Lackawanna, N.Y. (WBEN) - U.S. Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary Alejandra Castillo was in town on Wednesday, as she joined Congressman Brian Higgins and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz at Renaissance Commerce Park on the old Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna.
Castillo was part of an announcement that will see more than $3 million in grants provided through the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to support new businesses and job growth in Western New York.
The federal funding, awarded to the Buffalo Erie County Industrial Land Development Corporation (ILDC), was designated for planning and the construction of water and sewer infrastructure that is allowing for business development and job creation on the long-vacant former Bethlehem Steel property.
"I think you're seeing a new day here," said Congressman Brian Higgins following Wednesday's event. "A lot of these buildings have been vacant not only for the last several years, but for the last several decades. I think the momentum that you see occurring here today and the Secretary being here is indicative of the federal government looking favorably at Buffalo and Western New York, and at formerly industrial sites like this one."
Bethlehem Steel once supported a workforce of 25,000 Western New Yorkers and occupied 1,700 acres of property in the City of Lackawanna. However, the company closed its doors in 1983.
In July of 2017, Erie County first purchased approximately 150 acres of property at the former Bethlehem Steel site. Later that year, $362,500 was awarded through the EDA to support the Bethlehem Steel Industrial Site Redevelopment Planning Project led by the ILDC.
In 2021, EDA awarded a second grant totaling $2.68 million to support construction of water and sewer systems on the former Bethlehem Steel site, which today is the new Renaissance Commerce Park. The water infrastructure work funded by the EDA grant is making redevelopment of the site attractive to private businesses.
"It's $3 million in federal money through the Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Administration, which has leveraged $86 million in private sector investment," said Higgins on Thursday with Susan Rose and Brian Mazurowski on WBEN. "So you have Sucro Sourcing, which is a sugar processing company, who's made a $19 million investment to rehab and re-use several of the old Bethlehem Steel buildings. There's also TMP Technologies, which makes the Magic Eraser for Procter and Gamble, they've invested over $30 million in the site. And Uniland Development is currently investing over $37 million. So the idea was to underscore the importance of a federal investment early to signal to the private sector that there is viability in re-developing these old industrial buildings. And it's very challenging, you've got environmental issues out there, you got old buildings that were built for manufacturing large quantities of steel."
Higgins goes further, saying all or part of the old Bethlehem Steel property will be re-developed as part of the grander vision for the property. That will potentially provide a much-needed facelift for some of the old Bethlehem Steel property on the East side of Route 5 in Lackawanna, specifically Steelworks Industrial Park.
Back in 2016, the site suffered a major fire that destroyed a large portion of the structure. The building was eventually torn down, with only the brick façade partially still standing.
Higgins believes that by developing the land across the street from Steelworks Industrial Park, it will hopefully then bring in enough viability that can inject new viability into that property.
"When you have industrial sites that are vacant and you're trying to re-develop them, it poses a whole set of challenges environmentally, land, water, etc," Higgins said. "But I think when you see Mr. [Eli] Cohen and Sucro making this kind of investment, they see something here of great value."
In addition to business development, investments are being made toward improving public access and recreation at the site. A $1.8 million investment supported by Erie County, New York State, and Federal Community Development Block Grant funding helped to build a Shoreline Trail, which opened in 2019 and runs along the Bethlehem Steel property from the City of Buffalo line to Dona Street in Lackawanna.
Proposals for the next phase of this project will look to extend the Shoreline Trail southward from Dona Street to Woodlawn Beach State Park. The project would create a contiguous multi-use Shoreline trail from the Erie Canal in the City of Tonawanda to the shores of Lake Erie in Hamburg. It is just one of several federal projects that have been put in place for the City of Buffalo and its surrounding areas.
"There is, and as you know, that's many, many, several 100 acres of formerly industrial property for the manufacturing for the making of steel. It makes the re-development of those properties challenging, and that's why the federal government puts in early seed money for acquisition for the creation of trails and those kinds of things. But it's all designed to make those properties more appealing to the private sector," Higgins said. "And as we've seen, $3 million of federal money is leveraged $86 million in private sector money. That's not coincidental, there's a cause and effect relationship there. So when you do things like infrastructure, let's say for every dollar that you spend an infrastructure you produce $3, $4, $5, $6, $7 in private sector investment. And we see that on Ohio Street, we see that on Niagara Street, we see that on Main Street with carsharing Main Street."
So when could we start seeing the impact of the federal money being dedicated to Buffalo and Western New York for these different projects? With construction season just getting underway, Higgins says the longer we can extend that, the better.
"We have an infrastructure bill that will produce a lot of money to the State of New York, which will come to the City of Buffalo, the County of Erie for infrastructure investment. That's going to have a remarkable impact, because if you look at Ohio Street for every dollar that we spent, it activated properties that were previously dead economically, and they were owned by the same owners for many, many decades. So that's a cause and effect relationship that is very, very positive. So yes, you are going to see on Tiftt Street, you're going to see on Louisiana Street, the creation of new parkways that are pedestrian friendly, that are bike friendly, and that provide vehicular access, as well. I think that you will see in the next 12-24 months a lot of projects that will continue to change the viewer of Buffalo from an old industrial city to a city of exciting new possibilities."