Proposed Bass Pro/Benderson adds up to over $130,000,000. Here's proof.

There is a lot of blather, froth, disinformation, wishful thinking, and a willing suspension of disbelief among local politicians and the small but powerful coterie that constitutes Buffalo's real estate/industrial complex about the supposed benefits of destroying the historic site of the Canal District and its future potential for a shopping center anchored by a Bass Pro. Let the truth set you free. Read the entire "Pre Development Agreement" (hype for the more prosaic Memorandum of Understanding; this is the second such MOU signed by Bass Pro and the Erie Canal Harbor Corporation). It is a fascinating look at the classic spoils system updated to the 21st century.

Click on the link below to download this second MOU between the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC - a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation, ESDC), big box category killer Bass Pro, and Benderson Development.  The dream of the Canal District becoming a real neighborhood again, embodied in the "People's Plan" of 2004 and being built now, would be forever dashed. The People's Plan, subject of a post below, can be downloaded there.

Download bass_probenderson_pda.pdf