EPA 560-F-08-317 brownfields November 2008

at-a-glance

Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, 

Buffalo, New York BUFFALO LAKESIDE COMMERCE PARK	 Cleanup Grant 

New Life Breathed into Former Industrial Property 

ADDRESS: 1818 Fuhrmann Blvd., Buffalo, NY 14024 

PROPERTY SIZE: .025 acres addressed by Cleanup Grant; 275 acres total 

FORMER USE: Pig iron manufacturing, salvage, rail yard 

CURRENT USE: Light manufacturing, distribution center, plans for a park 

EPA GRANT RECIPIENT: PROJECT PARTNERS: 

City of Buffalo, US Army 

Corps of Engineers, State 

of New York, Erie County, 

private industry 

Downtown Development, Inc., now known 

as Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, 

received a $200,000 Brownfields Petroleum 

Cleanup grant in 2003. 

For additional data and geographic information for this 

and other Brownfields Grants, please visit EPA’s: 

Envirofacts - www.epa.gov/enviro/html/bms/bms_query.html 

Enviromapper - www.epa.gov/enviro/bf 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

Over the last few decades, many of the industrial facilities along Buffalo’s waterways were closed, abandoned, or 

underutilized due to contamination concerns. The 275-acre, former Union Ship Canal/Hanna Furnace property was among 

those sites. The property housed a pig iron manufacturing facility from around 1900 to 1982. Engine repairs conducted 

on a parcel used as a rail yard contaminated a 0.25-acre area with petroleum. After pig iron manufacturing ceased, the 

property was sold to a salvage firm that used the property briefly before going bankrupt. In approximately 1990, the 

City of Buffalo obtained the site through tax foreclosure and the property remained vacant for ten years. Development 

Downtown, Inc., a not-for-profit development agency, now known as Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, 

purchased the property in a nominal transaction to develop the Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park. In 2003, EPA awarded 

Development Downtown, Inc. a $200,000 Brownfields Cleanup grant to address the site’s petroleum contamination, 

freeing approximately 11 acres for redevelopment. 

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 

• By April 2004, 25 acres of the property had been sold to CertainTeed 

Corporation, who constructed a 270,000 square foot building on the 

property in 2005. 

• By August 2004, the contaminated area had been cleaned. 

Infrastructure improvements were then made, including roads, 

sidewalks, landscaping, and storm sewers. 

• An estimated $20 million in public funding and $40 million in private 

funding has been used for cleanup and redevelopment of this property. 

OUTCOME: 

On November 16, 2004, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held to commemorate the opening of the road leading to the 

CertainTeed site and the completion of additional infrastructure. CertainTeed moved into its first completed building in 

January 2005. Since the cleanup, twelve acres were sold to the Cobey facility, a light manufacturer with a new 90,000 

square foot building and the capability to expand. Additionally, 52 acres were sold to Sonwil Distribution; they have 

constructed a distribution facility, and plan to build a second on the property. The Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park 

redevelopment plans also include a park along the canal. Park construction will begin in April 2009 using $7.4 million in 

leveraged funding to create open greenspace and trails. 

Petroleum cleanup in progress. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ or call EPA Region 2 at (212) 637-5000