The NFTA no longer controls Buffalo's waterfront. The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation approved purchasing the transit authority's Port Terminal complex on the Outer Harbor on Monday. The $3.5 million sale price includes two large warehouses near the Small Boat Harbor. ECHDC Chairman Robert Gioia says the property's future has not been determined.
"It doesn't call for a massive construction project. It's going to see what the demand will be. And if Mr. Buchheit is successful, and we certainly wish he is, with the former Freezer Queen building, that will start to create excitement very much like what has happened at Canalside. So it really needs to be driven by market conditions and market demand," Gioia said.
Public input will also be considered and Gioia says under the deal, the NFTA will not be held responsible for the clean up of the former industrial site.