Historic Perry Projects In Buffalo To Get New Life & Fresh Start

The Commodore Perry Housing Project near downtown Buffalo will be getting a new lease on life. Buildings at the Perry, which were once filled with life, have been sitting vacant for a couple of years now. The housing projects, which is run by the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority, is located at 386 Perry Street in Buffalo. The site has been considered a blight in the downtown area. Buffalo Common Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski of the Fillmore District had been very vocal about tearing down the Perry.

The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority announced a new plan this week called Reimagining The Perry Community, which could have a price tag of more than $300 million. The redevelopment would include mixed-income tenants and would ideally not displace any current residents, according to WGRZ. Councilmember Nowakowski told Channel 2 that there would be apartments with three, four, and five bedrooms to accommodate families. The Perry currently consists of,

• Commodore Perry Homes: 35 buildings, 284 units
• Commodore Perry Extension:12 buildings, 84 units
• Commodore Perry Extension High-rises: 6 buildings, 326 units

According to Pennrose, which has been designated to handle the redevelopment, the new Perry Community will feature no less than 694 affordable, workforce, and market-rate units.

I remember quite a few years back I was invited out to Perry Community Day by the PP4Life Committee. They had food, basketball, music, and fun for the residents of the Perry. It would be nice for residents to have community days like that again. My main concern about the redevelopment of the Perry is gentrification. Many residents of the City of Buffalo get displaced by some of these revitalization efforts. The Perry is especially of concern to me because it is so close to downtown and Canalside, it is prime property for high-income earners who want to live close to downtown. Longtime and former residents of the Perry, who had to live there when conditions weren't that great should get the opportunity to live in the new and improved Perry Community.

Yasmin Young