Buffalo, NY — Playter Gardens, an ambitious $20 million affordable housing development in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood, is nearing completion with 65 residential units constructed on 35 previously vacant parcels. The project represents a significant revitalization effort for Buffalo's East Side, transforming a two-block stretch of Playter Street between Broadway and Paderewski Drive into vibrant mixed-income housing.
The Playter Gardens project demonstrates how strategic public-private partnerships and state funding can address urban blight and housing shortages. The development, led by SAA | EVI in partnership with CSD Housing LLC, brings much-needed residential options to a neighborhood that had struggled with decades of disinvestment and vacant properties.
The project includes:
Architect Passero Associates designed the project to balance density with neighborhood character, creating a mix of building types that provides housing options for families of different sizes and compositions.
The project received $550,000 in funding from the New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI), a program designed to help downtown neighborhoods build on their assets and become more vibrant, economically productive places to live and work.
This state investment catalyzed the full $20 million development, demonstrating the multiplier effect of strategic public funding in leveraging private capital. The affordable housing restriction means that for the next 30+ years, these 65 units will remain affordable to working families, protecting residents from displacement and ensuring long-term community stability.
Construction on Playter Street has progressed significantly, with four single-family homes now substantially complete and multi-family buildings in various stages of construction. The project follows careful phasing to maintain neighborhood access and minimize disruption to existing residents.
Income Restrictions: The affordable housing designation restricts occupancy to households earning no more than 60% of the Buffalo Metropolitan Statistical Area's median income. In 2025, this means:
By restricting affordability to this income band, the project serves working families who cannot access market-rate housing or compete for limited public housing resources.
The Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood has been a focal point of urban revitalization discussions in Buffalo for years. Like many historic urban neighborhoods, it experienced significant disinvestment, property abandonment, and population decline. Playter Gardens directly addresses three critical community needs:
1. Addressing the Housing Shortage: Buffalo faces acute shortages of affordable housing despite having abundant vacant land and buildings. Projects like Playter Gardens demonstrate that new construction on vacant sites can be economically viable with strategic public funding.
2. Keeping Housing Affordable: Without affordability restrictions, new development in revitalizing neighborhoods often displaces existing residents through rising rents and property taxes. The 30+ year affordability period ensures these 65 units remain accessible to working families.
3. Catalyzing Neighborhood Investment: New construction attracts additional private and public investment. The visual transformation of Playter Street — from vacant, overgrown lots to finished homes and apartments — changes neighborhood perception and encourages surrounding property investment.
Playter Gardens incorporates sustainable design elements that reduce long-term operating costs and environmental impact:
These features will reduce operating costs for the property manager and building residents, important given the affordability restrictions that limit revenue.
SAA | EVI and CSD Housing LLC bring experience in complex urban housing development. The partnership has successfully completed other notable projects in the region, including mixed-use developments and adaptive reuse projects that combine housing with community facilities.
The Playter Gardens project is expected to reach full completion in the coming months. Marketing to prospective residents will begin once initial units are move-in ready. The project team is working with local organizations to ensure that residents from the surrounding neighborhood have priority access to units.
Playter Gardens is one component of a broader East Side revitalization strategy that includes infrastructure improvements, small business development support, and workforce training programs. Local leaders hope the project will demonstrate the viability of new construction and catalyze additional investment in the Broadway-Fillmore and surrounding neighborhoods.
For prospective residents, application information will be available through the property management company once units are ready for lease. Priority consideration may be given to households with connections to the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood.
The successful completion of Playter Gardens will add 65 units of safe, healthy, affordable housing to Buffalo's stock — a critical step toward addressing the housing crisis while building neighborhood stability and community wealth. For more information on affordable housing opportunities in Buffalo, contact the City of Buffalo or the Buffalo Rising community development resource.
NYC construction superintendents now limited to one primary job effective January 1, 2026. Transition deadline January 1, 2027. Competent person allowance ends same date.
Buffalo Central Terminal Phase II construction reaches halfway point on $33M restoration. Concourse reopening, plaza expansion, structural stabilization advance through 2027.
Angelo Ingrassia's $46.3M Colgate Rochester Divinity development creates 136 housing units. Historic campus transformation with COMIDA tax incentives. Public hearing Jan 15, board vote Jan 20.
.svg)
