Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Momentum is building in favor of the Buffalo Pro Soccer group toward finding a downtown destination for a new soccer stadium that will house a new USL Championship Soccer team in the city come 2026.
Peter Marlette Jr., president of the Buffalo Pro Soccer group says the conversations surrounding the new stadium has been progressing ahead of schedule.
"We're moving along really well, especially in the stadium site side of things," said Marlette Jr. in an interview with WBEN. "I brought on, about a month ago, Ciminelli Development and Wendell [Companies] to handle the architecture and pre-development stages of everything. I also hired a national firm called CSL to do some market surveys, specifically focusing on the finalist sites that we have right now. Those three companies are getting close to finishing their work, and making their recommendation. As soon as they do, we're going to move forward full steam ahead at that site that makes the most sense."
The other side of everything for Marlette Jr. and his group has been raising the capital raise for the project.
"Actually, within the past month, that has really started to snowball. There was a lot of work in the first few months to make a fair amount of money, and then all of a sudden, things started rolling," Marlette Jr. said on Thursday ahead of an event at Seneca One Tower. "About two hours ago, I got another quarter million dollar commitment, so things are moving along very nicely on all fronts."
While Marlette Jr. won't put a firm number on the number of sites in consideration for a new stadium, he says it's a small number, enough to afford the research into each site.
Marlette Jr. does confirm, however, that one of the sites being seriously considered for a new stadium downtown is the parking lots adjacent to the old Buffalo News building along Scott Street.
"Can't deny that. That is one of the sites that is one of the finalist options," Marlette Jr. said. "A stone's throw from here, just right around the corner, short walk from here and from everything else that's going on downtown with the waterfront development, Canalside, DL&W [Terminal]. This could be a really attractive site, but I'll say the other ones are pretty attractive as well."
Earlier this year, Marlette Jr. said the new stadium to accommodate a USL soccer club will be required to house, at least, 10,000 seat, and he's looking into the possibility of building a modular stadium. The expected cost of the stadium was originally expected to be around $15 million.
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While the goal for the Buffalo Pro Soccer group is to build a new stadium in the downtown region of the city, Marlette Jr. is open to the interpretation of what is considered Downtown Buffalo for the new facility. Regardless, his intention is to have the new team in the City of Buffalo.
"I think I could certainly make an argument that they're all downtown sites, but they are all City of Buffalo sites, and we obviously know one of them that's a block away from here," Marlette Jr. said.
Since Day 1 of his vision, Marlette Jr. has been working towards building a community soccer club in Buffalo, and building the club from the ground up with the community's input. He says part of the CSL study will be going out sometime within the next two weeks, and he hopes it gets to as many people as possible.
"It is going to be a really in-depth survey, asking questions that will really impact what we do, and the decisions we make on the stadium, but also how we operate as a club and the branding," Marlette Jr. said. "And I tell you, the results of that survey are going to impact the decisions we make about stadium location, ticket pricing, colors, branding, amenities, everything. Really everything that we have to decide on. So keep a look out for that, and I encourage everybody to please give their real feedback on it, because we take it very seriously."
Marlette Jr. says Wendell and Ciminelli are very close to the end of their tasks in the first stage of the process, and then once a site has been identified to move forward with, the group will further engage with the stakeholders involved and step up conversations.
"Whether it's a letter of intent or an actual agreement, I expect us to have that fairly soon here," he said. "The goal is a kick date of March 2026, and that means we need to have shovels in the ground early next year on this site. So things have to move quickly."
Marlette Jr. adds there is one other potential investor in Buffalo Pro Soccer where conversations between both parties have gone well so far.
"I've spoken to Doug [Jemal] and others at Douglas Development, and yeah, they've shown a lot of interest in the project, and of course they have. This is a project about the development of Buffalo, and potentially the development of a neighborhood that they've invested a lot in," Marlette Jr. said.
In addition, Marlette Jr. says the support the group has received so far from the City of Buffalo has been phenomenal.
"Whether it's the city, whether it's Mayor Brown's Office and his team, or Council members in the relevant districts, state, county, whoever it may be. Everyone has received this very well," he said. "They've asked some tough questions, they're digging in very deep, but we're doing something that is going to benefit everybody. So they're all on board.
"The question of, 'Is Buffalo a football town? Is Buffalo a hockey town? Is Buffalo a soccer town?' And the answer to that is Buffalo is a pro sports town, and Buffalo is a Buffalo sports town. So whether you're a soccer fan or not, if this team is putting a product on the field that is making Buffalo proud, you're going to be proud of it representing your city."