As a way to alleviate the parking woes in and around the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC), the City has come up with a plan to let lease the BNMC a parking parcel that is located directly across the street from the Gates Vascular Institute. The joint effort means that patients and visitors to the campus will now be allowed to park in a new parking ramp that will be constructed where the Ellicott Goodrich Garage is currently located.
Members of the community joined Mayor Byron Brown and Council President Darius Pridgen, along with Jody Lomeo, President and CEO of both Kaleida Health and the Great Lakes Health System of WNY, Matt Enstice, BNMC President and CEO, and University at Buffalo officials to share the news during a press conference.
“This agreement continues the significant progress at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, while considering the needs of the surrounding community, bringing additional growth and opportunity to residents of the City of Buffalo,” said Mayor Brown.
Council President Pridgen said, “This is a great announcement, especially because of the portion of this agreement where the community will have a say so of 20% of the profits of this ramp.”
Today, Mayor Brown released the term sheet. The highlights of the lease agreement include:
The City of Buffalo and the BNMC, Inc. will enter into a lease agreement permitting the construction of a new parking ramp on the current site of the Ellicott Goodrich Garage
The new ramp will serve the needs of patients and employees of the Medical Campus and provides multiple benefits to the surrounding community:
- Alleviates the burden of on-street parking in neighborhoods surrounding the Medical Campus.
- Alleviates the burden of on-street parking in neighborhoods surrounding the Medical Campus.
- The cash flow generated from the operation of the parking ramp will be committed to community benefits. Over the first 30 years, the cash flow is projected to equal approximately $15 million.
- BNMC, Inc. will determine the uses funded by 40% of the cash flow and the City of Buffalo will determine the uses funded by another 40% of the cash flow. The City of Buffalo and the BNMC, Inc. have agreed that the community will directly determine the uses for 20% of the cash flow (or $3 million).
- Funding will be targeted to the community within one mile of the medical campus.
- In collaboration with the institutions on the Medical Campus, the BNMC, Inc. will annually create a Community Benefit Report that includes extensive information about the employment and procurement operations of the Medical Campus institutions.
- BNMC, Inc. will present the Community Benefit Report to the community and solicit feedback annually as part of its Four Neighborhoods, One Community meeting. In addition, the Community Benefit Report will be available on the BNMC, Inc. website.
For the construction of the parking ramp, BNMC, Inc. has agreed to the following:
- 25% minority and 5% women workforce goal
- 25% MBE and 5% WBE goal
- Local workforce goal of 75% (meaning workers residing within 100 miles of the project site, excluding Canada)
Jody Lomeo stated, “This is a tremendous collaboration between the city and the medical campus as well as the University at Buffalo and Kaleida Health. What’s most important to me, and I think for this community, is that our patients and families have world class parking next to world class facilities and that’s our commitment to this community. So today is a great day and it shows that when people work together, you get great results.”
Matt Enstice said, “This agreement allows the BNMC and its member institutions to put in place one more element to our overall parking and transportation strategy as was the development of the Michigan/Goodrich garage. We are well aware of the need for additional parking for patients, visitors and employees and are working in concert with all stakeholders to plan for our future growth.”
The term sheet has been filed with the Buffalo Common Council for review.
