Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corp. (BENLIC) has selected four home designs to be used to construct affordable single-family homes on scattered infill sites in Buffalo and Cheektowaga. The City has identified 46 vacant properties where 47 homes are to be constructed and five additional five homes will be constructed in Cheektowaga.
HHL has designed three two-story homes ranging in size from 1,608 to 1,795 sq.ft. with two or three bedrooms and one and a half baths. A two-bedroom, one bath single story home with 1,671 sq.ft. will also be available. None of the homes will have basements and only a few of the homes on the widest lots will have driveways. Home sites are as narrow as twenty-five feet.
The homes will have buyer income restrictions with income levels being at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level, or $93,600 for a family of four. The homes will be kept affordable for a set time period (10-15 years) through a deed restriction.
Erie County and the City are partnering on the project using a combined $23.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds to subsidize the initial 47 homes. The sites are located in the Old First Ward, LaSalle, Black Rock, Lower West Side and elsewhere. More homes will be constructed as the first 47 residences are sold. The first homes are expected to be completed by the end of 2025.