After three years, the company owned 25 multifamily apartment houses, with a total of about 50 units – all in South Buffalo. Last year, they decided to scale up, paying $130,000 to buy a two-story mixed-use building at 2111 Seneca – formerly Rocklyn Printing – as their new headquarters.

The firefighters have already invested another $100,000 to redo the interior, putting in a new fireplace, a new floor and a new bar area and community meeting room on the lower level for their office, while renovating four upstairs apartments. They plan $175,000 of exterior work as well, including new siding, new windows, a new roof and foundation repairs.

“We’re confident in what we do,” Otto said. “We have a lot of pride in it. We didn’t build this place to move out in a year. We built this place to be a flagship in the Seneca corridor.”

Spurred by what Schneider and Frizlen were doing, they identified a handful of other desirable buildings and went on a buying spree. Across the street from its new office, Hook & Ladder bought 2096 Seneca, the former home of

Bob’s Barber Shop, with five vacant apartments upstairs. Built in 1922, the tan-and-white building will undergo a complete renovation, with commercial space on the first floor, remodeled one-bedroom apartments on the second floor and a new facade.