Jemal seeks new signs for Richardson Hotel as entryway flap continues

The #BNDrone takes you on an aerial tour of the Richardson-Olmsted Campus and its iconic towers. Hotel Henry recently announced it is closing, a victim of the pandemic economy. But a plan to develop still-vacant portions of the campus into apartments and commercial space continues, and there…

The last time Douglas Jemal sought approval from the Buffalo Preservation Board for a change to the front of his hotel at the Richardson-Olmsted Campus, it was for retroactive clearance for a newly constructed porte-cochere entrance that turned out to be controversial.

Work had already begun on erecting the frame of the covered entryway to the planned Richardson Hotel, due to a communications gaffe and error by the city. But panel members were unhappy with the scale, size and design of the proposed addition.

Developer Douglas Jemal and the Buffalo Preservation Board are in disagreement over the porte cochere he installed at the entrance to the hotel.

So they denied the application and ordered a halt to the work, which remains in limbo with six steel columns and a roof, while Jemal's team negotiates with state and local historic preservation officials to continue construction on what he has said would be a defining entry.

Developer Douglas Jemal and the Buffalo Preservation Board are working to resolve construction issues at the former Hotel Henry.

This time, with Jemal preparing to reopen the former Hotel Henry in January as the Richardson, and wanting new signs on the building, he asked first.

A rendering of the proposed new signage for the Richardson Hotel.

According to the application to the Preservation Board, Douglas Development Corp. wants to put an internally lit "halo" aluminum entrance sign on a concrete base with "acrylic push-through letters" at the Rockwell entrance, plus a double-sided internally lit aluminum cabinet sign, to welcome guests to the hotel and parking. Eleven smaller aluminum directional signs would be put up on posts in concrete bases, plus the name in light blue letters above the entry.

The $30,000 job was approved by the panel, with modifications and one additional directional sign. The entry sign – which is temporary – was approved for three months, pending resolution of the porte-cochere issue, since the developer wants the name out in front on that structure.

But panel members said they still want to see the porte cochere eliminated. Douglas Development is working with the State Historic Preservation Office and National Park Service to obtain historic tax credits for the redevelopment of the entire Richardson campus, and is also seeking approval from them for the porte cochere and interior work that was already completed, according to Preservation Board Chair Gwen Howard.

Wayfinding signage for the Richardson Hotel.

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News Business Reporter

I've been a business reporter at The Buffalo News since 2004, now covering residential and commercial real estate and development amid WNY's resurgence. I'm an upstate native, proud to call Buffalo my home, and committed to covering it thoroughly.

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