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Group to study vacant properties in Buffalo, three towns
By MATT GLYNN
News Business Reporter
10/11/2005

Vacant and abandoned properties cause an unwelcome ripple effect, hurting property values and draining community resources.

A team of outside experts is trying to help Buffalo and three suburbs find solutions, mindful of the financial restraints the city and Erie County face. When their research is finished, they will recommend ideas that local decision makers can use to redevelop vacant properties, reclaim abandoned sites, and prevent others from falling into disrepair.

Experts with the National Vacant Properties Campaign recently visited Buffalo to interview a host of people who deal firsthand with the problem, through avenues like policymaking, the courts or nonprofit work.

Members of the assessment team will return later this month, to focus on vacant properties in Cheektowaga, Tonawanda and Amherst as part of the project's regional approach.

Joseph Schilling, the team's leader, concedes Buffalo is in a difficult position to tackle the problem, since the government is operating under a control board. But he said he was encouraged by the interest shown by the various stakeholders he and others in the group interviewed.

"There are a lot of people who are really committed to Buffalo," said Schilling, who is a professor at the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech in Alexandria, Va. He recently completed other vacant-property assessments in Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio.

Enthusiasm alone won't solve the problem, but Schilling said such interest is essential to build momentum for change.

Four organizations are collaborating on the vacant properties campaign: the Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), Smart Growth America, the International City/County Management Association and the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech.

The University at Buffalo Institute of Local Governance and Regional Growth, and the Amherst Industrial Development Agency are co-sponsoring the project with LISC.

Buffalo was one of seven urban areas around the country chosen from a pool of more than 50 to participate in the National Vacant Properties Campaign project, as Buffalo copes with vacant properties spawned by population decline and urban flight.

Among the problems team members heard local officials say they want to resolve: how to take control of vacant or abandoned properties more quickly, before they fall into disuse, said Michael Clarke, program director of Buffalo LISC.

Another issue team members are researching: increasing coordination among different efforts in the region to deal with vacant properties, so that strategies don't overlap or work at cross purposes.

In other communities, the campaign has encouraged greater local collaboration as a path to success.

Since the study has a regional approach, the team members will also look at vacant properties in Amherst, Cheektowaga and Tonawanda.

"Everyone is coming to understand that this is an issue to deal with," Clarke said.

In Amherst, the problem is primarily chronically vacant or underused retail and commercial buildings. Tonawanda and Cheektowaga have some vacant homes, partly due to population shifts or because some properties have lost market appeal.

The team members plan to finish a draft report by the end of the year and expect to make a formal presentation of their ideas in spring 2006, Clarke said.