Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - We're nearing the start of construction for the new Buffalo Bills stadium set to be built and completed before the start of the 2026 season in Orchard Park.
Construction on the new stadium is set to begin sometime in May across the street from Highmark Stadium on Abbott Road. All that remains in the process before shovels can hit the ground is for the Erie County Legislature to officially approve and sign off on the project documents pertaining to the stadium deal.
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While it will take more than three years to complete construction of the new facility, there is already plenty of talk surrounding what "could be" in-and-around the new stadium in the Town of Orchard Park.
For several years, local business and other commercial activity around Highmark Stadium has been quite minimal other than some close by establishments like the Big Tree Inn, Danny's South, O'Neill's Stadium Inn and Prohibition 2020.
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With a new state-of-the-art stadium coming for the Bills, across the street from the current building, as well as the long-term future of the team secure in Western New York, the team has encouraged the idea of future development for businesses and other entities looking to set up shop adjacent to the new facility.
"As we've said right along, we will be great partners with others that want to come and develop the business and the space around the stadium. We'll provide as much content as we possibly can 365 days a year," said Bills Executive Vice President and COO, Ron Raccuia while in Arizona during the annual owners' meetings last week. "We've put some design elements into the facility that would enhance somebody's ability to come in and develop property around it. Ingress, egress, some parkways, some pedestrian traffic patterns, we've already built that in. So it's really going to be ready for development once that opportunity arises, and somebody's ready to do it."
For members of the Orchard Park community, they, too, are hoping to see some economic growth in that area around the new stadium.
"We'd love to see that whole area that's already there maybe be given some kind of a revitalization so that when people are coming for the games, they'll enjoy that region even more. Those are some of the things that I'm looking forward to," said Don Lorentz, Executive Director of the Orchard Park Chamber of Commerce. "I guess the big thing is we'd like to make it so we become more of a destination so that people would actually be able to utilize the businesses and the restaurants here that already exists in Orchard Park. That's been our goal as a Chamber is to try to see what we can do to advocate so that the next 30 years, we don't have the same situation we had for the past 50 years, where, at this point, people cannot stay in Orchard Park. They have to go to one of the surrounding towns in order to stay overnight. We would love for people to be able to stay here and be able to shop and dine right in our region here."
Even for realty experts like Peter Hunt, CEO of Hunt Real Estate, he sees this new stadium as a real opportunity for developers not just in Orchard Park, but also in a broader aspect for the community.
"I happen to be in Arizona right now, and I see how little the identity of the football team here, the NFL franchise [Cardinals] is with the community as a whole. Whereas in Buffalo, it's so much part of our culture and our identity and our strength," said Hunt. "The securing of the long-term future of this franchise in Buffalo is a spectacular thing for everyone. Everyone really in the state, but certainly in our community.
"You really have to see what other communities have done to really create not just a new stadium, a spectacular new stadium, but a real entertainment complex that has multiple purposes, that makes the venue more than just 10 or 12 times a year usage like the current stadium is. I attended the Super Bowl out here, and it was amazing. Walking into that stadium, when you're walking through, the whole entertainment complex that surrounds the stadium, there's a new hotel there. And then walking back out as the game is ending, to see the vibrancy of that community that's created around the events or on its own. The beauty of the site that we have in Orchard Park is, first of all, its size, and with that, the flexibility the Bills will be able to put into the development of that property."
While there was some controversy around the selection of the site for the new stadium - whether to build it in the City of Buffalo or keep it in Orchard Park - Hunt says from a practical standpoint, Orchard Park remains the best option for a project of this caliber.
"If, in fact, we want to create something in Western New York - specifically in Orchard Park - that really is much more of a community asset in total, there was only one place for it," he said. "There was only one place where the land was available and the infrastructure, as well as a very powerful tradition that we know only too well, which is tailgating. It would have been impossible in any of the other sites that were chosen."
As construction will get underway in the coming weeks, it will spark talk of opportunity for dining, hospitality venues and other entertainment businesses to sprout and thrive around the new stadium. Hunt feels one of the benefits of having those kind of businesses being built around the new complex is not everyone will feel rushed to the site all at once.
"People could go and stay overnight, for example, right on site with the right hospitality situation there. It just changes the whole nature of the process of going to-and-from the game, and also what you do before and after the game," Hunt explained. "Right now there's not much around there that you can do outside of the stadium, relative to the whole venue itself. With development of hospitality venues, dining, overnight facilities, outdoor and indoor entertainment complexes [with] multiple screens, sports bars, it's really exciting when you've had a chance to see that what could be in our community. We really have nothing like it."
