Published: June 26, 2009 11:39 pm      

NIAGARA FALLS: City may buy spa of ill repute

The city of Niagara Falls is looking to purchase and demolish a Third Street property that gained notoriety during an investigation by federal authorities into an illegal prostitution ring.

City Council members will be asked Monday to consider a request from Mayor Paul Dyster’s administration to allow the city to buy the former Lotus Acupuncture Spa at 446 Third St.

Federal authorities seized the property following an investigation by the FBI’s Human Trafficking Task Force, which discovered the owners were using the building as a front for a prostitution operation involving several other massage parlors in Niagara County.

The city wants to buy the building to help address a long-standing concern in the Third Street business district — the need for greater pedestrian access to available public parking on Second Street.

“We’re responding to the issues of access to parking, particularly at mid-block,” City Planner Tom DeSantis said.

The city previously purchased a neighboring building at 448 Third St. with the intention of tearing it down to clear the way for the construction of a lighted walkway that would begin on Third Street and connect to the alley behind it. Dyster said the city is working with the state-run USA Niagara Development Corp. to obtain an easement from a private land owner that would allow for the pedestrian connection to be completed all the way to Second Street. The administration is looking to incorporate the spa building property into the project by turning it into a small parking lot that could double as a staging area during community events and festivals.

Dyster said an unfortunate consequence of the state-supported Third Street redevelopment effort was a change in the streetscape that reduced the number of available parking spaces on the street itself. Development plans for the commercial strip called for additional changes that would create additional connections from the business area to available parking spaces on Second Street. Dyster said the need for a lighted walkway takes on greater importance now that the new Snow Park has opened nearby.

“What we are trying to do is act on elements of the original Third Street plan, and we are being encouraged to do that by local businesses,” Dyster said.

The spa building is assessed at $102,200. The city is looking to purchase it for $54,900. Demolition would cost another $25,000. The total price for purchase and demolition would be covered with a portion of the city’s 2007 casino funds.

Dyster said the city’s Community Development office is working with representatives from the company Buffalo Reuse, a company that specializes in dismantling buildings and recycling the materials for other uses. If the city can complete the sale of the building, Dyster said it is hoped the company’s first Falls-based project will be the Lotus Spa.

“We don’t think it has a lot of development potential as a commercial building,” Dyster said. “It also carries a bit of a stigma now.”

Dyster has asked the council to put the acquisition on a fast track in attempt to keep the property out of the hands of speculators. Dyster has asked the council to skip the usual review by the city’s Planning Board to allow the transaction to move forward in a timely fashion. To do so would require a unanimous vote from the city council which, according to the city charter, can dispense with formal Planning Board procedures in instances where acquiring a parcel of land has been deemed to be in the public interest.

Contact reporter Mark Scheer at 282-2311, ext. 2250