HopefulFuture

Now that this is out there, I suppose I can "speculate" and put out there that WNY can fully expect a new domed stadium, somewhere in the area, to be up and running by the end of this current lease Of course, it's all just speculative

The pieces of the puzzle are slowly being put into place. As this journey unfolds for WNY, enjoy

Correct, the land isn't owned by any company, it's leased, and specifically, the mineral and/or water rights are leased. For a specific period of time with a sliding scale royalty payment depending on mineral output, water usage and permanent alterations of the natural landscape or it's natural usage.

Just a fan, of both the sports teams in the area and the region itself...............................

lol, well, I will say you are correct in that he isn't on his back porch sipping margaritas, although, I would be if I had a billion or more But yes, I concur, I'm not stating he has all the time in the world. My point is more along the lines of him making time, and something would have to be involved on his end to want to take that time. Since it's already been reported he may make a bid, I have to assume that time is already available. But to the point of his involvement, there is always ulterior, or secondary motives for this involvement in most cases. My screen name wasn't always Hopeful Future, prior to learning of Pegula's move into the WNY region I went by another name. There is a reason I changed it. And it's good news for WNY, even if it hasn't fully manifested itself yet. And these power broker parties I speak of in my posts are a large part of that

He moved his residency to a state without a personal income tax that was costing him 14k a day. I have to say, I would do the same if it was costing me that amount of money. You know what you failed to point out however, his love for this region, his fight to lower those taxes and oh, take a looky there, his pachecks business is still in the Rochester area and has no plans of leaving. Edit: And to your question of free time, any individual who has the time to make a gubernatorial run has some time. Those runs aren't long term commitments, they run withing the cycle time between elections. He's a billionaire, he has some spare time on his hands.

The Harbor Center is just the start, as I've mentioned before, there is movement behind the curtain. Power Brokers are placing themselves and their wealth in positions to really have an impact on WNY. These parties may or may not have shared visions.

This is only true if he is the sole owner. Enter Galisano as a co-owner/minority share/stake owner. Galisano has the time, along with some others. Hint: I'd be looking at a consortium of an ownership group here, all parties with vested interest not only in pro football, but a larger picture, if you will, of the WNY region. The goals/objectives of these "possible/potential" parties may vary slightly, but the end game "may" be tied together through some unseen by the public factors. Just sayin...............

Actually, Terry Pegula has mentioned the Bills 2 times since his purchase of the Sabres. The first time was in 2011 when he stated to Ed Kilgour that he never even considered buying the Bills but that he does not want them leaving Buffalo. The second time was in 2013 where he restated he does not want the Bills leaving WNY. edit: And it should be noted, Pegula has no passion to football like he does hockey, hence enter Galsano, who initially wanted the Bills, not the Sabres. Then look to other WNY power brokers, Paladino, Millstien, Jacobs and the Rich family. I'm not saying all will be involved, but something is up as each of these power brokers have poised themselves financially to pump a great deal of investment into the Buffalo-Niagara region. Money is starting to move, like I said, there is movement behind the curtain.

As I stated in the Galisano thread, pay attention to Pegula, and not just him, but Galisano and a few other power brokers in WNY. There is movement going on behind the curtain, but, as I learned in the Galisano thread, I'm merely speculating, just a fan.......... And the ECHL Jackels. Me thinks the WNY region is going to see an infusion of capital over the next 10 to 20 years ....................remember, this is one of the few areas largely unaffected by the 08 crash real estate wise. Many of these brownfield sites have or are slated to complete soil remediation in the next couple of decades. that has me thinking there is a Hopeful Future here

I believe your living back in an era where tax revenue was stable and growth was not only expected, it was projected. Those days are gone. When you say So what? to the ROI situation, your throwing tax payers at the local and state level under the bus. Thats what.

Excellent insight here. And I agree with everything you just posted. If you look out south past FNC those grain elevators are actually a danger over all. Preservationist are the problem there. Some say historical value, others climb on the bird sanctuary side. In either case it's insane, to me in any event, to leave those existing structures in place decaying.

Bingo!!!! And there it is again, that pesky traffic flow problem. Not to mention a stadium is going nowhere near those turbines. They wouldn't allow it, the insurance on the risk assessment would be huge for the stadium and the turbines wouldn't function to maximum efficiency with a huge stadium near them. Trade off? An additional 100+ million in soil remediation is a trade off? The Buffalo-Niagara Development Agency has it pegged at 1/10th the cost of the Oxy cleanup on Buffalo avenue, to date, that has acceded just over 1 billion dollars in 32 years of expenditures.

