Planning Board hosts NFR hearing

I wasn’t able to attend, but the city council chambers were full Wednesday night for a public hearing on the proposed data center Niagara Falls Redevelopment would like to build on property it owns near Falls Street and John Daly Boulevard.

The Urbacon Data Center would ultimately cost about $1.5 billion and would generate millions in tax revenue for the city and school district.

It would be the single largest new construction project since NYPA built its power plant in Lewiston after the privately owned and fully taxed Schoellkopf plant slid into the river taking with it about 25% of the city’s tax base.

Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino has said repeatedly he does not believe NFR’s plans are real but are instead a response to his administration’s plan to build a $200 million multi-purpose event center.

Restaino has identified a site owned by NFR a half-mile from the entertainment district and adjacent to the Seneca Niagara Casino as the best location for Centennial Park.

A feasibility study released by the Mayor last month addressed the proposed facility’s operations budget but not the cost of financing.

It addressed siting but only included one alternative site, the Rainbow Mall.

The next step is for the planning board to host a work session with NFR representatives to discuss the project before ultimately making a recommendation to the city council.

In the scale of private development, Rainbow Air’s recently opened Tourism Center, coming in at about $25 million was the largest hospitality industry development in recent years. The new Cambria Hotel cost about $18 million.

The renovation of Hotel Niagara is supposedly going to start later this year at a cost of $68 million.

Shawn Weber's take

(Editor’s note: Below is a letter submitted to the planning board by Shawn Weber, of the Jefferson Apartments and Wine on Third, an actual entrepreneur investing in the community.)

This letter is directed to the City of Niagara Falls Planning Board

For the meeting held July 30th, 2025 at 6 pm.

Let me be blunt: Niagara Falls is at a breaking point. We’re not teetering

on the edge, we're already slipping. Main Street is dead. Pine Avenue is

dying. Downtown is a shell of what it should be. And all the while, the

State of New York continues to extract wealth from this city while

giving us pennies in return.

We all know the truth, even if no one wants to say it out loud: the State

has confiscated our most valuable assets, the Falls, the Power Authority,

the Casino, the Parks, and turned them into revenue streams for Albany.

They market Niagara Falls to the world, cash the checks, and leave the

city itself to rot.

Frankly, every elected official in New York State should be ashamed of

what Niagara Falls has become. And every time they boast about how

much tourism or hydro revenue they generate from this area, they should

be reminded of what’s actually happening here on the ground: vacant

buildings, failing infrastructure, increased crime, businesses moving out

of the city or closing all together, a shrinking population, and a

community that has been ignored for decades.

Now, we’re being presented with two major projects that could finally

turn the tide: Centennial Park and the Niagara Digital Campus.

Centennial Park isn’t just a playground. It’s an opportunity to bring life

and energy back to our downtown, to give residents something to take

pride in, and to create a reason for families, events, and investment to

return. Although I do not agree with the proposed site choice, I strongly

support the concept.

The Niagara Digital Campus isn’t just a business park. It’s a chance to

pull this city into the modern economy, to finally create good-paying

jobs, broaden our tax base, and attract an entirely new sector of

opportunity.

Let me be clear: I’m not speaking on the feasibility of either project. But

that doesn’t matter, not right now. What matters is that we fight. We

fight like hell to make them both happen. Because Niagara Falls can’t

afford to settle for one or the other. We need both. We deserve both.

And we should demand both. Tax revenue from the Digital Campus

could help support Centennial Park.

And if New York State has any interest in repairing the damage it’s done

to this city, they should be stepping up, not standing in the way, not

stalling, not hiding behind red tape or political convenience. They owe

us.

To this Planning Board, I’ll say this: you are not just reviewing

development proposals, you’re standing at the intersection of what

Niagara Falls has been and what it could still become. You have a role in

shaping the future of this city, and that future will be defined by whether

we act with boldness or shrink with caution.

It’s time to stop asking politely. It’s time to stop waiting for someone

else to care. It’s time to make it crystal clear that we’re not interested in

managing decline, we’re here to rebuild.

Fight for Centennial Park. Fight for the Digital Campus. Fight for this

city.

Thank you

Shawn Weber

Jefferson Apartments and Wine on Third