INTERNATIONAL BROWNFIELDS EXCHANGE
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1999
HONORABLE MAYOR ANTHONY M. MASIELLO
CITY OF BUFFALO

THANK YOU, KEVIN. GOOD MORNING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND WELCOME TO THE CITY OF BUFFALO. I PARTICULARLY WISH TO WELCOME OUR INTERNATIONAL GUESTS WHO GRACIOUSLY HOSTED MEMBERS OF MY STAFF WHEN THEY VISITED EUROPE. IN ADDITION, I AM PLEASED WITH THE PRESENCE OF SO MANY OF OUR FRIENDS FROM CANADA AND LOCAL PROFESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES. THIS CONFERENCE IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT TO OUR COLLECTIVE INTEREST IN BROWNFIELD REUSE AND YOUR PRESENCE TODAY SENDS A STRONG SIGNAL THAT BUFFALO PLAYS AN IMPORTANT LEADERSHIP ROLE IN FUTURE BROWNFIELD DEVELOPMENT.

THE CITY OF BUFFALO, LIKE MANY OF THE COMMUNITIES REPRESENTED HERE TODAY, WAS ONCE A LEADER AND INNOVATOR OF GREAT INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES. THE QUEEN CITY OF THE GREAT LAKES, THE WESTERN DOOR TO THE GREAT AMERICAN FRONTIER, HELD A PROMISE AND POTENTIAL THAT FEW CITIES IN THE WORLD COULD BOAST. OUR FUTURE, LIKE THE HORIZON STRETCHING WESTWARD ACROSS LAKE ERIE, SEEMED LIMITLESS. BUT CHANGES OCCURRED, INDUSTRY IN AMERICA WAS FOREVER ALTERED AND BUFFALO, LIKE MANY OF YOUR COMMUNITIES, WAS LEFT WONDERING WHAT WENT WRONG WITH ITS GOLDEN ERA.

NOW, AS IN THE 19TH CENTURY, WE FACE A NEW CHALLENGE. AS OUR COMMUNITY WAS FORGED FROM AN INHOSPITABLE WILDERNESS, WE MUST NOW REBUILD ONCE THRIVING COMPONENTS OF OUR CITYSCAPE.

THE RECLAMATION OF BROWNFIELDS HAS BEEN A DAUNTING CHALLENGE FOR COMMUNITIES ONCE DOMINATED BY HEAVY INDUSTRY; THE CHALLENGE FACED BY THE CITY OF BUFFALO WAS NO DIFFERENT THAN OUR COUNTERPARTS THROUGHOUT THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES, CANADA AND INDEED, EUROPE. WITH APPROXIMATELY 2,000 ACRES OF BROWNFIELDS THROUGHOUT BUFFALO, MY ADMINISTRATION SOUGHT SOLUTIONS TO RECLAIM THESE PROPERTIES, REMEDIATE THE CONTANIMATED LAND AND FOSTER PRODUCIVE REUSE OF THE ABANDONED PROPERTIES.

NOW I KNOW THAT MAY NOT SOUND VERY REVOLUTIONARY, BUT, AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, THE SOLUTION FOR THE RECLAMATION OF BROWNFIELDS REQUIRES DRAMATIC, BOLD VISION -- IT REQUIRES A FIRM COMMITMENT TO LONG-TERM, SUSTAINABLE REUSE OF FALLOW PROPERTIES.

SINCE 1994, THAT HAS BEEN THE GOAL OF MY ADMINISTRATION. WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE REDEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABLE REUSE OF BROWNFIELD LANDS ONCE REGARDED AS INHOSPITABLE TO ANY VIABLE ECONOMIC OR RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY. OUR PLAN IS AMBITIOUS; IT IS FAR-REACHING; IT IS BOLD. OVER THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS, WE EXPECT TO COMPLETELY REVITALIZE OUR BROWNFIELDS; WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE SIMULTANEOUS INVIGORATION OF OUR LOCAL ECONOMY THAT WILL ACCOMPANY OUR BROWNFIELD AGENDA.

IT IS APPROPRIATE THAT THIS CONFERENCE OCCUR IN BUFFALO. WE ARE PROUD OF THE SUCCESSES WE HAVE ENJOYED AND YET WE REALIZE THAT CONFERENCES SUCH AS THE INTERNATIONAL BROWNFIELDS EXCHANGE WILL BRING TOGETHER INDUSTRY EXPERTS AND PREPRESENTATIVES OF OTHER COMMUNITIES WHO WILL SHARE IDEAS AND STRATEGIES ON THE CHALLENGES OF RESTORING BROWNFIELD PROPERTIES.