Interesting that traffic is listed as #1. And spot on, I've been through this with Mayor Dyster and, at the time, David Griggs, representing agent of the Buffalo-Niagara Development Agency. This article is very accurate.

I think your not thinking things through. It's obvious you've never been involved in large scale development projects. My background, I worked with Triad electric and control, MMR group, Haliburton, BIDC and several other large scale project developers building large scale industrial projects ranging from rail accessed power plants to large scale industrial sites with a significant increase in traffic flows in an urgan environment and I can assure you minimizing cost at the public level (i.e infrastructure upgrades directly related to the project) is directly behind the ROI in those Pro Forma's. I realize it's sarcasm, but as I stated, there are more condusive sites when reviewing existing traffic studies. The main North/South artery outside of the thruway for the Buffalo/Niagara Falls corridor is Niagara Falls Blvd. That is a nightmare during rush hours, Game day's would be no different. I don't know how politics would put it in the Falls. Maziarz just inturred that district to his own in recent years, and although George is a power player in the Senate at the state level, he wouldn't hold the cards on skin in the game from the state level. That honor would fall to Featherstonehaugh, Wiley and Cline, LLP, the holders of the NYSPF purse strings. Any major movement of capital like this would surely involve them. The state doesn't just hand out money, and they don't normally add additional taxes each year for projects such as this, they borrow it and normally from the NYSPF with a nice rate of return. They are called General Obligation Bonds, and the pension fund eats them up.

Not viable. Traffic flow would impede the tourist trade there. The Falls can sell itself and should get a bi-product boost from a new venue such as a domed stadium, it's just not viable to have it in downtown Niagara Falls. Other portions of Niagara County, further east and south of Niagara Falls are very reasonable however. Especially given the 990 access point combined with the 190 to the north and 290/90 to the west southwest. That area would most likely be the least expensive at this time in infrastructure upgrades. I'd imagine Transit Roads continued make over going north into Lockport could handle initial overflow problems until the 990 is run further through.

Don't count on the PSL's, look to private equity from an ownership group. I can't see an ownership group depending on such a high risk as the PSL's. They'd need reserve capital for sure.

Those numbers are pre 2008 figures. You'd need over 1 billion to build a domed stadium in WNY. The facility would have to handle the elements here. Look at Dallas, that's the cost we'd be looking at plus some.

Well, I'm trying to view it as the glass is half full type of scenario. All we need is that bottle of wine tipped upward to fill the rest of the glass Haha, I've had my share of negative posts as well. For example, prior to knowing about the sale to a non-relocating buyer, I posted I felt for sure they were a gonner. I was saddened by that, but trying to be realistic from a business perspective. Then, I learned about that clause and my view changed. Just like everyone else, I'm human, a creature of emotions. I'm trying to look at all the possibilities with this particular subject. I am of the thought that the Buffalo Bills very well may be one of the key factors to a complete turn around for WNY. Pegula bought the Sabres and is heavily investing in Buffalo. There are better markets to spend all that money he has if he wants an immediate ROI, but I strongly believe his sites are set on a bigger prize, the New York Marcellus Shale ROI, worth a whole hell of a lot more than merely investing in some other, non energy area of the country. As for Galisano, I've always watched politics with keen interest. Cuomo, the same. Like I said, there's just to much good to come to these 3 men, and not just them. Think of the windfall for Millstein if the Stadium site is Niagara County, close to the city of Niagara Falls. Or how about the increase in skilled labor brought to the area combined with an increase on the positive side for the Buffalo-Niagara region. Surely companies such as Rich products and Delaware North wouldn't complain if they were supporters, even indirectly, to such an endeavor. If these WNY power brokers play their cards right, Cuomo could very well have that nice feather in his cap on helping to accelerate the turn around of the 3rd poorest city in America and use that in a national campaign for the White House. There is much to be said about the stars aligning. If these gentemen were smart, they would even give google's owner a percentage of ownership and in turn google can build it's server building here like Yahoo did in order to save some cash on the cooling of those systems long term. Bringing further job creation and skilled labor to the area only furthering their reputations. Thinking outside the box and bringing an endeavor like this together is merely a few phone calls and meetings away. Lets hope this or something similiar is what's being done behind the scenes. I'm Hopeful for the Future and the Bills situation could, and I stress could, be the catalyst to better days here in WNY.

