AMHERST SOLICITING FOR DEVELOPER

FOR MOTHERHOUSE

Buffalo News,   November 19, 1998  by Patrick Lakamp

      Developers across the state and beyond are being told this week that the historic St. Mary of the Angels motherhouse in Amherst can be theirs.

       All it will take is development money in hand and a good idea.

       Amherst this week is soliciting developers for ideas on what to do with the four-story building.

       Town officials say senior housing or a care facility would be the most appropriate use of the building.

       "The Town Board felt there was a need for affordable senior housing," Supervisor Susan J. Grelick said.

       However, town officials are not limiting proposals to just that use.

       The building "holds many possibilities for use, both public and private," according to a document sent to developers. "Creativity on the part of the respondents is welcome."

       Flynn Battaglia Architects, the firm hired by the town to solicit interest from private developers, will mail a 50-page request for expressions of interest to 50 developers, asking those interested in developing the motherhouse to submit proposals by Jan. 15, said architect Ronald Battaglia.

       Developers could start receiving the packets this week.

       The firm also plans to place advertisements in national journals to attract attention from companies in the senior housing and care business, Battaglia said.

       The developers who suggest the best ideas will be asked to submit more detailed plans by May. The town would like the redevelopment to begin by September.

       The nearly yearlong effort to preserve the motherhouse and the 90 acres of open space that surround it is entering what town officials hope will be a final phase.

       Earlier this year, the state and town governments agreed to pay $5 million for the land and plan to develop a park in the heart of this densely populated suburb.