OUR EXPERTS ARE HERE TO CONVEY TO YOU THEIR EXPERIENCE AND TO CONTRIBUTE INFORMATION ON THE STRATEGY THE CITY OF BUFFALO HAS SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED, BUT, PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY, THEY ARE HERE TO LISTEN TO AND LEARN FROM YOUR RESPECTIVE BROWNFIELD RECLAMATION INITIATIVES.

TO DATE, THE CITY OF BUFFALO HAS RECLAIMED APPROXIMATELY 200 ACRES OF BROWNFIELD PROPERTY, LEVERAGED OVER $200 MILLION IN PRIVATE/PUBLIC INVESTNMENT AND RETAINED OR CREATED OVER 4,000 FULL- AND PART-TIME JOBS. BUT OUR GOAL FAR EXCEEDS OUR INITIAL SUCCESSES; WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO.

WE HAVE SUPPORTED THE SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF A UNIQUE AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS - VILLAGE FARMS OF BUFFALO - THAT HAS ESTABLISHED A 22-ACRE HYDROPONICS TOMATO GREENHOUSE COMPLEX ON LAND ONCE CONTAMINATED BY A 1.5 MILLION GALLON FUEL OIL SPILL. NOT ONLY DID THIS EXCITING BUSINESS HELP PROTECT THE BUFFALO RIVER FROM FURTHER CONTAMINATION RISKS, IT CREATED 150 NEW JOBS IN BUFFALO. WE ARE THRILLED WITH THIS NEW BUSINESS, BUT, AGAIN, WE REALIZE THERE IS MORE TO DO.

LAST YEAR, MY ADMINISTRATION UNVEILED THE SOUTH BUFFALO REDEVELOPMENT PLAN, WHICH PROPOSED THE DEVELOPMENT OF APPROXIMATELY 1,500 ACRES OF BROWNFIELDS JUST SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN. THE PLAN ADVANCED THE CONCEPT OF INTER-MUNICIPAL, INTER-AGENCY COOPERATION IN THE REVIVAL OF A HUGE LAND TRACT THAT WILL HOST 2.5 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF LIGHT INDUSTRIAL, WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION ACTIVITIES.

 

THIS INITIATIVE WILL FILL AN IMPORTANT VOID IN BUFFALO'S INTERNATIONAL TRADE MARKET, AS WELL AS COMPLEMENT THE CITY'S DOWNTOWN BUSINESS CORE AND SUBURBAN INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT MARKET.

IN ALL, OUR NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED, ENVIRONMENTALLY-SENSITIVE BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT ACTION AGENDA ADDRESSES THE CONTANIMANT CONCERNS AND LAND REUSE OF APPROXIMATELY 2,000 BROWNFIELD ACRES IN BUFFALO. IN FACT, BUFFALO WAS ONE OF THE FIRST CITIES IN NEW YORK TO RECEIVE MONEY FROM THE NEW YORK STATE ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION GRANT PROGRAM FOR THREE NEIGHBORHOOD-BASED CLEAN-UP PROJECTS. BEYONG THE TOMATO HYDOPPONICS SUCCESS, MY ADMINISTRATION HAS FOSTERED THE REMEDIATION OF APPROXIMATELY 100 ADDITIONAL ACRES OF LAND THAT HAVE SINCE SUPPORTEDTHREE COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES EMPLOYING OR RETAINING ALMOST 2,000 JOBS. IN ADDITION, A MIXED USE RESIDENTIAL PROJECT HAS SUPPORTED THE CONSTRUCTION OF 100 NEW UNITS.

BUT YOU HAVE HAD YOUR SUCCESSES AS WELL, AND YOU, LIKE OUR ADMINISTRATION, ARE NO DOUBT PROUD OF THE EFFORT YOUR REPSECTIVE ADMINISTRATIONS OR COMMUNITIES HAVE MADE IN BROWNFIELD REUSE. BUT WE ALL KNOW THE KEY TO CONTINUED SUCCESS IS THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE ENTERPRISES AND PROGRAMS CREATED ON LANDS ONCE REGARDED AS UNFIT FOR POST-INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY.

MY ADMINISTRATION HAS MADE BROWNFIELD RECLAMATION A PRIORITY FOR OUR CITY'S FUTURE. INDEED, VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE HAS TWICE CITED THE CITY OF BUFFALO'S BROWNFIELD REUSE AGENDA AS A MODEL FOR THE RECLAMATION OF FORMERLY CONTAMINATED LANDS. JUST TWO WEEKS AGO, THE VICE PRESIDENT, IN FRONT OF A ROLLICKING CROWD OF 22,000 AT THE MARINE MIDLAND ARENA, REMARKED THAT OUR BROWNFIELD AGENDA WILL BE A KEY ELEMENT OF BUFFALO'S REVIVAL. I COULDN'T AGREE MORE.

THANK YOU.