A downtown soccer stadium? Planners like the idea


Is a taxpayer-subsidized $30 million soccer stadium for a second-tier startup team the best use for a prime development site near Canalside and KeyBank Center?

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A rendering of the proposed new downtown soccer stadium location.
Contributed image

City officials, urban planners and at least some developers – including the owner of the sprawling property behind the former HSBC Atrium – say yes.

They say it would support the growth of the area as a sports and entertainment hub, with KeyBank Center and LECOM Harborcenter to the south, Sahlen Field to the north, Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino to the east and Canalside to the west.
They say it would help bring more people, not only to the waterfront area and Cobblestone District, but to all of downtown Buffalo, supporting hotels, bars and restaurants.


“Soccer is the fastest-growing sport in America, and bringing additional sports and entertainment attractions to downtown Buffalo is critical to our city’s continued growth,” Buffalo Mayor Christopher Scanlon said.

And they say it would fit with the city’s Queen City Hub plan for investment and development in downtown Buffalo, while encouraging more use of – and the development of additional – public and alternative transit options to advance the city away from cars.

“To me, it’s a good move in that it builds on our strengths in that geography,” University at Buffalo professor Robert Shibley said..

“This is about an evolving sports, entertainment and heritage site that is combining all things hockey, all things Cobblestone, all things Erie Canal Harbor,” Shibley said. “It’s completely consistent with the Queen City Hub’s focused investment, as far as activating downtown.”

But not everyone agrees.

“I just don’t know how much sense all of this makes, if we’re asking the right questions,” developer Rocco Termini said. “I’m not against a soccer team. I’m against the way we’re going about it, and the cost, and who’s shouldering the cost.”

An ideal site

Buffalo Pro Soccer, the group led by Peter Marlette Jr. that wants to bring a professional soccer team to Buffalo, has identified the two parking lots formerly owned by HSBC Bank USA and The Buffalo News as the ideal site for a new 10,000-seat stadium. Together, they total about 15 acres along both Scott and Perry streets, stretching from the Atrium building almost to Michigan Avenue.


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An aerial view shows the site of a proposed soccer stadium in what is now parking lots between the former HSBC Atrium building, left, and the former Buffalo News building, right.
Derek Gee, Buffalo News

The site is now owned by developer Douglas Jemal, who purchased the Atrium for $9 million and the Buffalo News properties for $5.2 million. It would be leased to Buffalo Pro Soccer, which would own the stadium. The team would compete in the United Soccer League, which is one step below Major League Soccer.

It is a site that city officials encouraged Marlette to consider, instead of lower-cost alternatives elsewhere.

“It’s exactly right in terms of the location,” said Brendan Mehaffy, a veteran urban planner and former executive director of the city’s Office of Strategic Planning under former Mayor Byron W. Brown.

“It is already a recreational and entertainment and sports district area,” Mehaffy added. “There is, despite what some might say, really sufficient parking for the opportunity. People can come to the game. There’s restaurants and a casino and other types of entertainment opportunities, which, I think, is important.”


The stadium would be built using prefabricated modular pieces to speed up the timetable, which Marlette has estimated at about eight months for both site remediation and construction. That is critical, because Marlette hopes the team will get its start in the league in March 2026 – just 13 months from now.


“He’s got to get his funding, but I think it would be great, to create the entertainment district by Canalside, something that’s going to have concerts and events,” Jemal said. “It’s a step in a positive direction.”

Is it worth the cost?


Peter Marlette Jr., who heads Buffalo Pro Soccer, is leading an effort to bring a team to town. The team would compete in the United Soccer League, which is one step below Major League Soccer.
Contributed photo

But the group still has to finalize the financing for the cost, which Marlette has pegged at an estimated $30 million for construction – as much as $45 million when including the initial costs of starting and operating it. He’s raised about $20 million privately, and is asking the state to chip in another $20 million. And that is what’s spurring questions.


Critics often complain that stadiums are a waste of space and money because they are only used for a limited number of games each year. In this case, it is also not Major League Soccer.

“These are amateurs. They’re only being paid $60,000 a year,” said Termini, who called for the club to start playing in temporary quarters first to see how it fares. “These are like a bunch of rag-tag former college players. These are not pros.”

But Marlette and other backers say the stadium would bring an estimated 240,000 new visitors to the area as an economic driver for downtown over the next three decades. He said the team would play against five or six teams within 400 miles of Buffalo, among others.



Additionally, Marlette says, the proposed stadium would not just be used for his team’s 20 games, but would also host other field sports such as lacrosse and rugby, as well as youth clinics. He cited conversations with the Haudenosaunee soccer federation, as well as a touring women’s rugby leaguet could also hold outdoor concerts in warmer months, an outdoor skating rink in the winter, and “countless other events.” And it would have additional greenspace outside the stadium that could host pickleball courts, a mini soccer field, picnic areas and a stage. In all, he said, there could be 85 events a year in the stadium.


“The goal is to make this a live-work-play environment in what is now a sea of parking lots,” Marlette said.


‘Good for Buffalo’


From an urban planning standpoint, city officials and experts say it’s a win.


“Any redevelopment of surface parking lots is good for Buffalo – it adds density, enhances our downtown neighborhood, and creates a more vibrant and active urban core,” Scanlon said. “Projects like this help reinforce Buffalo as a dynamic place where people can live, work and play, while also attracting new visitors and investment to our city.”


The new stadium could also play off nearby hotels, which would benefit not only from the visiting teams, performers or other groups, but from the fans, who might then also visit the waterfront and patronize bars, restaurants and shops.


“If it can work out, it not only uplifts what Peter is proposing, but surrounding neighbors like the baseball stadium and the Sabres,” Mehaffy said. “It could be a real strategic shot in the arm.”

And to Shibley, it also fits with the Queen City Hub’s concept of two bookends to downtown Buffalo, one at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and one at the waterfront.


“This is an investment in the South District, the Erie Canal Harbor,” he said. “It creates more reasons to be in downtown Buffalo hotels, bars and restaurants, adding to the life of downtown.”

Shibley also applauded the design and plan, particularly for the “public realm” outside the stadium, before people enter. That is where it would be integrated into the streetscape and neighborhood around it, rather than sitting as an isolated giant.


“The architecture of this facility is going to be important,” he said. “You want to avoid the beached whales of our convention center or any big-box construction, because it kills the street.”

To be sure, Shibley acknowledged, there’s always risks with such a major venture.
Termini noted that Rochester opened a 13,000-seat downtown stadium to host its soccer and lacrosse teams, including the Rochester Rhinos, which folded after the 2017 season. Flower City Union now plays there with both men’s and women’s teams in lower-tier leagues. He voiced worry about whether Marlette’s new club will survive.


“What good is building it if you can’t sustain it?” Termini asked. “See if they’re going to get the kind of revenue they think they’re going to get.”


Jemal had previously talked of using the parking lots to create an extension of the Cobblestone District, with multiple smaller buildings amid alleys that bring both more apartments and first-floor retail space to the area – akin to what existed historically.

“If there was enough market to do that, we’d be doing it,” Shibley said. “I won’t get more people coming down here if I don’t create the event space to draw them there.”
He also agrees that traffic will be an issue, one that needs to be discussed and addressed, including with Buffalo Police. And that could require a costly public investment to ensure security and flow.
But he also sees a silver lining.


“The inconvenience of that is a good thing in that it’s going to drive more traffic to park-and-ride opportunities and the Metro Rail,” he said. “So it’s a good way to beat the congestion, to really take advantage and double-down on transit options.”
 
Don’t live there so… but an amateur stadium with limited seating? To watch crappy level soccer?
 
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