The Swannie House, closed two years, is headed for a $300,000 rehab under new owners

By Nora Kowalczyk

BUFFALO — One of the city’s oldest taverns has new owners lined up, about $300,000 in repairs planned and a new coat of paint.

The Swannie House, at 170 Ohio St. on the corner of Michigan Avenue in the Old First Ward, has been closed for two years. It went dark after longtime owner Tim Wiles died, WBEN’s Jim Fink reported. The building dates to 1886.

Brothers Kevin Gould and Brian Gould are under contract to buy it with William Paladino, chief executive of Ellicott Development, Buffalo Rising reported. They started renovating before the sale closed. WBEN reported the bar should reopen in early 2027.

“We are saving a piece of Buffalo’s history,” Mr. Paladino told WBEN.

What the money buys

The partners plan to put about $300,000 into the building, Buffalo Business First first reported. The work includes new windows, roof repairs, heating upgrades and new floors. The original bar is being kept, and so is the faded “Old Hardie” whiskey ghost sign painted on the side wall, according to Buffalo Rising.

Inside, the building has been stripped down to the studs, including some original hardwood floors and framing from the 1880s, WBEN reported. The second-floor dining area is being redone.

The most visible change is outside. The painted brick, long a deep orange-red, is turning what Mr. Gould calls “Sabres and Bills deep blue.”

Mr. Gould said the building will still feel like “the Swannie.”

‘Blue collar Buffalo’

The Swannie sits among the grain elevators near the Buffalo River. For decades it drew factory workers, elected officials and office workers to the same bar.

“It’s iconic because the Swannie represents blue collar Buffalo,” Mr. Gould said.

“The history of the Swannie needs to be preserved, not only for today, but for future generations too,” he said.

Mr. Gould runs the Blackthorn and Potter’s Field, two South Buffalo restaurants. WBEN reported the Swannie will keep its wings, burgers and chili and add new items.

“At the end of the day, we — and I — want to do right by this,” Mr. Gould said.

Why it matters for the First Ward

Small 19th-century commercial buildings like the Swannie often sit empty after a longtime owner dies, because the repair bills can outrun what a neighborhood bar earns.

The deal puts one of the city’s best-known developers behind an 1880s corner bar. Ellicott Development usually builds and manages much larger projects across the region.

The Ohio Street corridor has changed a lot in the past decade, with new apartments, the RiverWorks complex and a rebuilt streetscape. Buffalo Rising voiced the worry some longtime patrons have. “Fingers crossed the new owners don’t scrub away all of that authenticity,” the site wrote.

The sale price hasn’t been made public, and the deal hadn’t closed as of last week’s reports. The Buffalo Chronicle has asked Ellicott Development about the purchase price, the closing timeline and whether the partners will seek historic tax credits. Their answers will be added here.

Featured image: The Swannie House before its current repainting. Photo: Andre Carrotflower via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.