Buffalo’s Jefferson Avenue Corridor a Year Later

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ULI Advisory Services Panels deliver actionable recommendations to help communities tackle some of their most complex land use and development challenges. Yet the true measure of success comes after the panel concludes. One year after a panel focused on the revitalization of the Jefferson Avenue Corridor in Buffalo, New York, we followed up with ULI members and local leaders to see what happened next. Their insights reveal how the panel’s recommendations are being implemented by aligning policy, investment, and local leadership—and how those recommendations are shaping the corridor’s path toward a better future.

In November 2024, ULI’s Advisory Services program partnered with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Buffalo Branch, the Buffalo Urban League, and local civic leaders to support the revitalization of Buffalo’s historic Jefferson Avenue Corridor.

Once a thriving site of Black-centered civic life and arts, as well as Black-owned businesses, the corridor has endured decades of disinvestment, structural barriers, and population loss. Highway construction, the loss of the Buffalo Bills’ stadium, discriminatory lending, and the trauma of a racially motivated mass shooting at the Tops grocery store in 2022 had a cumulative impact. These things left many residents feeling distrustful and isolated from the investment efforts unfolding around them.

To better understand the challenges in Buffalo, the Advisory Services Panel spent an intensive week there, engaging the community and interviewing more than 90 residents, business owners, faith leaders, nonprofit partners, and public officials. A site tour, small-group interviews, and listening sessions provided firsthand insight into the corridor’s assets and challenges.

(Photo by Pavol Svantner on Unsplash)

“The community-driven approach was not just valuable, it was essential,” said panel member Caressa Davis, director of community partnerships with the St. Louis Development Corporation. “It shifted the work from simply a technical exercise to a people-centered responsibility. Grounding the recommendations in community voice helped to ensure that what we proposed reflected real needs, real priorities, and real lived experience.”

Working together, the panelists achieved a critical insight: Although substantial public and philanthropic resources were already in motion, the lack of coordination, communication, and community ownership had limited their impact.

The panel’s recommendations—strategic connectivity, strategic leadership, and strategic communications—offered not just a technical roadmap but also a reframing of how work should happen on Jefferson Avenue. Panelist Justin Chapman—a senior development executive for The Integral Group, whose ties to the neighborhood go back to his grandmother’s era—said, “The panel revealed that we’re not suffering from a lack of investment. We’re suffering from a lack of alignment. Once we coordinate what’s already underway, Jefferson Avenue becomes the backbone of the East Side’s future.”

One year later, the recommendations have catalyzed visible, community-led momentum.

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Two major initiatives

In fall 2025, a new nonprofit—the Jefferson Renaissance Initiative—formally began to take shape. Designed to serve as the connective tissue for corridor-wide revitalization efforts, the initiative aims to become the central coordinating entity for revitalization efforts ahead. Community leaders described its creation as an inflection point.

According to Adam Walters, partner at Phillips Lytle LLP and the chair of ULI Western New York, the Jefferson Renaissance Initiative is currently building a five-committee structure to advance key areas of the ULI report, recruiting members with support from ULI Western New York, and preparing to seek 501(c)(3) status. Early priorities include raising startup capital, formalizing a board, hiring staff, and developing a comprehensive database of development-ready properties—critical for helping small businesses and local entrepreneurs access state grant funding.

Parallel to the formation of this initiative, leaders launched the Buffalo Black Business District Initiative, dedicated to transforming the corridor into a vibrant place for Black businesses. The effort is emerging from within the community, with business owners such as Desiree Parker-Smallwood of DLP Consulting WNY helping to drive momentum through the Jefferson Avenue Business Association’s development committee. Community engagement remains central; organizers have emphasized the importance of addressing skepticism and building trust while positioning the district for philanthropic and public investment.

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Looking ahead

Stakeholders describe the current moment as the beginning of a decades-long effort, not a quick turnaround. Yet optimism is growing—driven in part by political will and the increased coordination sparked by ULI’s work. As Walters noted, “For the first time in a long time, it feels like everyone’s rowing in the same direction.”

With the Jefferson Renaissance Initiative emerging as a durable community anchor, new business district planning underway, and renewed commitment to equitable development, the Jefferson Avenue Corridor is building the foundation for a true comeback—one rooted in culture, community power, and long-term investment.

Walters said, “We’re imagining a future where this corridor thrives for generations without losing what makes it special. Ultimately, our goal is to build something so strong that, 20 years from now, our work is done, because the Jefferson corridor has been equitably and successfully revitalized.”

We are grateful to the ULI Foundation for its generous support of this panel.

Related Links:

• ULI Western New York, Local Stakeholders, and Advisory Services Program Seek to Revive Buffalo’s Historically Black Jefferson Avenue Corridor
• Buffalo, New York: Jefferson Avenue Corridor Revitalization