Outer Harbor

Searching for a Site for Buffalo’s USL Stadium

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If all goes according to plan, Buffalo will be home to a new pro soccer team by 2026 and there’s some expectation they’ll be playing downtown. 

News coverage of the plans to bring a USL Championship franchise to Buffalo indicate there is heavy lifting to be done in order to secure funding for the franchise and to get a stadium built. Getting all of that done before the summer of 2026 sounds like a particularly challenging task. Logic would dictate that if everything else is accounted for, the team will play at a temporary home while their new digs are constructed. Western New York isn’t short on adequate sites and while it may lack any semblance of character or charm, UB Stadium seems like an adequate solution for that first season or two. 

Figuring out where the stadium will go makes for a fun conversation as The Buffalo News notes the desire for the stadium to go downtown. The capacity figure of 10,000 referenced by the News is encouraging for a number of reasons. First, it would make for a terrific atmosphere at full capacity for USL games. Second, it’s right-sized for the void between in the area’s concert venues. The imbalance between smaller venues, the arena and stadium make it hard for many acts to hit WNY unless they’re playing Artpark or Darien Lake. Even if the capacity was only 7,500 for soccer, this would become an ideal venue for summertime concerts. That size also makes this ideal for events like the Chicken Wing Festival (which seems to be dwarfed by Highmark Stadium) and high school playoffs and championships, giving even more opportunity for this to serve as a community asset.

Stadiums in the USL really run the gamut in terms of design and function. There are a lot of open-air soccer stadiums but quite a few shared venues and converted baseball stadiums. Colorado Springs has a very impressive venue that opened in 2021 at a cost of $42 million. Milwaukee is in the process of building a venue for their upcoming USL franchise that is stunning. Milwaukee’s Iron District Stadium is precisely the type of venue I hope to see built here (minus the hotel and housing element). The street-level activation would make this a terrific fit for a number of neighborhoods around the city and the intimate design and covered stand allow for a variety of events to be hosted, an ideal fit for Buffalo. 

It’s encouraging to see downtown suggested as the destination for the stadium, but where exactly might it go? There are a few spots within the city which ought to garner attention, with some far more favorable than others. Some of these are more realistic than others as well. This list is meant to encourage some thought and conversation over where this stadium can, or should go. 

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A Stupid Solution to a Real Problem

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The battle over what should occupy Buffalo’s waterfront has been roaring for the better part of two decades, as the early aughts brought us Bass Pro, an evolving vision for Canalside and eventually to where we are now. Which is, to say, not too far off from where we started.

Much of the progress we’ve seen has come in spite of the hucksters who weasel their way into any project of merit whose developer isn’t formidable enough to shoo them away. Other opportunities have been outright lost due to the pervasive obstructionists that seeps into much of the public discourse in the city. The Aud has been gone for over 10 years and we still have the empty pit to show for it.

That hasn’t kept Buffalo’s resident carnival barkers, the Campaign for Greater Buffalo, from concocting silly plans for projects he has no stake in. The group’s latest venture is a suspension bridge meant to connect the Inner and Outer Harbors. It’s a terrific idea until you see the route chosen by the group for their million-dollar deathtrap.

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Infastructrue needs to be considered with any stadium project

Chris Ostrander1 Comment

The Bills are in desperate need of a new stadium. This is a truth that is evident to just about anyone who pays attention to the team. Where that new stadium should be built has been a hot topic amongst that same group who sees the writing on the aging walls of the Ralph.

The Outer Harbor – a destination many Buffalonians would love to see – is the location for an incredibly ambitious and somewhat improbable proposal pitched by a new group today. One thing that didn’t seem to be fully considered with this project is the inevitable infrastructure issues that will accompany it.

The proposal that includes a stadium, convention center, hotel, retail and 5,000 parking spots for a low, low price of $1.4 billion doesn’t really accommodate for the 72,000 fans that will be coming down ten days a year.

While the Outer Harbor has plenty of space to accommodate surface parking, the park going crowds would certainly take issue with the idea of swaths of pavement being laid down throughout the Outer Harbor. Of course, that is probably the only feasible option regardless of any solution that would be brought forward.

