L.L. Berger Dept. Store / The Belesario

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Photo credit: David Torke, fixBuffalo, and RCS Architecture

Location

500 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14202
Google Bird's Eye View
Ellicott Council District
SBL: 111.46-10-2.11
Erie County Property Info
County Tax Map (loads GIS page)
City of Buffalo Parcel Viewer

Adjacent to: 496 Main Street
Across from: 529 Main Street, 535 Main Street and 537 Main Street, and

the Genesee Hotel Building, where its addition blocks Genesee Street

Owner

Carl Paladino, Ellicott Development
1239 GROUP LLC per City of Buffalo Property Information
Search NYS Corporation Database for 1239 GROUP

Carl and William Paladino's company, Ellicott Development, or corporations it controls: (Ellicott Group LLC, Pearl Group LLC, Huron Group Inc, Tupper Group Inc, Deltup LLC, Del-Al LLC, 84 Group, 1238 Group, 1239 Group, 4858 Group, 5277 Group, 9274 Group, etc.), owns these buildings or parcels of preservation concern (not a complete list):

You can also view this list at Ellicott's category page.

Physical Description

Four adjacent brick commercial buildings in a three to eight story, 106,000 sq.ft. complex

Current Condition

Renovated into apartments

History

  • 1902 - Louis L. Berger partnered with brother-in-law Isaac Given to start his women’s clothing shops in Ohio
  • 1905 - L.L. Berger department store opens at 500 Main Street
  • 1929 - The company expands into its flagship store at 514 Main Street
  • 1953 - The first suburban branch opened in 1953. The company continued opening locations in WNY until 1989.
  • 1967 - Louis Berger dies
  • 1991 - The company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Recent Events and Actions Taken

  • 1998 - Landmark Development of Cleveland selected as the designated developer
  • 1999 - Landmark replaced with Carl Paladino as designated developer
  • 1999 - Paladino threatens demolition of the southern portion of the complex for empty green space
  • 2004 - $6 million renovation into 29 apartments plus office space. It does not involve any demolition, as originally planned, but has no first floor retail either.

Other Pertinent Facts

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Added 2013-09-16 • Last changed 2016-10-26