BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Bills, Erie County and New York State released a joint statement Tuesday to announce that negotiations for a new Bills stadium are now complete.
County Executive Mark Poloncarz showed off the 19 documents now waiting to be signed by the County Legislature to greenlight construction of the Bills' new $1.5 billion stadium.
"I'm pretty confident based on the conversations I had with the legislature will approve it,” Poloncarz says. “But that's up to them. So today is a very good day in the history of our community where other communities failed to keep their teams, but we did."
But a member of Bills in Buffalo, Ryan Miller, who’s been advocating for the stadium to be built downtown, tells 7 News reporter Yoselin Person the poor leadership will rob Buffalo of a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
"This is his fault he has been in charge of Erie County since 2012, he negotiated the lease in 2013 for the ten-year extension to keep the team here,” Miller expresses. “And the whole point of that was to over the next ten years figure out a long-term plan. They knew they were going to need a new stadium and had ten years. Like all of these hurdles to where it's going to be downtown. They had the time. He had the time, and I just think he completely dropped the ball."
Business owners just feet away from Highmark Stadium are thrilled about the future of Orchard Park.
"Hopefully it'll be a driver to develop this area. when you come down here for game day it's fun, but that's only 12 times a year so hopefully, this could be the driver to really develop this area."
Poloncarz says he's hopeful this development of the stadium will bring more jobs to Western New York.
"We're talking about a $1.5 billion stadium and thousands of workers will be employed on this,” he says. “Money will go back to our community because of the project labor agreement, we have guaranteed those workers will be local."
All the documents and contracts will now be submitted to the Erie County Legislature for their 30-day review. You can find the documents here and read the full statement below:
"New York State, Erie County and the Buffalo Bills are pleased to formally announce that all documents and contracts for the Bills new stadium project in Orchard Park have been signed and will be submitted to the Erie County Legislature for their 30-day review. Today marks another significant step taken as we approach a groundbreaking ceremony later this spring. We are thankful for the public/private partnerships we have shared to make this project in Western New York a reality.”
The Buffalo Bills have released three sets of renderings, giving fans a look at what the team's new stadium could look like when completed.
In October 2022 the team provided the first look at the new stadium when it released two renderings. In February the team provided another look as it released four additional renderings. The third set was released in March and contained seven renderings.
The new stadium will be built across Abbott Road from Highmark Stadium and is expected to be completed by fall 2026. It will be a state-of-the-art open-air stadium with a minimum seating capacity of 60,000 seats and a maximum capacity of 63,000 seats.
The Directors of the Erie County Stadium Corporation, a subsidiary of Empire State Development, met in January and unanimously approved the $1.4 billion new stadium deal. A public-private partnership will cover the $1.54 billion price tag. The county will provide $250 million, the state will provide $600 million, and the Bills will cover the remainder of the price tag.
The deal includes a Community Benefits Agreement, which, according to documents "outlines a multi-facet program to encourage participation in the Project by the local community, including people of color, women, veterans, LGBTQ+, low-income, and other targeted members of the community."
You can find more information on the Bills website here.
