In a “rare move and for one day only,” Erie County is allowing Bills fans to buy “Bills bonds” to “help fund the new Highmark Stadium,” according to Sandra Tan of the BUFFALO NEWS. But it is “not a cheap or easy process.” For one day only, the Erie County Comptroller’s Office will make “Bills bonds” available for Western New Yorkers, Bills fans and other “small investors” to “purchase on the retail market.” This will allow residents to “directly buy tax-exempt municipal bonds to help finance the stadium construction.” The retail sale to individual Bills bond buyers “will be only on Sept. 23,” the day before the “flood gates open to all other outside investors.” The bonds will “help finance the county’s obligation to pay” $250M toward stadium construction. Half is being paid in cash. The remaining $125M is “being paid through these bonds.” But buying Bills bonds is “much more complex than making an online Amazon purchase, and involves the use of a brokerage account.” They are also “expensive, and probably a no-go for many residents already facing the prospect of much higher stadium ticket prices.” Comptroller Kevin Hardwick noted that “you have to be willing to invest a minimum of $5,000.” Individual buyers “must set up a brokerage account with one of the firms participating in the initial bond sale.” That would be Jefferies, Ramirez & Co., TD Securities, Raymond James and J.P. Morgan (BUFFALO NEWS, 8/26).
EVERYTHING AND MORE: In Buffalo, Michael Petro writes hotels “up to five stories high,” restaurants, pubs, cafes, retail and boutique shops, are a few things Orchard Park officials “would like to see” come around the Bills’ $1.7B new stadium. Other developments include projects that “mix commercial space with townhomes and condominiums,” and “other forms of entertainment, some family friendly.” Orchard Park will “try to accomplish it with the help of a new zoning district,” which officials “hope ignites development in areas that have otherwise been mostly stagnant for years.” A public hearing on the proposed amendment establishing the new zoning district will take place Oct. 2. The town is “trying to take advantage of the opportunity that will come with the draw of having a new stadium.” Orchard Park Councilman Joseph Liberti mentioned that he heard the stadium “could host more than 100 events each year, including concerts, soccer games, college and prep athletics and seminars and events.” The Bills also have submitted a proposal to “bring the NFL draft to the area in either 2028 or 2029” (BUFFALO NEWS, 8/26).