The following is from an e-blast from developer Carl Paladino:
Attached are aerials showing a 63 acre site for a stadium and its appurtenances outlined in yellow. Outlined in orange hash marks is the route of an extension of the NFTA Light Rail, over its existing owned Right of Way into the proposed stadium site and, if needed, beyond to additional land in the South Buffalo area to access additional park and ride lots.
The stadium should be built downtown so as to share the economic boom with the downtown business community and thereby justifying public financing of the stadium. Access to hotel, restaurant and other hospitality services, 20,000 public and private parking lots in the downtown core and other entertainment forums would keep out of town Canadian and American attendees in the downtown area to spend their leisure money.
Insofar as it would then be an economic generator and promoter of WNY economic development the Niagara Power Project surplus monies dedicated to Western New York industries to promote economic development can then be used to pay the debt service on the bonds to fully finance the construction of a new stadium. Most of that money now improperly goes into the State’s general fund. Allocated but unused power dedicated to Western New York economic development is being sold by the New York State Power Authority (NYSPA) at retail on the open market generating a surplus of at least $300,000,000 per annum. Applying $100,000,000 of those funds annually to support a Billion Dollars in new stadium construction costs is a no brainer.
For the last 4 years Andrew Cuomo and the complicit New York State Legislature have swept over $1 Billion from these monies from the NYSPA accounts all to the detriment of Western New York. Cuomo is now trying to give the illusion that he is giving WNY a Billion dollars when in fact he is giving us back a portion of our own money.
In the interests of full disclosure my companies own properties in the South Main area which have been assembled over the past 35 years.
*Seen here are three aerials showing the proposed Ohio Street/South Park Ave site. The highlighted area contains approximately 63 acres. A portion of the site is crossed by an NFTA right-of-way, which runs from the DL&W Terminal towards South B .