Move the DL&W forward. Keep the promise.

A message to our project stakeholders and supporters.

In December, The Buffalo News Editorial Board titled an editorial with “Best if NFTA and Savarino can solve their problems and continue with DL&W.”

The Buffalo News is right.

Over the past several years, in accordance with its 2020 Predevelopment Agreement (PDA) with the NFTA, Savarino DL&W Development LLC has substantially advanced the redevelopment of the DL&W Terminal, investing well over $1 million and delivering a community-supported, financially viable plan for the reuse of this public asset.

Savarino secured historic designation from the National Park Service for the terminal’s notable train shed, which placed the structure on the National Register of Historic Places and unlocked millions in Historic Tax Credit investment for the project. Savarino secured investor commitments; obtained studies, plans, and more from best-in-class architects, engineers, accountants, and consultants; developed detailed redevelopment and financial plans; and worked in partnership with the NFTA to obtain $30 million in funding from Empire State Development toward the NFTA’s necessary Owner Improvements to the second floor of the train shed.

Savarino DL&W Development LLC has also secured several tenants along the way, including Buffalo Electric Glass, a 15,000-square-foot experience where visitors witness the drama of molten glass shaped by fire, air, and human skill, or take part themselves in hands-on workshops offered at levels from Beginner to Advanced. Led by a team of hot glass experts with seating for over 200, Buffalo Electric Glass is the world’s largest electric hot shop, serving as both a classroom and a stage to connect Buffalo’s affinity for innovation and City of Light legacy with the magic and science of hot glass.

Despite Savarino’s progress toward restoring and activating the station’s second floor, the NFTA has incurred years of delays and additional costs in completing the first-floor portion of its new DL&W Metro Station. The NFTA is also facing challenges in delivering safe, habitable, and developable space as set forth in its PDA with Savarino. These challenges include needed repairs to the terminal’s deteriorated roof deck, shoreline repairs, and the need to address the structure’s seismic vulnerability; conditions that will prevent public use of the enclosed upper level of the terminal.

The NFTA has yet to identify funding to address any of this work, nor funding for the Owner Improvements set forth in the PDA. Savarino’s formal response (in the form of a Notice of Claim) to the NFTA’s purported termination of its agreement is now part of the public record. Savarino rejects the NFTA’s purported termination of the PDA in November of 2025 as factually unsupported and legally false. Savarino maintains that the PDA remains in full force and effect, and that the NFTA’s inability to meet its obligations does not impact Savarino’s exclusive development rights.

Savarino remains committed to meeting its obligations under the PDA and to working with the NFTA to restore and reactivate the iconic DL&W as a public space, creating transit-oriented development that anchors the Metro Rail line and expands options for tourists and residents downtown and at Canalside. Savarino has adapted its program, designs, and financial plan to address the NFTA’s funding challenges and invites the NFTA to avoid litigation and return to the table in the spirit of comity. 

There are now plans and a path forward to fully complete and open the DL&W project in 2028. Savarino believes that it and the NFTA should be working collaboratively to deliver the project Savarino proposed and advanced, one that Buffalo and Western New York deserve, and not allow this project to become interminably delayed because of a legal fight.

We know that officials at the City, the County, and New York State agree, and we hope the public feels the same way.

Sign up for the DL&W’s newsletter here.