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Almost 350 people showed up to pick the bones of Niagara Falls' economic carcass at last week's in rem auction.
But those bidders weren't the only ones in town looking for real estate deals.
Following last week's approval of a casino compact with New York State by the Tribal Council of the Seneca Nation, interest in selected downtown properties didn't boil over, but the mercury unquestionably rose.
Inquiries, which had become all but non-existent as casino negotiations ground to a seeming halt over the winter, again started trickling in from both local investors and out-of-town speculators.
Unlike auction-goers snapping up vacant lots for $100 or empty buildings for a few thousand, these investors boast checking accounts involving significantly more zeros.
Jim Copia, who owns a string of properties along Rainbow Boulevard, said several inquiries came in over the past week. If the May 14 casino referendum is approved by Seneca Nation voters, that land's value could jump into the eight-figure range.
"In the western sky, five planets are visible and there's a kind of alignment taking place," said Copia, who has spent the last 30 years investing, working and waiting. "They seem to be lining up in spite of the politics."
When the initial casino agreement announced by Gov. George Pataki last May seemingly hit the wall constructed by State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Copia's optimism and patience nearly expired.
Then came Sept. 11, and the resulting increase in the already disproportionate flow of Albany money to Manhattan.
"I thought, 'That's it for upstate New York,'" Copia said. "But now, there seems to be a kind of wave forming."
The enormity and immediacy of the state's cash crunch forced Silver to relent, at least slightly, on the issue. Pending races for state governor and Seneca Nation president built the momentum and pushed the casino process a step farther.
Despite Mayor Irene Elia's repeated belittlement of Niagara Falls Redevelopment, Copia said that group's plans for downtown give him further hope.
"In the 52 years I've been here, I've seen a lot of developers come in here beguiled by the possibilities," he said. "Within three years, they've become frustrated, then disillusioned, then gone. Their plan is better than anything the local politicians can come up with, better than anything USA Niagara or (the state planning agency's consultant) Hunter Interests can come up with.
"If there is a plan that's adhered to, then the rest of the country is going to see that this is a place to be."
Copia felt differently until recently. With hopes for a casino and the development it could spur fading, he was ready to divest himself of his property and the city's future. Now, he's considering partnerships, as well as sales.
"If somebody's got an interesting idea, I'd be willing to stay," Copia said.
Not that he could be described as giddily optimistic. Copia stressed that any true increase in property value is at least a year away.
"Southenders have now enjoyed a total of five days of increased valuation in their properties since the power plant fell into the gorge -- five days out of a half-century!" Copia said. "The casino will pass the Seneca referendum, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and legal challenges. But it will take longer than anyone now thinks.
"Meanwhile, the actual business climate continues to deteriorate because there is no convention center. We're really going to take a hit this summer. So, while next year looks like a possible miracle, this year, in business terms, is an acceleration of the very real nightmare of being in business in Niagara Falls, New York."
In addition to Copia's holdings, potential investors targeted other properties in and around downtown. Most inquiries were made to individual property owners, rather than larger property owners.
"I haven't heard from anybody new," said Mike Hooper of Hooper Real Estate, who owns or lists numerous downtown residential and business properties. "I've had one guy that's talked to us before, but nothing new."
Larry DeLong, owner of the Portage House and vice president of the Niagara Street Business Association, said he received four inquiries for his Portage Road establishment last week, including an offer of $350,000 that he turned down.
"I made the biggest bet of my life yesterday," he said Friday.
The Portage House carries the added value of being the only licensed, um, "gentleman's club" in the city.
And, as Herroner likes to say, "family-oriented" attractions are crucial to the city's future.
City officials said they raked in $1.2 million at the aforementioned tax-foreclosure sell-off.
Yay.
That comes out to about $3,400 per property -- roughly the price of a decent 10-year-old car. Factor in the few bigger-ticket sales, like the Rainbow Boulevard apartment building that fetched $64,000, or the $63,000 spent on DeVeaux Plaza, and the lion's share of offerings garnered a fair week's wages or less.
"The city did it wrong," Hooper said. "They glutted the market. You can't put that many properties on the market at once and expect to get decent value. What they should do is sell 20 or 30 properties every six months."
The all-at-once approach limited the number of potential buyers.
The auction's rules -- successful bidders had 15 minutes to produce a cashier's check, or the property went to the second-highest offer -- drove prices down even farther.
"Once you're out of money that day, you're done," Hooper said. "By staggering it in phases, they could have increased the demand. As it was, they had too much supply."
Some people attending the auction got something for nothing.
At least temporarily.
On Wednesday, bumper stickers bearing a caricature of Elia familiar to readers of a certain local weekly newspaper, along with the slogans "Good Night, Irene" and "Who's the Leader of the Club?" appeared on vehicles parked outside City Hall.
Reassuring anyone who feared she had a sense of humor, Herroner sent city workers out with putty knives to remove the offending stickers.
"Good thing the city doesn't have anything better to do, like fixing sidewalks or filling a few potholes," chuckled one auction-goer.
In order to preempt some of the "What's going on with Local 91?" questions we invariably get each week, here's an update:
For those who missed the initial report two weeks ago in this space, two men were caught on video deftly swiping a stack of the free papers (which, believe it or don't, qualifies as a crime) along with their pizza and pop, after adroitly distracting the counter guy. Investigators described John Duh No. 1 as a high-ranking officer of Laborers Local 91. Worse yet, the man's two children witnessed the heinous crime.
Police have narrowed the possible field for the second genius and said they expect to make a positive identification shortly.
In the meantime, a copy of the tape has been turned over to the office of Niagara County District Attorney Matt Murphy to determine appropriate action.
The suspect, a member of both Local 91 and Niagara Falls Uniformed Firefighters Local 714, admitted being at the Arterial Lounge, where three men first accosted Hudson, and the Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center, where the attack took place. He also conceded that he'd encountered Hudson in both places.
The Oct. 12 assault, which took place in a convention center men's room before the Razor Ruddock-Egerton Marcus fight for the Canadian Heavyweight Championship, left Hudson with a broken and gashed nose.
When asked what happened, the suspect said he wouldn't say anything else "without my attorney."
After the attack, a Local 714 officer said that "any of our members involved in something like that would lose his job."
That investigation also continues.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | April 23 2002 |