File:Commodore Apartments, Buffalo, New York - 20210512.jpg

English: Commodore Apartments, 1240 Delaware Avenue at Auburn Avenue, Buffalo, New York, May 2021. A Renaissance Revival-style apartment building typical of its era, this flat-roofed, five-story structure boasts a modest level of detail at first blush - the ground floor is impressive enough with its rusticated exterior walls, the ancone keystones above the paired windows, and the regal swan's-neck pediment crowning the entrance - but the upper floors appear quite minimalist, with only the occasional decorative balconet (some straddling the stone string course between the fourth and fifth floors) popping out at the eye. Look more closely, though, and you'll see that the feeble color contrast between the blond brick of the façade and the light gray stone trim hides some fine Classical detailing, especially near the roofline: rows of relief panels in a swag motif, cut-stone quoins down the corners of the building, false balustrades on the parapet. The typical U-shaped floor plan envelops an ersatz entrance courtyard facing Auburn Avenue, but in actuality the main entrance faces Delaware Avenue, under the awning. Built by the contracting company of Kushin & Konikoff, the Commodore's three- and four-room units were marketed to upper-class society-page types, with a full slate of amenities plus janitor and maid service and garage accommodation for automobiles. The first tenants moved in on May 1, 1928.