Buffalo is set to get a new animal shelter next spring.
The shelter will be located at 1294 Niagara Street and will feature approximately 16,000 square feet of usable space as well as an outside area, Buffalo Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon announced Monday.
The city will sign a five-year short-term lease with Ellicott Development before purchasing the property, with Scanlon calling it a win for taxpayers.
"The ownership option allows us the opportunity to avoid escalating lease costs over the next 20 years, retain full control of the asset and future improvements, maximize eligibility for grants from state and federal government," he said.
The new facility will replace the current aging shelter on Oak Street, which has been a talking point in this year’s mayoral race.
President and CEO of Ellicott Development, William Paladino, has donated over $7,500 to Scanlon’s campaign committee in the run up to the Democratic mayoral primary election on June 24th.
In all, the developer and his family-owned affiliated businesses have donated approximately $19,000 to Scanlon’s campaign since he took the helm as acting mayor on October 15th, 2024. That’s drawn ire from fellow mayoral candidate, Sean Ryan, who said the animal shelter deal is “blatant corruption,” in a press release.
But Scanlon quickly dismissed the criticism.
“I would say it’s pretty silly,” he clapped back.
Scanlon said Ellicott Development was selected after a competitive Request for Proposals, or RFP process, that started in 2022.
“This is an RFP that went out three years ago, and [there were] four respondents, four qualified respondents," he said. "It went through a selection process, a review process. There were members of the Office of Strategic Planning, Public Works, Administration and Finance, who made the determination to select Ellicott Development as the designated developer two years before I became mayor. So I didn't make this selection."
Certain advocates and shelter volunteers have called the new location long overdue, critical of the timeline to replace the aging Oak Street facility.
William Paladino admitted the process had “stalled” under former Mayor Byron Brown, but picked up under Scanlon.
"We finally brought this thing to fruition. So we're very happy to be part of this. Very happy to have this new home for the shelter," Paladino said.
The city's timeline
According to an informational timeline provided by the Scanlon administration, the RFP was issued April 29, 2022 with a deadline of July 29 that year. The respondents included Douglas Development, Ellicott Development, Krog Development and Signature Development. BTPM NPR found that RFP online.
The selection committee convened to launce the review process in October 2022, with meetings held through June 2023 to evaluate proposals.
Ellicott Development was selected in September 2023 "based on technical merit, financial feasibility, and alignment with the city's redevelopment goals," according to the city.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was executed between the City of Buffalo and Ellicott Development in November 2023, "formalizing roles, responsibilities and next steps."
