Since the announcement a few years ago that the Buffalo Bills will build a new stadium in Orchard Park, Mark Lester has received inquiries about selling his large Big Tree Road property – popular for game day parking – and several of his surrounding lands neighboring Highmark Stadium.
For a while, Lester wasn’t interested. But then he discovered how much his property might be worth.
It started when the 8-acre property – known as the Mud Lot – across from Lester’s Yellow Brick Parking lot sold for $2 million earlier this year to an entity affiliated with the Buffalo Bills.
Suddenly, Lester was interested. He recently listed his nearly 6-acre property in early October for $3.5 million.
And he’s not alone. The owner of Kettles bar and restaurant near the stadium also is thinking about putting the property she owns up for sale next year.
“There’s a lot going on out here, so I thought now might be the time to sell,” Lester said.
Highmark Stadium spawned very little commercial development during its 50 years of use – and some nearby landowners remain skeptical that the new facility will do much to change that.
But with a $1.7 billion new stadium now under construction next door, some of the owners of the homes and event parking lots nearby are interested in finding out just how much a buyer would be willing to pay, especially if they’re developers eyeing the potential for taking on ventures around the new facility.
Orchard Park officials already are looking for ways to make the properties around the stadium more appealing for commercial development.
The Town Board is examining the possibility of a zoning change around the new stadium that would allow for more commercial development in an area that has remained relatively stagnant since the Bills first moved to town in 1973.
The sale of the Mud Lot parcel at 5330 Big Tree Road was the first indication that properties around the new stadium have a new appeal. That…
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