Bailey Green Initiative
View of the Bailey Green initiative project area with Bailey Avenue running through the foreground, Genesee Street along the left side and East Ferry Street running down the center.
Bailey Green is an on-going community development initiative in the heart of Buffalo’s East Side that has its beginnings in a community partnership led by UB associate professor of urban design Hrioaki Hata.
It began when John Somers, CEO and President of Harmac Medical Products, made the commitment to keep its headquarters on the current location at Genesee and Bailey. Since he approached the School of Architecture and Planning at University at Buffalo, interdisciplinary students under Prof. Hata’s leadership have created a series plans, visions, and alternatives for the area. The initial vision quickly drew attention, leading to the establishment of Bailey Green Partners, committed to revitalizing the area. Presently over 30 partners, including Habitat for Humanity, have constructed 10 single-family houses and plan for 21 more by 2021, while other partners plan for market gardens, hydroponic production, a peacekeeper group headquarters, and other projects.
Selected sites that are part of the initiative, showing current and proposed views of three sites near East Ferry Street.
Pending projects include more low-income housing, the adaptive reuse of an abandoned factory into a school, mixed use facilities of affordable housing with stores and incubator space, a neighborhood park, pathways through middle of the long blocks, and the Bailey Green “High Line,” which would feature conversion of a CSX right-of-way into an elevated green corridor. The Bailey Green Revitalization initiative was selected for Final Jury (2nd prize) under the international competition entitled: Caring for Our Common Home in the 53rd Conference held in Rome, Italy in 2016, sponsored by International Making Cities Livable. It was also awarded the 2016 Outstanding Student Project by the American Planning Association, both the New York Upstate Chapter and the Western New York Chapter.