The proposed development of a $50 million 716 Sports Complex - one of the largest private sector-backed projects in Amherst's development pipeline - has crossed another pre-construction milestone.
Investors 716 Sports Complex LLC - led by Marc Fineberg and Brian McGrath - paid $4.1 million to acquire the 21-plus Maple Road acres it needs for the project. The parcel is one of the final, undeveloped pieces of the former Buffalo Gun Club property.
As proposed, the complex will fit in with a suburban amateur sports epicenter that includes Amherst-developed softball and baseball diamonds and the four rink Northtown Center.
It is also, taken in context, the first private sector sports project to be developed on the former gun club property.
"We consider it the next piece of the puzzle," said David Mingoia, Amherst Industrial Development Agency executive director.
Some two years in the development and review process, plans call for the complex to be anchored by a pair of 137,500-square-foot sports domes along with a center, two-story, 50,000-square-foot building that will house some medical offices, and perhaps, a hotel.
The domes will be home to such amateur sports as track & field, volleyball, soccer, basketball and pickleball - among other sports.
Officials hope the dome will enable groups like Visit Buffalo to book amateur, high school - level and some collegiate sports competitions that typically bypass the region because of the lack of available facilities.
"There will be a regional spin off," Mingoia said. "This is a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous attraction for the area."
Construction is expected to start this summer and the complex should be athlete-ready by 2028.