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

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. 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-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

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, who was killed in a plane crash near Caterham in

Surrey, England Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. 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 cluster ( WTSS, WBLK, WBUF, and WYRK) 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, a developer and former CEO of First Niagara Bank, for $3.89 million. Kolkmeyer's firm, Amherst-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, 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, 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