Developers plan Lafayette Lofts apartments on West Side
Jonathan D. Epstein Feb 14, 2025
A former West Side church property at the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Hoyt Street is poised to become a four-story apartment building.
Attorney Mark Longo, housing developer David Capretto and mortgage-loan officer Tim Welch are teaming up in a proposal to construct a 32,731-square-foot rectangular building, featuring 28 apartments. Dubbed Lafayette Lofts, it would include 21 one-bedroom and seven two-bedroom apartments, along with 31 parking spaces in a lot on Hoyt and six bicycle parking spaces.
The first floor of 7,944 square feet would have six one-bedroom and one two-bedroom units, while the other three floors of over 8,200 square feet each would have five one-bedroom and two two-bedroom units on each, according to plans by Carmina Wood Design. The building would feature a facade of brick, fiber-cement lap siding and panels, and concrete, with varying colors.
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Lafayette Lofts
A rendering of the proposed Lafayette Lofts at 303 Lafayette Ave., which would feature 28 apartments.
Zoning Board of Appeals
The project by the partners’ 303 Lafayette LLC would be located on 0.6 acres of “neighborhood residential” land at 303 Lafayette, along with 144, 148 and 150 Hoyt, at the southwestern corner of the intersection. The site was formerly occupied by a deteriorating early 20th-century chapel that was originally built as Grace Universalist Church in 1907-1908, but was later occupied by the predecessor to Studio Arena Theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.
Additions were put on in the 1920s, 1950s and 1960s, when the church’s apse was replaced with a larger brick stage house, and it had consisted of two attached structures – a wood-framed building with dilapidated dark brown clapboard siding and a white-brick base, attached to a tan cement-block structure.
But it had been vacant for a long time, and its prior owner, the Charismatic Center tore it down in 2022 to make way for future redevelopment, after receiving city permission because of its condition. The limited-liability company developer bought three of the properties in November 2022 for $60,000.
303 Lafayette-historic
A historic view of the former church at 303 Lafayette Ave.
Buffalo Preservation Board
The house at 144 Hoyt is still owned by Erin Jacobs, who has agreed to sell it and consented to the project. All parcels would be combined, and the house would be demolished.
Longo is president and CEO of Block Longo LaMarca & Brzezinski, while Welch – Longo’s son-in-law – is a mortgage loan officer at KeyBank. Capretto is CEO of Forbes-Capretto Homes.
The developers are seeking nine variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals, including for density because of the number of units and for height, because the four-story, 48-foot height exceeds the Green Code cap in that area of three stories and 40 feet. Other variances are for setbacks, fence height, parking and size of a sign. The project also requires site plan approval, combination of lots, and other permits.
The ZBA will review the project on Wednesday.
Also pending is a request for seven variances for a proposal by property owner Nick Pittas of West Seneca to put up a self-storage facility at 259 Mineral Springs Road in South Buffalo. The 1.7-acre trapezoidal property extends southeast from Mineral Springs, and is surrounded by active railroad tracks on one side and vacant land with electric power lines on the other two.
259 Mineral Springs
A satellite view showing 259 Mineral Springs Road in South Buffalo, where the property owner wants to put up six self-storage buildings.
Google
Plans by Carmina Wood Design call for six rectangular buildings, with a total of 112 storage units accessed individually from the outside, along with vehicle access, parking, stormwater management, lighting and landscaping. The land is zoned as flex commercial, which allows self-storage buildings with interior units but not exterior. Pittas is seeking variances to permit the storage use, as well as for a buffer yard, fencing, ground-story height and transparency.
Developers plan Lafayette Lofts apartments on West Side
A former West Side church property at the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Hoyt Street is poised to become a four-story apartment building.
Attorney Mark Longo, housing developer David Capretto and mortgage-loan officer Tim Welch are teaming up in a proposal to construct a 32,731-square-foot rectangular building, featuring 28 apartments. Dubbed Lafayette Lofts, it would include 21 one-bedroom and seven two-bedroom apartments, along with 31 parking spaces in a lot on Hoyt and six bicycle parking spaces.
The first floor of 7,944 square feet would have six one-bedroom and one two-bedroom units, while the other three floors of over 8,200 square feet each would have five one-bedroom and two two-bedroom units on each, according to plans by Carmina Wood Design. The building would feature a facade of brick, fiber-cement lap siding and panels, and concrete, with varying colors. People are also reading…
Lafayette Lofts
A rendering of the proposed Lafayette Lofts at 303 Lafayette Ave., which would feature 28 apartments. Zoning Board of Appeals
The project by the partners’ 303 Lafayette LLC would be located on 0.6 acres of “neighborhood residential” land at 303 Lafayette, along with 144, 148 and 150 Hoyt, at the southwestern corner of the intersection. The site was formerly occupied by a deteriorating early 20th-century chapel that was originally built as Grace Universalist Church in 1907-1908, but was later occupied by the predecessor to Studio Arena Theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.
Additions were put on in the 1920s, 1950s and 1960s, when the church’s apse was replaced with a larger brick stage house, and it had consisted of two attached structures – a wood-framed building with dilapidated dark brown clapboard siding and a white-brick base, attached to a tan cement-block structure.
But it had been vacant for a long time, and its prior owner, the Charismatic Center tore it down in 2022 to make way for future redevelopment, after receiving city permission because of its condition. The limited-liability company developer bought three of the properties in November 2022 for $60,000. 303 Lafayette-historic
A historic view of the former church at 303 Lafayette Ave. Buffalo Preservation Board
The house at 144 Hoyt is still owned by Erin Jacobs, who has agreed to sell it and consented to the project. All parcels would be combined, and the house would be demolished.
Longo is president and CEO of Block Longo LaMarca & Brzezinski, while Welch – Longo’s son-in-law – is a mortgage loan officer at KeyBank. Capretto is CEO of Forbes-Capretto Homes.
The developers are seeking nine variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals, including for density because of the number of units and for height, because the four-story, 48-foot height exceeds the Green Code cap in that area of three stories and 40 feet. Other variances are for setbacks, fence height, parking and size of a sign. The project also requires site plan approval, combination of lots, and other permits.
The ZBA will review the project on Wednesday.
Also pending is a request for seven variances for a proposal by property owner Nick Pittas of West Seneca to put up a self-storage facility at 259 Mineral Springs Road in South Buffalo. The 1.7-acre trapezoidal property extends southeast from Mineral Springs, and is surrounded by active railroad tracks on one side and vacant land with electric power lines on the other two. 259 Mineral Springs
A satellite view showing 259 Mineral Springs Road in South Buffalo, where the property owner wants to put up six self-storage buildings. Google
Plans by Carmina Wood Design call for six rectangular buildings, with a total of 112 storage units accessed individually from the outside, along with vehicle access, parking, stormwater management, lighting and landscaping. The land is zoned as flex commercial, which allows self-storage buildings with interior units but not exterior. Pittas is seeking variances to permit the storage use, as well as for a buffer yard, fencing, ground-story height and transparency.