The vacant 50 High Street Building, a 15-story empty tower in the heart of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, may soon have its long-awaited date with the wrecking ball.

The Buffalo Planning Board has unanimously accepted a plan to name Empire State Development Corp. as lead agency in the planned demolition of the building. Razing the structure would create shovel-ready land in the fast-emerging medical campus complex.

The demolition is expected to cost $2 million with Empire State Development kicking in half that amount from a $20 million allocation it made to the medical campus. Kaleida Health, the building's owner, would pay the other $1 million.
"It's an old eyesore," said Michael Hughes, Kaleida spokesman. "It frees up some space at the north end of the campus and gives us options for future development."

Weather permitting, the demolition could begin within a few weeks, Hughes said.

Mark McGovern, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus project manager, said in the short term the property will be used for parking until another development options is identified.

The property sits one block in from Main Street and across the street from Buffalo General Hospital. The building, which once housed a myriad of doctor's offices, has been vacant since the late 1980s. A number of development options were explored but none went beyond the initial planning stages.

"There still isn't a concrete plan for the site," McGovern said. "But, it is an attractive, shovel-ready site."