He started off just over 4 billion after the sale to Shell. He's worth 3.1 billion as of this year according to Forbes. But I find that number misleading, I believe he's worth more than the 4 billion he started off at. The key for him is Marcellus Shale. He'd be the key player in that arena and from people I know in Albany he's been the driving force behind the scenes on it since arriving here in New York. I don't get into the good vs bad on fracking, just looking at it from a strictly business point of view. On the other side of the aisle you have Galisano, who's political aspirations are well known. The governers seat is his target. Over the years he's made many deep connections in that arena from both up and down state. Those connections may open doors to allow some things to be fast tracked as well as money to flow from the state toward a stadium endeavor. Then there is Cuomo, who, despite side stepping the question, is in the wings for a run at the White House. Maybe not this next election cycle, but he's still young enough to hold out another 4 to 8 years for such a run. A successful completetion of job creation in the 3rd poorest city in America (I.E. construction jobs for infrastructure upgrades and the stadium itself), combined with the loyalty shown to keep the Bills here as well as the ability to work across party lines for such a large project would look very attractive at the national level for a future candidate. It certainly couldn't hurt his likability. When put into this context, you can see how the Buffalo Bills future in WNY has the potential to uniquely affect all 3 of these mens future endeavors. Of course, it's speculation, but it doesn't take much to connect the dots if we just follow the money.

I don't believe a stadium by downtown would work with the traffic situation. Very limited access from major arteries. I think the East Amherst area, Niagara County, or where the current Ralph is probably has more traffic flow viability. It's almost more than apparant any new stadium is going to come with infrastructure upgrades. I would like to see money put into the rail system here for further transportation enhancements. There are a great deal of possibilites if that were to be a part of any long term scenario.

I believe it should be considered so from the outset. I'm trying to avoid the "do you have a source scenario". Maybe worded wrong, but it makes a great deal of sense from a $ perspective. Edit: And I should point out, a nice domed stadium worth, let's say 1.5 billion, just to throw a number out there, is well within the realm of reason if some traction is gained on some outside issues. After all, 1.5 billion is a drop in the bucket compared to that gas in the shale. I'm looking at this from a larger view point is all. The no sale to a relocating ownership group, the need to have that stadium and both of these gentlemen have commented on the Bills future in the past couple of years. Looks like a win for the region sports wise, helps offset some of those negative feelings on fracking and opens the door for a great deal of money to flow from the state to such an endeavor, not to mention the political and energy aspirations of them. ;Haha, I'm no one, just a fan. My wording is never the best. Just trying to get the wheels turning on thoughts of the possibilities is all.

I think many that read this should take it for what it is, some information for you all. A Galisano, Pegula team up is what you are looking at here. Don't ask if this is speculation, just know the following: Galisano has deep political connections at the local and state levels. Pegula is heavily investing in Buffalo, he's going all in, take that at face value, the Harbor Center is just the beginning. Galisano needs some heavy lifing on his end in the political arena, Pegula nees some heavy lifing in the same arena. Marcellus Shale is on the line, and Cuomo is the key. Schumer is a mouth piece, an after thought. This is the best hope for the Bills here, it's actually the only real hope. Like I said, take it at face value, either you follow the money, or you don't, the choice is yours.

One can hope while still facing the realities of economics in the area. To the bottom part of your response. As I've eluded to in other threads, opening up mom and pop light industrial industries doesn't replace the amassed middle and upper middle manufacturing jobs that were lost in this area short term, And that is what we are dealing with here, short term. The way I see it, a new owner doesn't have 2 or 3 generations of time to wait for the anticipated return of that lost area wealth. One variable I notice you've ommited from your post is the PSL pricing in other markets that currently are looking for an NFL team yet do not have one. Surely a new owner, and the other 31 owners will be looking to maximize those numbers. And I'm equally sure with inflation due to rear it's ugly head as the QE's come to an end and the free money dries up those prices will see more than a modest adjustment once the new realities of economics settle in.

I posted aways back on this. I think many fans, many of them, are blinded by their emotions on this. A new stadium here doesn't make a whole lot of sense given the economics of the area. We are the 3rd poorest city in America on the last list formed. Schumer or other political nonsense that people point to is ridiculous. This is going to be a business decision pure and simple.