Michael Wopperer, vice president of Frontier Insulation who is spearheading the renovation, explains that in phase one, the windows will be replaced, but they will be replicas.
If living in an old factory seems a bit off-key, there's a project in the works in the Town of Tonawanda that could change your tune.
A portion of a century-old industrial complex just over the Buffalo border from Riverside is poised to become an apartment building. The project would bring new residents to the former Wood & Brooks Co. facility that once produced over 125,000 piano keys and mechanisms each year.
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Michael Wopperer – a vice president at Frontier Insulation Contractors, whose family owns the business and property at 2101 Kenmore Ave. – wants to convert part of the nearly 13-acre site and complex into 55 market-rate apartments, co-working offices for contractors and a vocational training facility.
The $20 million project would bring new activity to a long-vacant site, while creating a new living option in an industrial part of Tonawanda adjacent to Buffalo's Riverside residential neighborhood.
A portion of a historic century-old industrial complex at 2101 Kenmore Ave. in Tonawanda is poised to become a new apartment building.
It would revive a property with a unique history and prominent identity in that area – where it was known as the building with the metal elephants on top.
“It’s an area that’s been neglected. There really hasn’t been much going on,” Wopperer said. “We want to really turn this area around, and hopefully a $20 million investment will be the beginning of that.”
Factory once made 100,000 keys a year
Formed in 1901 by Charles Raymond Wood and M.S. Brooks, Wood & Brooks made ivory keys, keyboards and piano actions.
Wood acquired two other companies in 1905 and 1910, expanded the factory complex, and was soon making 100,000 keys annually at its peak prior to World War II. During the war, the factory briefly switched to producing, among other things, the Higgins boat landing craft that played a key role in Allied landings on D-Day.
At its height, the third-generation business employed 300 in Tonawanda and 400 in Rockford, Ill., and its customers included Steinway, Wurlitzer and Everett. By 1954, it was one of only two piano key makers in the country, and one of the largest ivory importers.
But it was sold twice in the late 1950s and began a 10-year decline before it closed in 1970. That's when the land was acquired by Frontier, which has been owned by the Wopperers for four generations.
A rendering of the Tonawanda site where the owner wants to convert the former Wood & Brooks Co. piano key manufacturing plant into apartments.
Latest plans call for 55 lofts
Located on the northeastern side of Kenmore west of Military Road, where Kenmore turns up toward the Niagara Thruway and Sheridan Drive, the sprawling site contains 10 buildings with 262,798 square feet of space. That includes the original four-story red brick building where Wood & Brooks started, as well as the connected six-story concrete factory that was constructed later.
That taller building and a connected one-story section fronting on Kenmore are the focus of the adaptive-reuse project, while the original building and another one-story section could be redeveloped in a potential second phase. Together, they comprise an oddly-shaped 2.417-acre portion of land that would be carved out from the larger complex.
Those four structures – including the original building – have been largely vacant for years, except for some first-floor offices and occasional use as warehouse storage for Frontier and Thermal Foams, which occupies a wood shop and other buildings on the other side of the property.
Over the last three years, the 33-year-old Wopperer - whose father, John, is CEO of the family empire formerly run by his 98-year-old grandfather, Ray - began eyeing the potential for redevelopment.
"I've been working here since I was 16 and starting at this building, and it's been an eyesore for quite some time," he said.
Wopperer initially started small with the idea of just creating a business incubator or co-working space in part of the space, specifically for construction trades since "that's my background." But as interest in the project grew, he learned about potential additional development incentives, such as historic and brownfield tax credits, and the city property tax break for adaptive-reuse projects that include residential use.
"You just kind of look around, and there's apartments going up left and right. So we thought it would be a good idea," he said.
The fifth floor is empty. Floors 3 through 6 will be made into 11 apartments on each floor.
The plan by Kideney Architects and Tredo Engineers calls for 55 loft-style apartments in the six-story building - a mixture of 40 one-bedroom and 15 two-bedroom units on the upper five floors, with 11 units per floor. Sizes range from 762 to 855 square feet for one-bedroom units and from 936 to 963 square feet for two-bedroom apartments.
The units would include open floor plans, high ceilings, new windows, refinished wood floors and exposed ductwork, exterior walls and ceilings. Each apartment would also feature a kitchen island or peninsula with a built-in microwave, granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances, large closets, in-unit washer and dryer, and large mechanical rooms.
Meanwhile, the first floor would include 27,753 square feet of small commercial offices and conference rooms, as flexible co-working or incubator space for construction trade contractors. The first floor also would have a training room, open workshop space and a loading dock area for the professional contractors. "We're going to supply all the necessary tools and amenities any contractor would need," Wopperer said.
For residents, there's bicycle and residential storage, a dog-washing station, and a narrow multi-purpose event space that may be themed to look like a Prohibition-era back-alley "speakeasy." A total of 113 garage and surface parking spaces are also included.
“We’re not a typical developer who’s looking to buy this and turn it into something this building isn’t made for,” Wopperer said. “We’re embracing this neighborhood. We’re building a very blue-collar space.”
In recent weeks, an organization that specializes in workforce development for the building trades approached Wopperer about leasing space in the building for its adult learning program, bringing students and contractors under one roof.
