More than three dozen Buffalo (N.Y.) Diocese properties could soon be appraised for current values that ultimately may factor heavily into a settlement with sexual abuse claimants in the diocese’s chapter 11 bankruptcy court, the Buffalo News reported. Lawyers for the diocese are asking a federal judge to approve a request to hire KLW Appraisal Group to come up with valuations for 37 properties spread across six counties. The properties vary from 15 acres of vacant land in the Town of Hamburg near the Erie County Fairgrounds to a historically significant four-story office building in the heart of Buffalo’s medical corridor. They also include six school buildings, two retirement homes for priests, St. Joseph Cathedral, and the former Christ the King Seminary in Aurora. They were estimated collectively to be worth $16 million in 2020 when the diocese first sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in response to more than 200 Child Victims Act lawsuits alleging clergy and other diocese employees sexually abused children decades ago, according to a disclosure statement at the time. But the court papers also indicated that most of the properties had not undergone a recent appraisal.