Parking isn’t even the most concerning portion of this, however. At the end of the day the lots will take care of themselves. There is space to provide surface parking that won’t impact current and any future development out that way. Parking ramps are always an option as well, especially those with ground-level retail to complement the proposed retail portion of this project.

Based on the renderings, the Skyway and Route 5 will be the primary arteries to funnel cars to the area with surface streets like Ohio St., Tift, and Ridge also connecting directly to Route 5 and Furhman Blvd. Yet, Furhman is a two-lane boulevard that would be more than overwhelmed with the type of traffic that accompanies a Bills game. The last thing Buffalo wants is to have a two-lane road leading to their stadium. It is exactly what people complain about in Foxboro. Traffic in Orchard Park is tough enough to handle on gamedays and Abbot, Southwestern and 20A are all four-lanes wide (20A is two lanes but the shoulders serve as lanes on gameday). If the traffic in OP is rough, multiply it by ten on the Outer Harbor. Continue reading →

Room for links along Route 5

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Back when Joel Giambra was in office, he mentioned that the former Bethlehem Steel site and the Outer Harbor could serve as a grand links-style golf course. If only that could be the case.

Clearly there is enough space for a golf course, but plenty of work needed on the former Bethlehem Steel site.

The Bethlehem Steel property sits along a massive stretch of waterfront land along Route 5 and has been sitting fallow for a number of years. A bit of green development has recently dotted the property, as the Steel Winds wind farm has sprouted 13 wind turbines along the property. Its not exactly brownfield remediation, but it is better than the few pieces of the blast furnaces and coke ovens that still stand.

Just like almost everything else in Buffalo and Western New York, the golf community is in somewhat of a vacuum. There are few premier courses in the area, with the handful that do exist charging a truly premium rate in greens fees. The rest of the courses in Western New York range anywhere from average to terrible with greens fees typically heading in the opposite direction.

Buffalo, by no means, is a haven that golfers from across the nation flock to. There are some gems to play, however. Glen Oak is probably the most impressive course of the bunch as a Robert Trent Jones design. In a few more years, Seneca Hickory Stick (Robert Trent Jones Jr. design) will be equal to the task. Ivy Ridge is a phenomenal track and even Diamond Hawk and Harvest Hill fall into the premium category for courses in the area.

All of the best courses, however, are located in outer suburbs. In fact, some of the best golf within 30 minutes of Buffalo is played in Canada (Thundering Waters, Legends on the Niagara). Diamond Hawk is the closest premium course to the city of Buffalo and that is located across the street from the airport.

Not only does the Bethlehem Steel site provide the necessary land for a golf course, it has a great location. The course is minutes from downtown and would provide vistas that would rival another links course that resides along the shores of a Great Lake, Whistling Straits. Maybe the opposite side of Route 5 isn’t exactly picturesque, but the drive leading up to where the old Bethlehem Steel administration building sits is rather scenic. Continue reading →

Buffalo Pipe Dream: An aquarium on the Outer Harbor

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My third Buffalo Pipe Dream will be about a true pie-in-the-sky idea that would probably have little to know chance of coming to fruition in this city and in this economy. After part one and two, this is going to seem a little ridiculous. However, I had brought up the idea before.

I’d like to see a state-of-the-art aquarium built within the Buffalo city limits, not an aquarium that would rival the Georgia Aquarium, but a substantial attraction to the city to boast. Ideally, the aquarium and zoo would work hand-in-hand as one super awesome entity.

Considering the space that would be required for a proper aquarium, the outer harbor would make for a wonderful home for this new piece of development. The amount of empty land would even allow for the Zoo to be built right next door, but that seems unlikely. After all, the recent capital improvements that have been made basically locks the Zoo into place indefinitely. At this point, any changes to the Zoo will require expansion into Delaware Park. There should be no hesitation to do so, either. Expanding the Zoo to help compete with others like the Cleveland would be a wise step to take. Continue reading →