Meanwhile, Lorentz takes things a bit further for what he'd like to see developed down by the new stadium. This includes the possibility of a museum, or even other attractions like a waterpark to go along with a hotel to become more of a destination not just for games being played every season in Western New York.
Lorentz is also hoping the new development near the stadium will lead to Orchard Park being a perfect spot for people to then explore other areas of the region that are close by.
"We are basically 20 minutes from everywhere," Lorentz said. "If you wanted to do a ski trip while you're here, we could take you to Ellicottville, Kissing Bridge, tobogganing at Chestnut Ridge. Those will be all possibilities right from here. You want to go to the Waterfront? We can have you there in 20 minutes. You want to be in Niagara Falls? We could set up excursions there right from Orchard Park."
While the timing of when these businesses could become a reality around the new stadium remains unclear, Lorentz says the Town of Orchard Park is working on ways to allow for more business to set up shop in the area around the stadium, which is a change from years past.
"I know the town is looking to re-zone an area that could be called the 'Stadium Overlay District', which would mean that some of the regulations that we have within our town right now, some of the zoning regulations that we have - for example, a two-and-a-half story height restriction - that could be given some sort of a variance in this 'Stadium Overlay District'," Lorentz said. "So depending on how far of an area they would be willing to go out with that, whether it's a one mile square radius or whatever they consider to be that area, I would hope we could get some local development to come in here and start something sooner."
Meanwhile, there may be an opportunity for some developers to cash in on some potential projects close by the stadium with the help of some residents that live near the current facility.
Some property owners have already posted their lots for sale on the real estate market, or there are others that may be looking to take a similar route sometime in the near future. This includes one property adjacent to one of the access roads to the stadium, taking you near the ADPRO Sports Training Center and the Bills' administration offices.
According to the listing for the property at 5330 Big Tree Road, there is nearly eight acres of land available, along with pictures of the property lines and surrounding areas, but no images of the house itself. The asking price for the plot of land and all is $3.9 million.
Hunt says if there is a greater vision for the development of the site from any interested party, it should be seen as a positive.
"How does the increase in asset value anywhere in our community hurt the community?," he asked. "I think it's a great thing that people that have owned a property for a long time, that hasn't had a lot of value, will now see that value go up because of the investment that's being made around them. In the appraisal terms, it's called the 'theory of progression'. Your proximity to properties of greater value will increase the value of your property, and I think that's a wonderful thing. Investment breeds more investment, and that's what I'm hoping is going to be part of the whole project out there."
"If they were to put a hotel where the current stadium is right now, right across the street from the new build, technically right now that's county property, which is going to become state property. That means we would be in the same situation: Orchard Park does not receive any tax revenue on the stadium that exists now, because it's county property. If it's going into where a private owner would be selling their property to developers, that could be on the Orchard Park tax base now, and we'd be gaining something from an economic standpoint for our community," added Lorentz.
While there may be one reason or another for the property owner to decide to sell the plot of land and house along with it, Lorentz surmises another potential reason for the owner to sell right next to the stadium.
"The town is taking a different approach now on the owners of the properties that were allowing people to park there. Now they have to get special permits," he explained. "There is more scrutiny on it that the income that comes in is taxable, and that they're reporting it properly. So they're actually coming in there, and they're going to designate that your lot, your particular property that you have - let's just say they're saying it's assessed for 40 cars to park there - then you better be showing an income of 40 cars per-game or whatever. I think maybe people are looking at that and saying, 'I don't think I want to be involved in that anymore, so maybe it might be a good time for me to move out of this area.'"
In the end, Hunt feels the entirety of the Bills stadium project is a significant opportunity for Orchard Park, and could be a game changer for Western New York, as a whole.
"If I come for a game and I come a couple days earlier and stay at a hotel that might be on site, why wouldn't I go to the [Albright-Knox] Art Gallery? Why wouldn't I go to the [Buffalo] Waterfront? Why wouldn't I go into town and go to a cultural event or something to take advantage of all the great things that are in Western New York? Why wouldn't I drive across the bridge and go to Canada for an afternoon or something? We have so much in our community that we want to be able to tap into, and having just another tremendous draw, an NFL franchise here in town, that's going to be here for a while, this is such a tremendous asset for our community," Hunt said. "For us not to capitalize on it, or just to view it as an isolated event where we're going to build a stadium - a beautiful stadium, brand new stadium - if that's only how we look at it, then we're missing the point."