Buffalo News: Glassmaking studio pursues DL&W plan despite NFTA-Savarino fight
Published June 29, 2026 | The nonprofit glassmaking venture that hopes to anchor the second-level of the DL&W Terminal building is pushing forward with its plans, despite a squabble between the developer it was working with and the building’s owner.
Buffalo Electric Glass, led by Robert Cassetti as interim director, hopes to open the world’s largest electric-powered hot-glass facility inside the historic Inner Harbor building near Canalside, with a goal of exposing more people to the art of glassmaking through live demonstrations, hands-on workshops and artist-led classes in glassblowing.
The studio would be located in 15,000 square feet of space on the second floor, with capacity to seat more than 200. It would run on renewable all-electric glass melting and reheating technology and will use recycled materials for environmental sustainability.
Cassetti, a 30-year veteran of glassblowing programs who developed a mobile glassblowing initiative, is a former senior director at the Corning Museum of Glass, and founding board president of the new nonprofit.
The group unveiled the rest of its inaugural board of directors last week, including Emily Tucker of University at Buffalo’s College of Arts and Sciences, Visit Buffalo Vice President of Destination Experience Renata Toney, Olean Community Development Program Coordinator Keri Kerper, and developer Samuel Savarino.
But it is far from smooth sailing. BEG has a contract with Savarino, who had the development rights to the second floor under a predevelopment agreement with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, the building’s owner.
However, the venture remains mired in uncertainty, along with the rest of Savarino’s vision for the remainder of the building, after the NFTA announced in November that it had terminated Savarino’s developer agreement.
“The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority currently has no agreement, lease, or development arrangement with Buffalo Electric Glass, Savarino, or any other party for space within the DL&W complex,” spokeswoman Kelly Khatib said in an emailed statement.
The authority said it "acted in good faith for many years," but criticized the developer for failing to provide "a viable business plan" to revive the second floor into a retail and entertainment hub.
However, Savarino countered in a legal notice of claim that the NFTA "failed to engage in constructive cooperation with a genuine interest in moving the project forward to completion."
He has not yet filed a lawsuit, and claims in a post on the project website that “we are not interested in a protracted legal fight with the NFTA.”
“We want to complete this project. We have the team, the plan, the tenants, the experts, and the capital to do it. What we need is for the NFTA to return to the table in good faith,” Savarino said.
In the meantime, Khatib said NFTA is “advancing major improvements that will open the DL&W to the public later this year and position the site for future development.” Those investments include continued shoreline and seawall improvements, construction of a new pedestrian bridge across South Park Avenue to connect the DL&W to KeyBank Center, and “activation of the train shed’s upper deck.”
“The Authority is preparing the DL&W to become a more accessible and development-ready destination,” Khatib said. “When the space is complete, the NFTA will welcome ideas and proposals that align with the region’s long term interests and support the potential of this historic site.”
Under the pre-development agreement, Savarino was supposed to renovate the 74,000-square-foot second floor and its adjacent 56,000-square-foot exterior deck in an $80 million project to create a public market and entertainment venue, with kiosks for shopping, groceries and dining options, as well as seating, public art, year-round programming and a live music and event venue. That would be above the new Metro Rail station that NFTA completed and opened late last year.
But Savarino’s plan was dependent on the NFTA finishing structural and stabilization repairs to the building that were delayed by unexpected shoreline and seismic work, driving the cost up substantially. The agency invested $57 million, but ran out of money for the rest. Savarino and the NFTA jointly sought more state aid a year ago. Until the work is complete, the second floor is not safe for significant use.
Savarino claims he had offered to take on more of that work, as well, and revised his plans and budget last year by postponing, consolidating or removing some elements of the project, according to the blog.
Early this year, he wrote in the blog, his team provided a revised lease and updated development plan to the NFTA, in which Savarino would fund and undertake the seismic and roof deck repairs, the owner’s improvements and the remaining second-floor Metro station work, in addition to its own project.
“We have presented a supportable and achievable path to a fully complete, open, and operational project in 2028, consistent with Savarino’s original proposal, accepted by the NFTA,” Savarino wrote.
NFTA was asked to improve and repair its second floor space and to pay its share of operating expenses for that portion of the Metro station. Instead, Savarino claims, NFTA asked him to name a price to walk away.
Savarino declined.
“What would the community think of us if we were to accept such an offer?” he asked in the blog. “We have worked for more than six years and invested more than $1.7 million to develop a vision for something Buffalo and its waterfront genuinely need.”
As for the glass-making studio, Cassetti said he is “aware of Sam’s ongoing discussions with NFTA,” and remains confident, although he has had no direct contact with NFTA.
“Our agreement is with Sam as the developer, and I believe it will all work out,” he said. “We are in start-up mode and have much development work to do in the next 12-18 months. I have a feeling it will all be sorted out by then.”
– Jonathan D. Epstein
