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Buffalo's Neighborhood Projects Trace Roots to Ongoing City Initiatives
Selections announced in 2025 for new housing follow patterns of investment that began with earlier completed developments and secured funding.
How we reported this
In June 2025 five development teams were selected to build affordable infill housing on 51 city-owned vacant parcels in the Hamlin Park and Masten Park neighborhoods under the Legacy Cities Initiative. This step continues a sequence of targeted efforts that have already produced completed projects and attracted private investment in other parts of the city.
Legacy Cities Initiative and Earlier Affordable Housing Work
The Legacy Cities Initiative provided the framework for the 2025 selections in Hamlin Park and Masten Park. Prior work in the same vein includes the West Side Homes project completed in 2024. That development delivered 49 units across 17 sites at a cost of $21 million and was carried out by PUSH Buffalo's BNSC as a net-zero energy affordable housing effort. These earlier actions established the model of using city-owned parcels for infill construction that later guided the June 2025 choices.
Old First Ward Investment Sequence
The Old First Ward shows how successive projects have accumulated. The $40 million Barcalo building redevelopment added 116 lofts. The Perry Project by Penrose NY is planned for 405 units. The Silo City complex by Generation Development Group is planned for 168 units. These efforts sit alongside the addition of over 400 new residential units to downtown Buffalo in 2025 and 907 units under construction primarily at the Marine Drive and Perry Project sites.
North Buffalo Master Plan and Funding
North Buffalo's corner of Elmwood Avenue and Hertel Avenue reached its current stage after a Master Plan was finalized and $30 million in infrastructure funding was secured from New York State. The funding supports mixed-use residential, medical and retail spaces. This funding follows the same pattern of public commitments that preceded the 2025 Legacy Cities selections and the 2024 West Side Homes completion.
Construction activity already under way at Marine Drive and the Perry Project sites indicates that work on the selected parcels in Hamlin Park and Masten Park will proceed in the same measured sequence already demonstrated in the Old First Ward and on the West Side. Residents can follow updates through the city planning department listings for each neighborhood.