The Rand Building is a skyscraper and the second tallest building in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. At the time it was built in 1929, it was the tallest in the city at a height of . The building was built on the site of the 1903 Olympic Theatre and it has been suggested that the Rand Building was the inspiration for the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...

History

The building is named for George F. Rand Sr. (1864-1919), former president and chairman of the board of directors of

Marine Midland Bank Marine Midland Bank was an American bank formerly headquartered in Buffalo, New York, with several hundred branches throughout the state of New York. In 1998, branches extended to Pennsylvania. It was acquired by HSBC in 1980, and changed its na ...

, who was killed in a

plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

near

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equa ...

Surrey, England Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

. The Buffalo Broadcasting Company moved its stations WGR and WKBW to the building; the stations had moved out of the building by 1959. Today, the stations in the

Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

cluster ( WMSX, WBLK, WBUF, and

WYRK WYRK (106.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Buffalo, New York, and serving Western New York. It is owned by Townsquare Media and it broadcasts a country music radio format. The studios and offices are on Lafayette Square in Buffalo in ...

) broadcast from studios in the Rand Building and have their transmitting antennas located atop its beacon. Adjacent to the Rand Building is 10 Lafayette Square in Lafayette Square. George F. Rand Jr. had a private dining room on the top floor of the building that he used for business lunches. When the building opened, it featured an elaborate lighting system that highlighted its art deco stepped back style. In December 2014, the building was sold by real estate developer David L. Sweet to

Paul J. Kolkmeyer Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chr ...

, a developer and former CEO of

First Niagara Bank First Niagara Bank was a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured regional banking corporation headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Its parent company, First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. was the 44th-largest bank in the United States with ...

, for $3.89 million. Kolkmeyer's firm,

Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...

-based Priam Enterprises LLC, buys, manages and develops residential apartment buildings and student housing in Buffalo and the surrounding communities. In addition to purchasing the Rand Building, Kolkmeyer purchased the Main Court Building at 438 Main St. (for $4.5 million), as well as the Main Seneca Building, designed by

Green & Wicks Green & Wicks was an architectural firm of Buffalo, New York. Practice Edward Brodhead Green was an 1878 graduate of Cornell University's College of Architecture, and designed a number of buildings which made up Cornell's Agriculture Quadrangl ...

, at 237 Main St., the Roblin Building at 241 Main St., (together for $2.56 million) and The Stanton Building, designed by

Richard A. Waite Richard Alfred Waite (May 14, 1848 – January 7, 1911) was a British-born American architect in the late 19th century. Early years Richard Waite was born in London in 1848 as one of seven children (surviving included William T, Helen and Jennie ...

, at 251 Main St. (for $646,569).

Timeline

The site of the present day Rand Building went through various iterations before the Rand Building was constructed in 1929. * 1830s - Lumber yard * 1845 - Lafayette Presbyterian Church * 1850 - Church destroyed in fire and rebuilt * 1862 - A larger church was built to replace the previous structure * 1901-1913 - Congregation moved and the church building was sold and remodeled into a

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

house called Lafayette Theater * 1908 - Private residence on corner demolished for new building by architects Seames and Zeitler called the Park Hof restaurant * 1914 - Sold, remodeled, and reopened as the "Olympic Theater," which showed films and vaudeville * 1929 - Rand Building constructed

Gallery

Image:10 Lafayette Square and Rand Building.JPG, Image:Parade held to raise money for the cruiser Buffalo8d16698v.jpg, Image:TishmanBuildingandRandBuilding.jpg,

References

{{Buildings in Buffalo timeline Skyscraper office buildings in Buffalo, New York Office buildings completed in 1929

History

Timeline

Gallery

See also

References