The School of Architecture and Planning has joined with Erie County Medical Center Corporation (ECMCC) to launch “Building Together,” a partnership to engage community input in the medical center’s redevelopment of the long-vacant, 17-acre Kensington Heights property.

In 2018, ECMCC purchased the site of the former Kensington Heights public housing complex, which sits on the western border of the medical center’s existing 65-acre health campus, and has stated that any future reuse would be informed by the community.

Building Together’s 16-member Community Advisory Committee of neighborhood and community stakeholders, which began convening in March, will shape a redevelopment process that both supports the health care mission of ECMCC and meets the needs and aspirations of the local community.

The UB Regional Institute will support the community-engagement process over the next several months and provide supporting research.

Outreach to residents and businesses in the surrounding area has already begun. Community members can complete an online survey to share their comments on the site or schedule a special session with the Building Together project team, which will be tabling and engaging with the neighborhood throughout the summer. 

“The Kensington Heights site has transformative potential for both ECMCC and the surrounding East Side community,” says UB Architecture Dean Robert Shibley, who will play a lead role in the process. “We commend ECMCC for having the vision and foresight to inform the redevelopment process with the knowledge, insight and perspective of the community.”

Adds ECMCC President and CEO Thomas J. Quatroche Jr.: “Building Together is a truly unique and exciting opportunity to develop a community-led process for the planning and redevelopment of the Kensington Heights property, which will turn this long-vacant land back into productive reuse for years to come.”