Buffalo News
As part of the land-sale agreement with the Buffalo Urban Development Corp. , Zephyr agreed to comply with the city's standard requirements of 25% participation by minority-owned and 5% for women-owned businesses in the construction. To ensure compliance, Zephyr and BUDC agreed to set up an independent monitor, Landon & Rian Enterprises , to work with Zephyr on-site and track the developer's progress.
According to the BUDC, the project and its general contractor, RP Oak Hill Building Co. , are currently meeting the target for women-owned businesses, but is well below the 25% goal for minority firms, at just 5%.
There is no "recapture" clause in the land-sale agreement, said BUDC President Brandye Merriweather . However, the monitor is still putting together its final report, as the first building in the project is close to being completed but isn't done yet, with a couple of jobs still being bid, as well as some change orders.
"I don't know all the details yet with respect to why the number came up short," she said. "Were they having trouble getting people? Were people working on other jobs? That's what I'm waiting to get from the monitor."
But Ryan Herrell , Zephyr senior vice president for development, said the most recent audit of minority and women workforce goals "measures a small portion of the anticipated overall construction activity of our multi-phase project."
Merriweather said part of the problem may be that the work was delayed so long after the initial agreement that Zephyr and Landon & Rian couldn't get the firms and workers they needed. And BUDC officials say they are hoping for improvements in the later phases of the project, as more buildings are constructed.
"They're looking to make up the rest working with the compliance monitor," Merriweather said. "We know they'll likely be below. I just don't have the final number yet. Obviously, we'd be looking to connect with them on trying to get those numbers up on future phases."
It also could be yet another indication of the challenge that companies are having on a range of projects locally, as the Buffalo Bills' new $1.6 billion stadium project in Orchard Park sucks up much of the available labor and contractor supply.
"People can't get contractors because of the stadium," said David Nasca , CEO of Evans Bancorp .
It's also not just in the immediate area. "These conversations are going on outside Erie County ," said Thomas Kucharski , CEO of Invest Buffalo Niagara, the region's economic development organization. " Great Lakes Cheese has the same problem [in Cattaraugus County ]. The Amazon facility in Niagara County will start soon. It's a capacity issue."
Herrell acknowledged that "the construction market in Buffalo is impacted by the stadium project," but said Zephyr and RP Oak Hill "continue to engage with many MWBE contractors."
"With the help of BUDC and its consultant, Landon & Rian, we look to work collaboratively to get as close to the stated goal as possible," he added.
Zephyr is constructing a sprawling complex for marijuana cultivation and manufacturing, using 72.4 acres of vacant land in the Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park , just off Tifft Street , east of Route 5 .
Plans ultimately call for creating more than 1.38 million square feet of building space to grow marijuana plants, make a variety of products and conduct medical research — including on the potential benefits for cancer patients. The farm will be capable of growing more than $19 million of recreational pot — enough for more than 5 million joints or 20 million gummies each year.
But the developer and its partner, Toronto -based RIV Capital and U.S. subsidiary Etain LLC , will start small at first, focusing initially on 10.8 acres of land at 310 Ship Canal Parkway — of which only 5.3 acres can be used — and another 4.9 acres at 15 Laborers' Way . Both sites are north of the Union Ship Canal .
Zephyr is constructing a 68,275-square-foot manufacturing facility and a 7,076-square-foot office building, both single-story structures. The larger facility — reduced from the original plan of 136,000-square feet on two floors — will cultivate and process the cannabis into products that will be shipped throughout the state.
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