.sfiz BUFFALO LAKESIDE COMMIERCE PARK EPA 560-F-08-317 November 2008 Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, Buffalo, New York Cleanup Grant New Life Breathed into Former Industrial Property ADDRESS: PROPERTY SIZE: FORMER USE: CURRENT USE: I8I8 Fuhrmann Blvd., Buffalo, NY 14024 .025 acres addressed by Cleanup Grant; 275 acres total Pig iron manufacturing, salvage, rail yard Light manufacturing, distribution center, plans for a park EPA GRANT RECIPIENT: Downtown Development, Inc., now known as Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, received a $200,000 Brownfields Petroleum Cleanup grant in 2003. PROJECT PARTNERS: City of Buffalo, US Army Corps of Engineers, State of New York, Erie County, private industry For additional data and geographic information for this and other Brownfields Grants, please visit EPA's: Envirofacts - www.epa.gov/enviro/html/bms/bms_querv.html Enviromapper - www.epa.gov/enviro/bf PROJECT BACKGROUND: Over the last few decades, many of the industrial facilities along Buffalo's waterways were closed, abandoned, or underutilized due to contamination concerns. The 275-acre, former Union Ship Canal/Hanna Furnace property was among those sites. The property housed a pig iron manufacturing facility from around 1900 to 1982. Engine repairs conducted on a parcel used as a rail yard contaminated a 0.25-acre area with petroleum. After pig iron manufacturing ceased, the property was sold to a salvage firm that used the property briefly before going bankrupt. In approximately 1990, the City of Buffalo obtained the site through tax foreclosure and the property remained vacant for ten years. Development Downtown, Inc., a not-for-profit development agency, now known as Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, purchased the property in a nominal transaction to develop the Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park. In 2003, EPA awarded Development Downtown, Inc. a $200,000 Brownfields Cleanup grant to address the site's petroleum contamination, freeing approximately I I acres for redevelopment. KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS: • By April 2004, 25 acres of the property had been sold to CertainTeed Corporation, who constructed a 270,000 square foot building on the property in 2005. • By August 2004, the contaminated area had been cleaned. Infrastructure improvements were then made, including roads, sidewalks, landscaping, and storm sewers. • An estimated $20 million in public funding and $40 million in private funding has been used for cleanup and redevelopment of this property. OUTCOME: Petroleum cleanup in progress. On November 16, 2004, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held to commemorate the opening of the road leading to the CertainTeed site and the completion of additional infrastructure. CertainTeed moved into its first completed building in January 2005. Since the cleanup, twelve acres were sold to the Cobey facility, a light manufacturer with a new 90,000 square foot building and the capability to expand. Additionally, 52 acres were sold to Sonwil Distribution; they have constructed a distribution facility, and plan to build a second on the property. The Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park redevelopment plans also include a park along the canal. Park construction will begin in April 2009 using $7.4 million in leveraged funding to create open greenspace and trails. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ or call EPA Region 2 at (212) 637-5000 ------- |