had some great houses. A lot of them were also rooming and boarding homes. Several homes on Franklin, between Virginia and Allentown Street were purchased. They were renovated to their original status. Sisti Gallery (469 Franklin) was also on Franklin near Allentown. He, (Sisti) was delighted to see the changes made. He hoped more people would visit the Gallery because of the changes. They did.
The
buildings
on the corners of Allen and Franklin streets had been empty for
many years. The corner was dead. Salvatore purchased three of
the corner buildings. One was a condemned building. He razed it
and turned it into a parking lot. He purchase the large building
on the Northeast corner and another building on the
opposite side. Rejuvenated them to their original look. The
parking lot was now used for
patrons of those buildings. Allentown Street was looking
brighter. He, Salvatore with the help of Joseph
Fiorella went to work on other projects. These included a
building on the corner of Delaware and Allentown (369
Franklin), the Cyclorama (Old Governor Library) and
several other buildings in the area. In
2009, Joey
Giambra wrote an article that stated, “The face of
Allentown mirrored that of Sal Giallombardo.” Which
brings
me to statement in the beginning of the article regarding the “Mansion”
on Delaware and why it still exists. The building had been
abandoned for many years. It was used by the homeless as did
several other buildings in the area.
It started out residential, then a hotel and last a
restaurant, Victor Hugo’s. After the restaurant shut
down, nothing was done with or to the building. It just existed.
Year after year. With the changes of the weather the building
also began to change, both inside and outside, it seemed
uninhabitable. People in the area complained about the building,
they wanted it gone. Can
it be rescued? Salvatore inquired about the building, Was it for
sale?, “Yes”. He purchased it. He also purchased the large
parking lot across the street. It
was now time to find a tenant who was looking for something
special so he could develop it into something they would like.
Some who looked at the building thought it
too far gone to do anything with it, others thought it
too large, too many rooms and would be hard to maintain. In
the meantime, Sal with the help of Joseph had to maintain the
building and work on it to keep up the expensive new building
codes, which were many. The building was holding its own. Finally,
someone
saw the potential of the building. He saw the many rooms as an
asset. It could be turned back to a hotel. Good location,
parking for guests, and could be purchased reasonably. Dennis
Murphy purchased it, developed it into first class
establishment. Douglas
Jamal purchased it after the death of
Murphy. It is in
good hands. Salvatore Giallombardo passed away May 5, 2009
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