BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN).....South District Councilman Chris Scanlon got a tad sentimental while standing on the Miami Street sidewalk.
"My father grew up just a few blocks from here," Scanlon said,
Thanks to a collaborative program that offers qualified, first time, low-to-moderate home buyers a chance to acquire a freshly constructed house at 47 scattered Buffalo sites, vacant city-owned lots like five found along Miami Street have been transformed into either two-bedroom or three-bedroom homes.
The intent is to turn vacant lots into houses to not only offer first-time buyers a new home of their own but also help stabilize neighborhoods.
In March 2025, Scanlon - then Buffalo's Acting Mayor - and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced the program with the city and county chipping in $24.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars to serve as seed money for the initiative. Other partners include Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corp. and Belmont Housing Resources for Western New York Inc.
"This is the first step, for many, to create generational wealth," Scanlon said.
The impact could run deep, Scanlon said.
"The beauty of this program is that we didn't target one neighborhood," Scanlon said. "This is a program that cuts across the entire city."
Besides the 47 Buffalo sites, there are also five in Cheektowaga.
Belmont Housing is accepting applications for a lottery to determine who may buy one of the houses. Application deadline is May 27 and the lottery will be held on June 4.
Three bedroom models will sell for $205,000 and two-bedroom homes are going for $175,000. Both thanks to public sector subsidies.
Proceeds from the sales will help finance another round of home construction and sales, Poloncarz said.
"Nowhere in Erie County, can you get a newly-built home for $205,000," Poloncarz said.
The first 20 homes are now listed in the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors ML site under the "Building Buffalo Roots" and, for the five Cheektowaga homes, "Building Cheektowaga Roots" banner.
"The idea is help knit Buffalo's neighborhoods back together through programs like this," said Mayor Sean Ryan.
New program targets qualified home buyers.
New program targets qualified home buyers.
