Standing on the porch of a newly-built house on Calumet Avenue, Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon took a long look up and down the Black Rock neighborhood street.
"This what real neighborhood investment looks like," Scanlon said.
Some seven months after it was first announced, a joint program spearheaded by the City of Buffalo, Erie County and the Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corp., the first of 52 lots in Buffalo and Cheektowaga saw its first new house developed.
The $24.5 million program, using American Rescue Plan Act dollars, is turning vacant and, often times, long overlooked lots into new two-bedroom and three-bedroom houses that will be sold to those who qualify under the federal affordable housing demographic.
Of the lots, 47 are in Buffalo and five are in Cheektowaga. Some 30 of the lots in such Buffalo neighborhoods as Black Rock, Kensington-Bailey and Old First Ward are under varying stages of construction and development.
"The point is to turn vacant lots into community assets," Scanlon said.
The program, which also included $1 million in Empire State Development funds for infrastructure work, will see proceeds from the sales being used to develop other vacant lots, said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
"It becomes a win for everyone," Poloncarz said.
The homes will sell for anywhere from $190,000 to $252,000, said Jocelyn Gordon, BENIC executive director. Residents can apply online for the homes.
The homes were designed by HHL Architecture in Buffalo and built by Buffalo Construction Consultants.
The next phase, due to start in 2026, will focus on 30 East Side lots.