Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Buffalo Niagara Partnership (BNP) held its Annual Report to Members event on Thursday at the Statler Hotel in Downtown Buffalo, as the organization gets ready to move into its new headquarters at 79 Perry Street come February 2025.
Joining the BNP and several other community members in Western New York on Thursday, as part of the discussions surrounding insights into the organization's key achievements, was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, Pete Guelli.
Guelli was able to not only speak on the addition of the BNP to its new headquarters in the Cobblestone District, but also the Sabres' vision for the KeyBank Center neighborhood, and other happenings surrounding the facility and the team.
"I don't think there's a more important group to be in front of than the business leaders in Buffalo, and today gave us a great opportunity to do that," said Guelli following Thursday's event.
Among the items discussed by Guelli during his fireside chat with the BNP is the viability of KeyBank Center and the area surrounding the facility in the Cobblestone District.
While Guelli feels the neighborhood is great as it is with activity on game days and around other events at the arena, he knows there needs to be even more activity in-and-around that area.
"The BNP coming down to 79 Perry, to me, just gives some more credibility about why businesses should be a part of it. They're the perfect tenant," Guelli said. "They're going to bring businesses down there on a daily basis, and that's exactly what we need to see."
"We were really excited to announce today our move to 79 Perry, not just for our offices, but to create, what we're calling, 'BNP at the Cobblestone', which is going to be, basically, a gathering place for businesses," added Dottie Gallagher, president and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership. "There'll be a full conference center, a co-work space and a drop-in for our members to be able to sort of meet, collaborate, hang out, have meetings, and we'll do a lot of our events in that space as well. We love this space, it's super cool. We've got an outdoor patio and inside seating. It's just going to be amazing."
Gallagher says the Bills, Sabres and the Pegula family have been major investors of the partnership since they arrived in Western New York. She says they all work together in a symbiotic way in order to make the City of Buffalo a better place for all.
"In terms of this development, we really explained our vision of what we wanted to create beyond just an office space, and they bought that. They saw the opportunity that we saw as well, which was to activate the Cobblestone District," Gallagher noted. "So this isn't just an office space for us, it's really economic development for downtown."
Part of the goal for BNP will be to try and drive more people in-and-around the Cobblestone District, even when there are no events taking place at KeyBank Center or Harborcenter.
"That part of downtown during the day is not really fully activated, even though there are some restaurants, a Tim Hortons and all that down there. We think we can actually be a traffic driver for those daytime hours, and the other synergy, of course, is with the other economic development organizations that are literally our next door neighbors, being able to be close to those organizations to be able to help do our work as well. So it sort of has a dual impact," Gallagher said.
One potential enhancement to the Cobblestone District in the coming future is the potential addition of a new soccer stadium to house a professional USL Championship soccer team, starting in March of 2026.
Related
While Gallagher is not familiar with much of the details of that possible project down the road, she feels anything to activate a parking lot is good for the downtown region of the city.
"I will say I hope what we eventually get downtown is a multi-use sports facility to really cater to all the amateur athletics that happen in our region. Those are huge drivers of tourism dollars, they're recession proof," Gallagher added. "Families will always bring their kids in for swimming, for soccer, for all of those things, and we have a great brand in that space as Buffalo. But I think if it were my money I'd want to put that into a multi-use facility that would be able to support that."
As for KeyBank Center itself, Guelli understands how the facility is a foundational aspect of the community and being a great resource, not just for 41 Sabres game per-hockey season.
"We know how popular the [Buffalo] Bandits are for another 10 [games]. How many more events can we bring in there to program that as consistently as possible, and bring as many people to Downtown Buffalo as we can? I think we're already seeing those results - Justin Timberlake a couple weeks ago, the WWE, A-list comedy on Saturday, Sabres games. It's already happening, and we're looking forward to program as many nights as we possibly can," Guelli said.
While the building is already 30-years-old, Guelli feels the arena still holds up really well.
"You walk in there and it's still a great experience, a great place to watch a hockey game. But how do we approve those amenities, and how do we focus on the fan experience so everybody wants to come downtown and be part of that arena?" Guelli questioned.
Over the summer, renovations were made to the arena, which included a brand new roof, as well as a new state-of-the-art videoboard to replace the old, aged out one. Guelli says the Sabres couldn't be more excited about how the initial changes have been received to this point.
"The roof going on is a foundational piece of that building, obviously, the videoboard is a key aspect of our entertainment process there. We changed a lot of other things within the building, we tried to make the season ticket holder experience better, and the reception has been great from our fans. But that's just Phase I," he noted. "We're already talking about, what are we going to do next year, and then what's the long-term plan for that building? We're still in initial discussions, but we're looking out, at least, five years right now."
Meanwhile, Guelli also provided an update on the construction progress of the new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, soon to be the home of the Bills come the 2026 season. He says things remain "comfortably" on schedule with the new state-of-the-art facility.
"We'll see how the winter goes. I've been gone for 15 years, but I know how that works in Buffalo, so we'll see how that happens," Guelli said.
In addition, Guelli says the sales of PSLs and season tickets for the new stadium have been going well too.
"The club seats are completely sold out, suite sales are going incredibly well. We've gone on sale with the lower level, and those are moving very quickly as well," he noted.