North Tonawanda: Rehab of Oliver Street Apartment Complex

Published: February 19, 2009

An Oliver Street property long considered by police a cesspool for less-than-reputable residents recently underwent a complete overhaul.

Situated near Wilson Farms in a part of North Tonawanda that once was home to the center of local nightlife, fights often spilling from the building into the street prompted Police Chief Randy Szukala to meet with the building's owner and Mayor Larry Soos early last year.

"We had numerous calls there every week, whether it be noise, loitering, warrant arrests — it seemed like a lot of the residents had outstanding warrants," Szukala said.

Now, with renovations to the 480 Oliver St. address complete, Building Inspector Cosimo Capozzi said the work deserves an "A plus," and a certificate of occupancy could be granted as early as today.

The building is owned by attorney Corey J. Hogan through his company Homestead Repair & Renovations, which has about 60 rental units throughout Western New York. Hogan is also the owner of Amherst-based law firm HoganWillig. Szukala said he knows Hogan cleared out all the tenants prior to beginning work, with at least one having been evicted around the time the meeting took place. Since then, there haven't been any issues, he said.

"... Hogan completely renovated the building into four three-bedroom, one-bath units in an effort to attract higher quality tenants in this neighborhood," said Jessica Hulbert, who works for Hogan both at the law firm and for his real estate business.

"That's what the hope is," Szukala said.

The building used to be a six-unit apartment building in which Hulbert said, "unfortunately the one-bedroom and studio apartments attracted a less-than-desireable group of tenants that caused several issues." Szukala recalled near constant fighting more than a year ago, and disturbances on the street he said were often fueled by friends of certain tenants. Then a store on the corner became a problem for police trying to discourage large groups from gathering.

"It was to the point where everyone driving by would have to witness all this. We had some fights with 10 to 15 people going at it," he said. Hulbert noted that the city's development agency, Lumber City Development Corp., contributed to a portion of the renovation costs. She said on behalf of Hogan that he hopes to provide "decent and affordable housing in a suitable living environment ... it is our hope that we have helped stimulate change and revitalization in other properties ..."

Everything from the electrical and plumbing to a brand new exterior, was renovated and brought up-to-date. Other work included high-efficiency windows and furnaces, central air conditioning, new laminate flooring, carpet and ceramic tile, as well as new kitchens with garbage disposals, basement storage and washer/dryer hook-ups.

Capozzi, who personally inspected the work, said only some minor alterations to the fire doors and handrails still need to be done.

"Personally, I think it's a shining star for Oliver Street," he said. "I wish more buildings would be renovated — the problem on Oliver Street is we have a lot of rundown buildings that have to be re-done and this should be an example of what can be done with a little effort," he said.

"I am one of the happiest guys when I see something like this happen in our city."