The community has already spoken.

… and here is what we said..

 We have heard from team members and stakeholders following a recent television news report. We thought it best to provide a response.

This week, WGRZ anchors Melissa Holmes and Pete Gallivan wrapped up a segment on the NFTA’s ongoing efforts at the DL&W Terminal with an observation: it would be great, they suggested, to get people up on the sky deck and ask them what they want to see the second-floor of the terminal become. The idea is well-intentioned, and given the lack of amenities at the waterfront, it’s a reasonable conclusion.

But it also describes something that already happened, more thoroughly and comprehensively, several years ago in accordance with the Pre-Development Agreement between Savarino and the NFTA.

Before a single square foot of the DL&W second floor was designed, under the agreement with the NFTA, Savarino Companies commissioned Project for Public Spaces (PPS) to lead a structured community placemaking process. 

Founded in 1975, PPS has worked with more than 3,500 communities in 52 countries. It is, by any reasonable measure, the most respected placemaking organization in the US and maybe the world.

The process PPS conducted for the redevelopment of the DL&W was thorough. It included interviews with neighbors, stakeholders, and prospective partners, and focus groups with participants from local arts and cultural organizations, food businesses, health and wellness groups, event providers, and sports and recreation organizations.

It also included an online survey that generated over 900 responses from every zip code within the City of Buffalo, plus additional responses from across the wider Western New York region.

What the community wants.

The survey results were not ambiguous. Food and beverage topped the list (eight out of ten respondents), followed by markets (seven out of ten) and arts, culture, and entertainment (six out of ten). Respondents also called for accessible public space that includes river views, greenery, and seating that works for all ages and abilities.

PPS synthesized those findings into a framework calling for food and beverage, flexible event space, a shared workspace for artists, game and sports spaces, and indoor and outdoor public areas with art, greenery, and wayfinding.

The full PPS Placemaking Program report is publicly available on Savarino's website.

The NFTA signed off on PPS’s Final Report.

That report has guided our subsequent planning and programming. Savarino has spent the years since the PPS engagement translating that community vision into a specified, funded, and detailed Program of Spaces. The current proposal for the DL&W second floor includes a project developed with world-class consultants and local experts.

It includes a food hall featuring independent local operators; a waterfront restaurant; a public market with day tables for small family farms and artisan producers; a pocket grocer to serve transit riders, downtown residents, and daily visitors; indoor and outdoor performance and event venues; a social gaming space; an all-day cafe and primary bar; and Buffalo Electric Glass, a working glassblowing studio and cultural anchor that will offer live demonstrations, classes, workshops, and artist residencies to everyday Western New Yorkers from ages 4 to 104.

The full Program of Spaces, along with updated test-fit drawings, renderings, and supporting studies, is available at dlandwbuffalo.com. The project's blog, the Terminal Bulletin, has published detailed explanations of each component and case studies from comparable projects operating successfully in other cities.

 Savarino’s redevelopment plan has investors in tow for a project that is economically viable and demonstrates a credible path to stabilization and success.

Savarino’s team has even figured out how to overcome the NFTA’s own budgetary shortfall for its required structural repairs and Owner Improvements.

What we can and cannot say.

The NFTA insisted upon, and Savarino agreed, that as part of their binding agreement, neither Savarino nor the NFTA will answer press inquiries about the DL&W project. When anchors or reporters ask why Savarino is not out there explaining the facts, the answer is that we want to be respectful of our agreement with the NFTA.

What Savarino can do, and has done—if only to keep its team of investors and consultants informed—is make its information available for anyone who wants to look. The plans, the renderings, the studies, the case studies, the program documentation, and the ongoing project updates are all accessible through dlandwbuffalo.com and the Terminal Bulletin.

Questions worth asking.

Holmes and Gallivan are not wrong that the DL&W should be a place for everyone, or that community input matters. On those points, there is no disagreement.

But the question worth asking is not what the community wants at the DL&W. That question was asked, carefully and at scale, by one of the most experienced placemaking organizations in the world, and the community answered it.

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