AMHERST, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced that $31 million has been awarded towards the redevelopment of the Boulevard Mall. Funding has been approved by Empire State Development for the project.
That funding would go for street infrastructure work along Niagara Falls Boulevard near the mall site but also for construction of increased sewer capacity for the town. for all the additional housing in the retail/residential mix plan for the property.
New York State hopes that with this new plan that new life will be brought back into the almost empty mall in Amherst.
“Today marks a new day for the Boulevard Mall as we take the next step in transforming it into a vibrant, transit-oriented town center,” said Governor Hochul “Thanks to our investment, this exciting project is moving forward unlocking housing potential, creating jobs, and fostering opportunity in Western New York. The redevelopment of the Boulevard Mall is just one of the many transformative projects helping to boost the local economy and solve our housing crisis, and I applaud Supervisor Kulpa and the Town of Amherst for having this vision to repurpose this under-utilized commercial property to improve the quality of life for Western New Yorkers."
The proposed redevelopment will feature at least 1,500 residential units with a mix of affordable, market rate, student and senior housing. This marks the proposed conversion of the site from the original 1962 mall complex with nearly 962,000 square feet of shopping and dining space in that busy area.
Plans also aims to create new jobs and opportunities through the addition of other restaurants, retail and open space in addition the housing units.
Town of Amherst Supervisor Brian Kulpa said, “This investment from New York State, thanks to Governor Hochul and our partners in the Legislature, is going to change the Town of Amherst’s trajectory. Without proper infrastructure in place, the Town’s existing assets suffer and meaningful development stalls.
"The Town’s West Amherst Infrastructure Project would have been too large for us to complete alone but thanks to Governor Hochul, this essential wastewater treatment system can now be installed, allowing us to rectify drainage issues in the Williamsville, Snyder and Eggertsville neighborhoods and build the Boulevard Mall site to its full potential.
"We are dealing with a housing crisis in our region, but with proactive steps such as this, we can remedy the issue with this extensive infrastructure upgrade which will allow the Town to introduce affordable housing units in the mall’s footprint while improving services for all residents, students and businesses located in project outline.”
Amherst Chamber of Commerce President/CEO A.J. Baynes told 2 On Your Side, "The state money definitely jump starts this project; $31 million is obviously very hard for any municipality to absorb so they seek other funding opportunities that are there. It's not a glamorous project per se, but it allows us to plant the seeds for the future developments that we want to see."
People we spoke with Thursday off camera said they have mixed feelings about a $31 million state funding infusion. On one hand, they don't want to see the failing mall just become an empty retail site to rot away. But they also point out that private developers such as Benderson Development and Douglas Development, as in Doug Jemal, are also involved with owning parts of the property.
As one man put it, "Private enterprise. I would think that the people that are investing their money could invest a little more and help out with the sewers rather than have the state."
2 On Your Side asked, would this work unless you had this infusion of public money?
Baynes replied: "I think it's a very competitive market out there right now, and I think when you have private development money, they're looking at sites that are shovel ready. We hear that all the time. And if we don't have shovel-ready sites, it's going to take a while for somebody to come in here and say, 'I can make this work.' And if we don't have the infrastructure that's there that's necessary, it's tough for us to maybe fully achieve the vision that we have."
People can view a rendering below of what the plans hope the mall redevelopment will look like.
Once the plans are complete sanitary sewer improvements in the area are hoped to increase capacity within the existing sanitary sewer network in this section of Town, along with the construction of a pump station and new sewer mains.
To learn more visit www.governor.ny.gov