Effort being made to make KeyBank Center area busier. Is Orchard Park next?

Terry Pegula would like to see the area around KeyBank Center become busier and more vibrant.

Hell likely feel the same way about Orchard Park once the Buffalo Bills new $2.1 billion stadium is completed in 2026.

The owner of both teams has already asked Pete Guelli, who started in March as the Buffalo Sabres and Bills chief executive officer and executive vice president, to leave no stone unturned in that effort downtown.

That has meant an aggressive push to bring additional events and entertainment to the arena and start conversations with developers who own properties around the venue.

Might that effort become a model for what will be pursued for the area surrounding the stadium? According to reports, an entertainment zone, featuring restaurants, bars and shops, is something Pegula will pursue once the stadium is razed, but the Bills have said releasing any further details about that would be premature.

While Orchard Park is not a downtown district, the Bills are aware of the added value that having a developed area around the stadium can bring to the team, its fans and public partners, as well as neighboring businesses.

I think its a little preliminary to get into specifics, but it is safe to say we want that property to become a destination, Guelli said.

How do we create one that works in conjunction with what were doing here (downtown)? Youre trying to create a little bit of diversity of opportunity.

Guelli has been on the phone with developers who own property around the arena so he can let them in on the Sabres plans for improving the venue and bringing more people to it for an array of events and entertainment.

The team has already roughly doubled the audience coming to the arena over the past year.

Hes hoping that kind of activity, and the resulting foot traffic, encourages developers to get moving on some projects around the arena.

I think it is safe to say that I have spoken to every developer that has a parcel of land around the arena, Guelli said.

Theyre in a position to benefit from the activity we drive around the building, and we just want to make them aware of our plans.

Its nice to be able to show them some results.

A similar effort is not happening yet around a new Bills stadium in Orchard Park, according to Guelli, but could eventually be undertaken to ignite ancillary development in an area that hasnt seen much in the past five decades.

The area around the current Highmark Stadium is more known for residences and parking lots utilized for tailgating.

While the Bills continue to say they do not want to be in the development business themselves, they seem to be open to at least assisting in other ways.

Most new stadiums have become magnets for surrounding development that could help bring people to the area not just for sporting events but year-round.

Construction crews work on the new Buffalo Bills stadium, right.

While Orchard Park is not a downtown district, the Bills are aware of the added value that having a developed area around the stadium can bring to the team, its fans and public partners, as well as neighboring businesses.

The building of a new stadium could open the door to creating a Bills-themed tourist attraction like Titletown, which was built next to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, or a tailgate village.

Green Bay, the only market smaller than Buffalo in the NFL, is an example of what could be done around a stadium, where developers stepped up, in coordination with the Packers, to build mixed-use projects around Lambeau Field.

It also helps insulate a franchise from the performance of a team and game attendance alone.

Guelli has experience in this area after working in Charlotte, N.C., where attendance for the Hornets was down due to the poor performance of the basketball team.

The decision by the team to market the arena more as a property and bring in additional events and entertainment other than just basketball games became the catalyst for higher arena attendance and downtown growth around the venue.

Theres already property rife for development around the Bills stadium on sale and a bunch more that soon could be on the market.

The Town of Orchard Park also has approved a new zoning district more friendly to future development for the area surrounding the stadium, as well as two other areas within a few miles of the venue.

From our fan base to our public partners, everyone is on board and kind of understands the value we can provide when weve got this many people coming (to a venue), Guelli said.

I think downtowns are completely different models, in some ways, but theres definitely going to be opportunities around both venues.

New zoning, but no developers ...

yet The main impetus for changing zoning in Orchard Park is to create more business-friendly districts around the new stadium, including allowing for hotels of up to four stories.

The town has been void of hotels for years, so out-of-town visitors who come to Orchard Park for a Bills game typically stay in a hotel in another local municipality.

Orchard Park officials are also working in collaboration with neighboring Town of Hamburg, which is beginning to craft its own rezoning plan for what it is calling the stadium economic impact area.

That will likely include most of the 102-acre Erie Community College South Campus, which will be sold once the college moves to a smaller footprint in the Southtowns.

But developers are not biting just yet.

The property that includes Yellow Brick Parking at 5265 Big Tree Road, along with other area properties in the vicinity of Big Tree and Abbott roads, totaling 5.6 acres, has been on the market at the asking price of $3.5 million for over a year.

There are also properties at 3958 and 3964 Southwestern Blvd., which total 1.2 acres, on sale for $2.5 million that remain on the block.

And the owner of Kettles bar on Abbott Road, just a short walk from the Buffalo Bills stadium, put the establishment, as well as the 4 acres it sits on, up for sale for $2.6 million this summer.

Additionally, the 24,000-square-foot lot, which houses the KK Food Mart at Southwestern Boulevard and Abbott Road right across from the stadium, has been listed for lease or sale.

Theres the question of whether enough buyers will buy in to make this area a legitimate district to work, play and live, so that new development doesnt hinge on approximately 10 NFL games and a handful of concerts at the open-air stadium.

The Bills have said there will be other community events and athletic competitions at the new stadium, as well as inside conferences and seminars.

Weve been saying from the beginning that it starts with us, Guelli said.

The Titletown District across from Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., in an example of the type of destination thats possible in a small-market NFL city.

Will the Bills try to capitalize on their new stadium in a similar way? Titletown still serves as example to replicate NFL owners have been putting a greater focus on incorporating development around stadiums and arenas to create year-round destinations that cater to more than just the fans attending a game.

John Cimperman emphasized the need for ancillary development around a new stadium, which the team hopes to build in Orchard Park, and the opportunity to build on the Bills as a national brand.

In Green Bay, Titletown was spearheaded by the Packers organization and took the help of local developers and consultants and relationships developed with the locality where the team plays.

The Packers did not build a new stadium, but Lambeau Field went through redevelopment in 2003.

It helped draw in additional tourism and spawned the idea for Titletown.

The 45-acre development began to take shape about 15 years ago with the purchase by the team of vacant land once housing a Kmart adjacent to the stadium.

The organization also received incentives to help fund development.

It now features hotels, retail, restaurants and bars, apartments and townhomes, community recreational facilities, including a football field, skating rink, tubing hill and playground, and a technology startup incubator.

Inside Lambeau Field, theres a restaurant, Packers Hall of Fame, large atrium and one of the biggest NFL pro shops.

There are reasons for people to go to Lambeau Field all the time, Cameron Teske, vice president of visitor experiences at Discover Green Bay, told The News in 2023.

And Titletown gives people another reason to go into the Lambeau district.

We see Titletown as a catalyst for getting people to hang out in this space that really was just broken concrete for many years.

In Orchard Park, Guelli said for now the focus needs to be on completing the stadium project.

While the Bills have been contacted with inquiries about development in the area, they have not entertained those conversations just yet, but it is something we will contemplate in the future, Guelli said.

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