Lafayette Hotel developer Rocco Termini, speaking out for historic tax credits:
Lafayette Hotel Washington Street Entrance
Termini blasts lawmaker for tax credit stance
Most of Rocco’s very successful redevelopments would be impossible without tax credits to support the financial side of things. Benefits include many positives aside from the saved building itself, as Rocco points out:
Termini said the report fails to appreciate the “multipliers” — economic spinoffs — that the projects cited will provide.
He said the renovation of the Lafayette Hotel is creating 150 construction jobs, including 60 African-American trainees, and will result in 100 permanent jobs by April, when the building is expected to reopen as a boutique hotel, apartment building and retail establishment.
“This urban project, in the second poorest city in America, creates the critical mass you need to start developing retail and produce tax revenue, both locally and nationally, while raising the value of all the buildings in the vicinity,” . . .
Update: Flickr photos here.
The house is prepped and ready to start panelizing
Rear half of attic level off
Roof off, part of rear second floor off
Processing, Dumping and Prepping
“Nowadays people are talking about net-zero houses . . . My feeling is there’s a lot of overkill in a net-zero house. My version of energy efficiency is to conserve my own energy. It seems to me they are designing for the three coldest days of the year. Designing a house so it will keep you warm without any heat at minus 40 might be overkill. I say, design for 345 days of the year, and the other 20 days just burn some junk mail in the woodstove. I still have my farm out west, and these days I try to build with recycled materials. That’s being energy efficient in a different way — not using as many new materials.”
– John Larsen, inventor of the Larsen Truss, as quoted in Green Building Advisor
(link to article here).
About fifty ReUse Action and Rusted Grain friends and supporters turned out Thursday evening to kick off Buffalo’s newest woodshop, and one of the few who specialize in reusing materials. Here are some photos:
Great Crowd for a Hot July Night!
Michael and Two Apprentices
ReUse Action's Green Demo Team, first and only
Santiago needs a machine repaired, Steve's good at repairing machines, voila!
Whitney, Maura and Matt
See more photos of Rusted Grain’s opening party here.
Many replied they were sorry to have missed it, thinking the celebration was this past week. Well you didn’t miss a thing!
ITS THIS THURSDAY! Come celebrate the opening of Rusted Grain and hear about all the awesome stuff ReUse Action has been a part of recently. July 21, 6:00pm – 7:30pm, 1212 Jefferson (big garage door in front).
