The former Record Theatre building at Main Street and Lafayette Avenue sold this week for $375,000 to the Monroe Building LLC. Work is anticipated to begin by Spring of next year with completion following about a year later. The building will be returned to its original namesake, The Monroe Building as part of the project. The ownership group is comprised of Common Bond Real Estate (Jason Yots), Preservation Studios (Mike Puma & Derek King), Urban Vantage (Rich Rogers & Travis Gordon), and Buffalove Development (Bernice Radle).

Plans for the redevelopment were announced earlier this year and several commercial tenants have been signed up already including Go Bike Buffalo/Reddy Bike, Fry Baby Donuts, Gutter Pop Comics with a record store component by Mark Costantino. Additional commercial tenants have expressed interest in other spaces within the building and may be announced soon. There are still some commercial leasing opportunities available within the building as well, but it is quickly filling up. Beyond the commercial tenants there will be 15 apartments spread across all four buildings that comprise the current complex.

The first thing the development team is looking to do is removing the metal cladding that obscures the original 1920 auto dealer building below and conceals two other buildings to the north. BRD Construction will be handling the rehab work and Eco_Logic will provide architectural services. The project is currently estimated to be $6 million and will be utilizing State and Federal Historic Tax Credits.