Manhattan / Dickinson / LKW Building

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Photo credit: Joe Sparacio via Bflo History Museum, Mike Puma ViewsOfBuffalo,
David Torke fixBuffalo, Buffalo Rising

Location

618 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14202
Also known as 616 or 620 Main Street
Google Bird's Eye View
Ellicott Council District
SBL: 111.38-3-8
Erie County Property Info
County Tax Map (loads GIS page)
City of Buffalo Parcel Viewer

Adjacent to: Paramount Theater and 622 Main Street
Across from: Market Arcade Building

Owner

The Martin Group (TMG) via Buffalo Rising, November 2015
618-620 MAIN LLC per propertyviewer

Physical Description

Manhattan Hotel building was demolished.
Current building is a three story 18,000 sq.ft. office building

Current Condition

In good condition and in use

History

  • Once the site of the Ebenezer Day house
  • By 1889 - Manhattan Hotel
    • Globe Cycle had a first floor storefront
  • September 17, 1919 - Dickinson Jewelry - Thomas Dickinson filed plans for a new building at an estimated cost of $88,000.
    • Architects were Esenwein & Johnson
  • 1948 - Weil Levy King advertising agency is formed elsewhere
  • 1949 - Dickinson Jewelry moves to Delaware Avenue. They closed in 1965.
  • 1949 - Purchased by Martin Jacobi for a men's clothing store. Jacobi's store began at 599 Main in 1930 and operated until 1982.
  • 1982 - Sold to Buffalo Savings Bank and later to Levy, King and White, a merger of Weil Levy King with Mainspring Advertising
  • 1984 - LKW restored the facade and renovated the interior.
  • 1986 - Empire of America bank purchases LKW
  • 1989 - The agency was forced to buy itself back; the bank would be seized by federal regulators and sold a year later.
    • Major employee and large account defections caused a sudden loss of 2/3rds of the business.
  • 1990 - "The once-mighty LKW, which at its largest point numbered 120 employees, was down to 23 when it was purchased by Syracuse's Eric Mower and Associates in May 1990. The entity operated as LKW/Eric Mower and Associates for a little over a year, after which the reference to Levy King & White was dropped." Buffalo Business First
  • 1991 - The Buffalo Enterprise Development Corporation foreclosed on the building, later moving its offices to the building.
  • 1990s - The building became home to Reciprocal Inc., an e-commerce company that moved out in early 2001.
History via Buffalo Business First and BuffaloAH.com

Recent Events and Actions Taken

  • February 2003 - Purchased by 598 Main St., LLC, an investment group, for $940,000
  • November 2015 - Purchased by The Martin Group. TMG will lease out their previous headquarters at 477 Main Street.

Other Pertinent Facts

  • Located in the Theater Historic Preservation District

Links



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Added 2013-08-29 • Last changed 2017-01-04