31. Belesario/L.L. Berger Building
514 Main Street
 This grand building was originally the flagship of the local department store chain, L.L.Berger. Owner Louis Berger renamed himself Louis Larned Berger after being told that a double initial was more sophisticated. (Larned was the name of the street where Berger lived in Detroit prior to moving to Buffalo). During post–war expansion in 1945, Mr. Berger connected two buildings at the location for a combined 97,298 square feet of retail space. After the store closed in 1991, the property sat vacant for a number of years before being purchased from the City by a local developer, who has converting the massive structure into a mixed–use complex, combining office space and luxury apartments.
Credits
Scripts: Denise Prince and Jane Kwiatkowski
Voice: Christopher Jamele of Jamele Freelance Services
Audio production: John Davis of Eclectic Electric
This project was made possible in part with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts.
Tour content courtesy of Buffalo Tours.
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