Vacant Erie County property to become industrial marijuana farm

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Erie County lawmakers approved the sale of the former Erie County Home on Thursday, clearing the way for a new cannabis farm.

The 153-acre property has sat vacant for the last 20 years. Back in the 1920s, the Erie County home located on Walden Avenue served as a nursing facility.

But for the last two decades, the main buildings and surrounding structures have been unoccupied, creating a blight in the Town of Alden.

"We put it on the market in 2017 with an official broker under contract," said Republican Legislator Frank Todaro. "We just received tire kickers. Nothing feasible that was going to make sense."

That was until Ryan Rich and Luke Rich came along. The brothers currently work in the cannabis industry and have a successful facility in New Jersey.

They proposed turning the vacant land into a $40 million industrial marijuana farm. The Erie County Legislature unanimously approved the sale of the property Thursday morning.

"They've had many choices to locate other properties in Western New York, and Alden was one of their top choices," said Todaro. "They saw that it was a beautiful piece of property, yet it's sitting there vacant and they wanted to give something back to the community."

The two men only had to pay $1 for the property, as cleanup and removal of asbestos will cost them at least $10 million.

"The developers will do phases. They will abate the asbestos and utilize some of the buildings in addition to building a new one," said Todaro. "But they have plans in the future to utilize that property for the community."

Todaro said the construction will be done by local contractors and bring new jobs to the area.

The goal is for the property to be transferred in time for the developer to pour concrete footings by this fall. This way construction can continue throughout the winter.