The Town of Hamburg is looking to redevelop the area around the new Highmark Stadium to help create a destination for fans.
Since the SUNY Erie South campus closed in 2025, the Town of Hamburg has wanted to work with Erie County to make a place that is fitting for the new stadium. The county owns the land where ECC South once functioned.
Questions remain about whether the county might sell off parcels or keep it and work with the town.
"We believe it should be zoned for mixed-use business, but we're also looking at what the best long-term use of it is, including the ownership of it," Mark Poloncarz, Erie County Executive, said. "Is it the county owning it and keeping it as a destination zone that we control, working with the town of Hamburg, but yes, it's going to be turned into future development."
Hamburg Town Supervisor Farrell Lorentz told the Buffalo News June 30 she doesn’t want the district to consist of apartments, storage facilities or car washes. Nor does she want any new development to get limited use around Buffalo Bills games, but instead year-round mixed-use walkable assets that could stimulate economic revitalization.
Poloncarz says that he hopes to work with the town to make this redevelopment happen.
"We do agree with the Town of Hamburg; we don't want it to be storage facilities; we want it to be mixed use of housing, entertainment, hotels, restaurants, bars, like we see around other stadiums," Poloncarz said.
This development would give fans more of a reason to hang out around Highmark Stadium before, during or after Buffalo Bills games.
There is currently no timeline for this project to start or end, but Poloncarz is hopeful for the benefits that the Town of Hamburg will gain.
