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Affordable Housing Clinic helps to construct new homes in the city of Buffalo

George M. Hezel, Director of the Affordable
Housing Clinic

UB Law School's Affordable Housing Clinic has secured three grants totaling more than $28 million that will enable the construction of 106 new housing units in the City of Buffalo.

The new housing, on the city's west, east and south sides, will be energy-efficient apartments with affordable rents for senior citizens and low-income persons. Funding for the construction projects will come through the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

"This is a real tribute to the work the clinic has done, along with its students," said UB Law Professor George Hezel, who directs the school's Affordable Housing Clinic. "They have poured their hearts and souls into this project. It's a good result for the community at large, and proof that UB is an economic development engine for the city and the region. If Buffalo is going to remain competitive in its search for federal and state funds, it needs an experienced and sophisticated advocate. In the clinic, we have an edge that other cities don't have."

The projects that won funding are:

St. Martin Village, comprising 60 units of housing on the former Diocesan Education Campus at 564 Dodge St. Two existing three-story buildings will be rehabilitated into 24 two-bedroom units, and a chapel building will become a community center to be operated by the Community Action Organization. Also, 36 townhouse units – 24 three-bedroom and 12 four-bedroom – will be newly constructed. Rents will be affordable for households that earn less than half the area's median income, and nine units will be configured for residents with special needs.

Holy Family Senior Apartments, with 35 affordable apartments for senior citizens to be developed at the former Holy Family Elementary School building at 920 Tifft St. in South Buffalo. The apartments will include 30 one-bedroom and five two-bedroom units. Nine units will be handicapped-accessible. Also included will be a large community room and improved facilities for the South Buffalo Food Pantry that Catholic Charities operates at the site. The sponsors are Delta Development of Western New York and Living Communities LLC.

People United for Sustainable Housing, which will build 11 units of housing in a distressed neighborhood on the West Side. Three buildings on Massachusetts Avenue – a commercial storefront and long-vacant apartments – will be rehabilitated to create four one-bedroom, four two-bedroom and three three-bedroom apartments. All of the units will be affordable for households at or below 50 percent of the area median income.

As part of its UB 2020 long-range plan, the University at Buffalo has identified a strategic strength in civic engagement and public policy, which supports faculty research and scholarship that addresses pressing social and policy issues in collaboration with community partners, while also generating scholarly expertise. The work of the Law School's legal clinics support the furtherance of this strategic strength. "There is no law firm, nor are there non-profits, that could sustain the effort that a Law School clinic can sustain," Hezel said.