For years, a single infrastructure constraint stood between one of Western New York's most ambitious redevelopment visions and a shovel in the ground: the sewer system along Transit Road couldn't support it. That changed in February 2026, when New York State allocated a $30 million capital grant for the Transit Road corridor sanitary sewer upgrades project — committing the public funding needed to make the Eastern Hills Town Center a buildable proposition.

The Project: A 100-Acre Mall Becoming a Mixed-Use Village

The Eastern Hills Town Center is Uniland Development Company and Mountain Development Corp.'s plan to transform the shuttered Eastern Hills Mall in Clarence into Western New York's first walkable, mixed-use town center. Located on approximately 100 acres at the Clarence/Amherst border — between Main Street, Transit Road, and Sheridan Drive — the full buildout envisions:

• ~1,500 residential units
• ~1,000,000 square feet of office and medical space
• Restaurants, retail, hotels, and a park for outdoor events
• A walkable, 10-minute-walk-to-amenities design modeled on lifestyle center concepts

The mall's interior closed approximately two years ago to allow partial demolition and site preparation. In summer 2025, Uniland received concept approval and State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) approval from the Clarence Planning Board — a major milestone that finalized the master plan site approval process. Phase one will include residential offerings, restaurants, entertainment, green space, and office space, though Uniland has not yet announced a formal construction start date.

The Infrastructure Barrier — and the Grant

The existing sanitary sewer capacity along Transit Road is insufficient to support the density planned for Eastern Hills, as well as for other proposed redevelopments in the corridor. The 10-year, multi-project sewer upgrade plan is projected at $29.6 million in 2023 dollars (with inflation escalation likely). The state's $30 million capital grant directly addresses this gap, with Erie County's sewer district taking the lead on execution. The county has already committed $3 million for engineering in its 2025 consolidated bond resolution, and JMDavidson Engineering D.P.C. was selected in fall 2025 to begin field information gathering and design.

A separate, prerequisite project — the "Parallel Peanut Line Sewer" — estimated at $5 million to $6 million, must be bid and completed before the main Transit Road sewer upgrades can proceed. The Town of Amherst, Town of Clarence, and Erie County Sewer District No. 5 have already executed a cost-sharing agreement for that work. That sewer line is currently under NYSDEC review, with construction bidding hoped for later in 2026.

Despite these commitments, Erie County communications director Peter Anderson confirmed that construction on the main sewer project is not anticipated to start before 2028, pending significant engineering work and approvals from NYSDOT and NYSDEC. Uniland's vice president of marketing, Carl Montante Jr., called the grant "the kind of forward-looking public investment that strengthens our region both today and for generations to come."

What This Means for Construction Volume

The sewer work alone represents a multi-year construction program. Combined with the phased private development it enables, Eastern Hills is the kind of generational project that creates a decade-long construction pipeline. Consider the scope of horizontal site work alone: a 100-acre site requiring full demolition of a mall building, new street networks, underground utility systems, stormwater management, and site grading before a single residential or commercial building goes vertical.

• Total development potential: $250+ million (private, multi-phase)
• Public sewer infrastructure grant: $30 million (NYS capital grant)
• Peanut Line Sewer prerequisite: $5–6 million (Amherst/Clarence/Erie County cost-share)
• Site: Eastern Hills Mall, Clarence, NY (Clarence/Amherst border, Transit Road corridor)
• Developers: Uniland Development Company; Mountain Development Corp. (MDC)
• Engineering: JMDavidson Engineering D.P.C. (sewer design)
• SEQR approval: Clarence Planning Board, summer 2025
• Sewer construction anticipated: No earlier than 2028
• Phase 1 private construction: Timeline not yet announced; "as quickly as possible"

Why This Matters Beyond Sewer Lines

The Eastern Hills project has broader implications for the WNY construction market. The Transit Road corridor is one of the region's highest-traffic commercial strips, and the Eastern Hills site sits near major institutions including UB's North and South Campuses. Beyond Eastern Hills, the sewer upgrade will unlock additional development capacity for Eastern Transit Plaza and other Transit Road properties currently blocked by the same infrastructure constraint. Town of Amherst Supervisor Shawn Lavin — who took office after the sewer grant was announced — characterized the corridor's transformation as something the community has "worked hard to get into this position."

For contractors, the phased nature of this project means the most accessible near-term work is the sewer and horizontal infrastructure scope. Vertical construction of residential and commercial buildings is likely a 2028–2029 and beyond story for most of the site, with Phase 1 potentially advancing earlier on portions already permitted.

What to Watch Next

The key immediate milestone is NYSDEC approval of the Parallel Peanut Line Sewer, which would trigger bid advertisement for that prerequisite work — the first shovel-ready piece of the Eastern Hills infrastructure puzzle. After that, watch for JMDavidson Engineering's design progress on the main sewer project and Erie County's advertisement for construction bids, expected no earlier than 2028. On the private development side, Uniland has indicated a formal Phase 1 construction announcement is anticipated "in the months ahead" — a signal that tenant commitments and financing are advancing behind the scenes.

Bottom Line

The $30 million state sewer grant is not a groundbreaking — it is the removal of the fundamental infrastructure constraint that has blocked one of Western New York's most significant redevelopment sites for years. Eastern Hills Town Center, at full buildout, would reshape a 100-acre suburban site into a dense mixed-use neighborhood of a type that does not currently exist in the region. For the construction industry, it represents a long-horizon, multi-phase pipeline. The public infrastructure work begins first. The private vertical construction follows. Both are now funded and cleared to proceed — just on a timeline measured in years, not months.

Sources:
Mountain Development Corp.: $30M Grant Clears Path for Eastern Hills Mall Redevelopment (February 16, 2026)
Uniland Development: Eastern Hills Town Center Project Page
Buffalo Business First: $29.6M Sewer Overhaul Challenges Mall Redevelopment (September 2024)