Michael Giallombardo

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.

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.

Northeast corner, Franklin and Allen - Date unknown
Photo courtesy of Buffalo Stories

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.