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The Buffalo Niagara Partnership's 2026 Industry Leaders Forum (ILF) kicked off with a focused goal: move beyond diagnosing Downtown Buffalo's challenges and toward identifying practical, actionable solutions that shape the city's next phase and positions the region for long-term vitality.

More than 70 senior leaders from across the development, construction, finance and professional services sectors convened at BNP @ the cobblestone on Jan. 28 for a candid, peer-level discussion. The conversation focused on incentives, policy tools and the conversion and reuse of existing buildings in today's market.

The forum also included participation from City of Buffalo Deputy Mayor Thomas Baines, along with officials from the Erie County IDA and Empire State Development.

Below are key takeaways from the first ILF of the year.

A shifted downtown landscape

Downtown Buffalo entered the pandemic with strong momentum, but the development environment has since changed how projects are evaluated and financed due to several factors such as:

• Reduced office demand
• Higher vacancy rates
• Tighter financing conditions
• Mounting pressure on commercial businesses

With these challenges well understood, the forum explored how public policy, incentive structures and market-driven strategies can be recalibrated to align with current realities – particularly for commercial-to-residential conversion and adaptive reuse.

Key themes emerge

Attendees broke into small groups to identify tangible recommendations across five core areas:

• Incentive tools best suited to closing financial gaps for commercial-to-residential conversion
• Ground-floor uses and amenities that can strengthen weekday and after-hours activity
• Building characteristics that make certain office assets better candidates for conversion
• Public-realm and mobility investments that can improve downtown livability
• Policy and regulatory changes that could meaningfully improve project feasibility in the near term

Across these discussions, several consistent themes emerged. Participants emphasized the need for:

• Targeted, time-limited incentives that prioritize projects with the highest likelihood of success
• Greater flexibility in building codes and parking requirements
• Public investments that improve the downtown experience for residents, workers and visitors

Want to add your perspective or continue the conversation? Email Seth Piccirillo, Senior Director of Events & Programs, at spiccirillo@thepartnership.org.

Turning ideas into action

The expert insights and recommendations gathered during the Development & Construction Industry Leaders Forum will directly inform the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s ongoing conversations with local and state government leaders about how we can collaboratively shape the region's economic future.

By grounding policy discussions in real-world development experience, the BNP aims to advocate for incentive structures, regulatory adjustments and investment strategies that are both realistic and impactful.

Continued reading

The following articles and reports were shared with attendees prior to the forum to serve as a conversation primer:

• University at Buffalo: UB urban planners to help turn Buffalo's languishing post-COVID downtown into residential hub
• The Buffalo News: Bank of America Building eyed for transformation including apartments
• University of Toronto: Attracting activity to North American downtowns: Understanding downtown recovery across the course of a week
  
• Brookings: Small and midsized downtown recovery: Overcoming obstacles and uplifting innovative solutions in four regions
  

Thank you sponsors

The Buffalo Niagara Partnership extends its sincere thanks to its 2026 Industry Leaders Forum sponsors, whose support makes these conversations possible.

Title sponsor
Bank of America and Merrill Lynch

Presenting sponsors
Harris Beach Murtha
National Grid

Supporting sponsors
Catapult Executive Consulting
EnergyMark
LaBella Associates
Verizon

Next Industry Leaders Forum

Sector: Tech (click here to learn more)
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 10
Time: 8-10 a.m.
Location: BNP @ the cobblestone