NFR spokesperson says 'no viable interest' in Turtle

Oct. 4—A spokesman for the owners of the former Native American Center for the Living Arts, more commonly known as "The Turtle" building, says the company has been actively marketing the parcel since it was acquired more than two decades ago and "there has been no viable interest in developing the site."

James Haggerty, a spokesperson who represents Turtle owner, Niagara Falls Redevelopment, described the condition of the 67,000-square-foot building on Rainbow Boulevard as "substantially the same" as when NFR acquired it in 1997.

Haggerty added that the structure has the "usual issues and required upgrades you'd expect in a building its age."

"Potential for future renovation would depend entirely on the proposed use," Haggerty said.

Haggerty's comments came came in response to questions posed by last week's meeting of the Niagara Falls Planning Board where some members expressed little interest in an ongoing effort to designate the Turtle building as a local landmark.

The city's Historic Preservation Commission has been working since the summer with Preservation Buffalo Niagara, a local organization that assists communities like the Falls in protecting culturally and historically significant structures, on an application to designate the building, located at 25 Rainbow Blvd., as a city landmark.

As part of that process, the commission must seek comments on its application from a number of city departments and boards.

A bare majority of planning board members offered only tepid support for the landmark proposal last week.

Constructed in 1981 with nearly all of the funding coming in the form of a $4.9 million federal grant, the Turtle building operated as a Native American arts and cultural center until it was closed amid financial issues in 1996. The city acquired it through tax foreclosure. NFR, a company currently owned by New York City real estate developers Howard and Edward Milstein, acquired the building from the city in the late 1990s.

Since then, NFR has floated two public proposals for the property, including a 2017 plan presented to the city that involved tearing down the Turtle to make way for a 20-story hotel.

That project did not materialize.

Haggerty noted that the hotel, as proposed, violated height restrictions imposed on buildings in the area downtown where the Turtle building is located. He added noted that city officials at the time would not grant a request for a height variance to restore the property's original height limit.

In 2000, NFR officials publicly announced plans for an "entertainment and cultural center" on the site.

Haggerty said the company spent "considerable" expense and nearly two years attempting to get the project done, including hiring a museum consultant and touring the site with representatives of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

"In the end, NFR couldn't find any financially viable Native American group with an interest in moving forward," Haggerty said.

In 2013, the city council voted, at the recommendation of the city's law department, to execute a settlement with NFR to lower the assessed taxable value of the building from $1.5 million to $900,000. That agreement required the city to repay the company the difference in taxes for the last two years.

Haggerty noted that city officials approached NFR in the late 1990s about purchasing the property, which had been off the tax rolls prior to the company's involvement.

"Through NFR ownership, the property is on the tax rolls and has never been delinquent," Haggerty said.