That initially prompted him to switch the second floor to commercial space, with a hands-on vocational learning center occupying part of the first floor for students to learn a skilled trade. That would include training rooms and labs to teach carpentry, electrical, plumbing, HVAC and even barbering. That would have reduced the apartment total to 44.
Instead, he's now planning to convert the adjacent one-story building for a smaller-scale vocational center, leaving the upper floors as apartments as originally planned. The remainder of the 1-story building will include a mix of storage containers and a workshop area to support the contractors in their day to day business operations.
Wopperer hopes to have a firm commitment from the potential tenant – whom he would not identify – by late March. "They're excited about this whole incubator space we're creating," Wopperer said. "It'll be a unique concept that I don't think we've seen in this area."
The building still has original maple wood flooring and beams, brick walls, coal boilers, large factory windows, sliding industrial doors on rails, and an old wooden lift elevator with metal grates that will be restored or replicated to display the history.
“This has been one gigantic puzzle piece for the architects and engineers. It’s just so unique,” Wopperer said. “It’ll be cool to see this building come back to life.”
Meanwhile, redevelopment of the original four-story building - potentially including a rooftop amenity to mimic the historic greenhouses that were there - would depend on how the first phase goes. At that point, Frontier's offices and a small insulation fabrication and distribution tenant would be relocated within the bigger complex.
"We didn't want to do it all at once. We wanted to do a portion, see how the market reacts," Wopperer said. "The project has been looking great. It's very promising."
As part of the project, the property would also be remediated through the state Brownfield Cleanup Program, while the renovation would follow the reuse standards set by the National Park Service and the State Historic Preservation Office.
Wood & Brooks Co. facility that once produced over 125,000 piano keys and mechanisms each year.
Michael Wopperer is the vice president of Frontier Insulation and is spearheading the development of the Wood & Brooks building.
The first building, right, was constructed in 1902 and the one on left in 1911. Phase one will involve the newer building as well as a one story building behind it. They produced keys and keyboards while another of their factories in Illinois produces piano actions.
In the existing boiler room are the old boilers that were used long ago.
The weighted sliding industrial doors, such as this one on the fifth floor of the taller building are throughout the complex.
This is the second building of former Wood & Brooks constructed in 1911 when the company ramped up production. They employed about 200 workers.
Displayed on the wall are the drawings of the property from 1901.
Michael Wopperer, vice president of Frontier Insulation who is spearheading the renovation, explains that in phase one, the windows will be replaced, but they will be replicas.
John Wopperer, president of Frontier Insulation, shows the large kilns used to dry the wood to make the piano keyboards and keys. Each of the three kilns are 89 feet deep by 20 feet wide. They will be transformed into work space for contractors and storage.
This is where the heat came down from the ceiling in one of the large kilns used to dry the wood to make the piano keyboards and keys.
The company used ivory that came from elephant tusks to cover the wooden keys for decades. In 1939, they imported 150,000 pounds of ivory. By 1952, 90% of the keys were made of plastic and wood. In 1954, they still imported 10,000 of ivory tusks for the very expensive pianos.
This is an area in the first floor of the six-floor building that will be renovated in the first phase for skilled trade workforce development.
This alarm valve for a sprinkler system from 1944 still works.
This is the elevator mechanism above the sixth floor.
The fifth floor is empty. Floors 3 through 6 will be made into 11 apartments on each floor.
Raymond Wopperer, 98, walks around the fifth floor. He bought the complex through his company Frontier Insulation in 1970. His family has continued in the business.
This is looking up the shaft in one of the original elevators in the six-story building.
This is one of the original elevators in the six-story building.
The second building of the former Wood & Brooks company was constructed in 1911.
This second building of the former Wood & Brooks company was designed for maximum efficiency.
A door going onto roof of the original four-story building, which will be turned into a patio in the second phase of the renovation.
Looking out from the sixth-floor roof, Michael Wopperer shares his vision of the complex fitting in with the working class and industrial neighborhoods surrounding the complex.
A view of the surrounding neighborhood from the sixth-floor roof showing the roundabout at Kenmore Avenue and Amherst Street.
A view of the Riverside neighborhood from the sixth-floor roof. The renovation will fit in with the industrial and working-class neighborhood.
A door latch on the sixth floor.
This is a weight on one of the vintage sliding industrial doors.
A tenant is renting a space on the first floor of the original building. This portion of the building will be renovated in the second phase.
This is the lobby of the 1901 building, which is where some of the offices are.
This is a staircase to offices in the 1901 building.
This is the original building of Wood & Brooks company, which operated in Tonawanda from 1902-1970 making piano keys and keyboards.
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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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Michael Wopperer, vice president of Frontier Insulation who is spearheading the renovation, explains that in phase one, the windows will be replaced, but they will be replicas.
A portion of a historic century-old industrial complex at 2101 Kenmore Ave. in Tonawanda is poised to become a new apartment building.
A rendering of the Tonawanda site where the owner wants to convert the former Wood & Brooks Co. piano key manufacturing plant into apartments.
The fifth floor is empty. Floors 3 through 6 will be made into 11 apartments on each floor.
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