By Owen Pfeiffer
BUFFALO — The Buffalo Urban League will build a $25 million headquarters and mixed-use campus on Jefferson Avenue, a few blocks from the Tops Markets where 10 people were killed in May 2022, with help from a $5 million state grant announced Friday by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The project at 1137 Jefferson Ave. will combine office space for the nonprofit with workforce development programs, housing counseling, arts and cultural programming and for-sale residential condominiums, according to the governor’s office. Empire State Development will administer the $5 million grant.
How it is paid for
The capital stack, as described by the state, includes a $6 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the $5 million ESD grant, a $1 million state grant administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, and additional money from Erie County, the City of Buffalo, and the health insurer Fidelis and its parent, Centene Corp. The state did not itemize the county, city and Fidelis contributions.
The Urban League hired Alligood Song Architecture, working with Buffalo-based Carmina Wood, to design the campus.
“This project represents more than a new facility. It is an investment in people, neighborhoods and opportunity,” said Thomas Beauford Jr., the Urban League’s president and CEO. “By bringing together critical services, housing and cultural resources in one dynamic location, we will strengthen our ability to connect Buffalo residents with the tools and opportunities they need to thrive.”
A bet on the Jefferson corridor
Supporters pitched the building as an anchor for one of the East Side’s main commercial strips. Hochul called it “a powerful symbol of resilience” following the Tops shooting.
“Our $5 million state investment will create a vibrant hub for housing, jobs and vital community resources,” Hochul said.
ESD President and CEO Hope Knight said the agency sees the building as “a catalyst for future job growth and commercial revitalization.”
Rep. Tim Kennedy said he is “fighting to secure federal funding for this project,” and state Sen. April Baskin noted she allocated $1 million to the project while chair of the Erie County Legislature.
Mayor Sean Ryan said the new home “will build on that work, creating a place where East Side residents can learn new skills, grow a business and come together as a community.”
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes said the building “will allow the Urban League to reach a greater section of community with their programs,” and DASNY President and CEO Robert J. Rodriguez said it “will expand access to essential services, strengthen the Jefferson Avenue corridor and create new opportunities for economic growth on Buffalo’s East Side.”
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said the project “will give the League an even greater opportunity to transform lives,” while Common Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope and Council Member Zeneta Everhart, whose Masten District includes the Jefferson corridor, also praised the investment. Everhart noted the League has provided “economic, educational and housing opportunities to our community for over a century.”
The for-sale condominiums are a notable piece of the plan. Homeownership options on the East Side’s commercial corridors have been limited, and pairing owner-occupied units with a nonprofit anchor tenant is a model the state is now backing with grant money rather than tax credits alone.
Open questions
The state release did not give a construction timeline, a total count of condominium units or their expected price range, or how much of the $25 million is still unraised. The Buffalo Chronicle has asked the Urban League for those details.
Photo: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Jefferson Avenue, Buffalo, 2022.
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