- New York state allocated $30 million for Transit Road sewer upgrades.
- Uniland Development Co. plans a mixed-use Eastern Hills Mall redevelopment.
- Construction on the sewer project will not start before 2028.
Plans to redevelop the Eastern Hills Mall have cleared a huge – $30 million – hurdle. But years of work are still ahead to pave the way for redevelopment along part of Transit Road.
The state allocated a $30 million capital grant for the Transit Road corridor sanitary sewer upgrades project. The 10-year, multi-project plan, projected in 2023 dollars to be $29.6 million, is needed for multiple redevelopment proposals along that stretch of Transit, including the Eastern Hills Mall. With inflation, that price tag could go up.
Uniland Development Co.’s proposed plan for the Eastern Hills site includes a mixed-use makeover with office, residential, medical, shopping, dining, recreational and civic areas. The about 100-acre campus would be a village-like, walkable destination that could be a huge win for Clarence and the region.
The current sewer capacity is also stalling other proposed development, such as the vision for Eastern Transit Plaza to include seven two-story townhome buildings, each with four units, and a standalone drive-thru restaurant.
The county included upfront costs of $3 million for the engineering work in a 2025 consolidated bond resolution, and JMDavidson Engineering D.P.C. was selected in fall 2025 to begin gathering field information for engineering analysis and design.
Despite the $30 million grant, the soonest the county anticipates construction starting for the sewer project is 2028, according to Peter Anderson, director of communications for the Office of the Erie County executive.
“Significant” engineering work must be completed, as well as approvals required from the state Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Conservation.
A separate but related project called the “Parallel Peanut Line Sewer” also must be completed before the Transit Road sanitary sewer updates can take place. That peanut line sewer work is projected to cost between $5 million and $6 million. The Town of Amherst, Town of Clarence and Erie County Sewer District No. 5 have already created a cost sharing agreement for that construction, Anderson said.
“The ‘Parallel Peanut Line Sewer’ project is presently under review by the NYSDEC, and it is hoped that construction will be bid later this year,” he said in an email to Business First.
Funding like the grant for the sewer work is the type of “forward-looking public investment” that strengthens Western New York, according to Carl Montante Jr., Uniland’s vice president of marketing and strategic initiatives.
“For the future of the Eastern Hills Town Center, this public funding commitment for new sewers positions the site for significant private sector investment, especially new multifamily residential development,” he said.
The developer’s plan got concept approval and State Environmental Quality Review approval from the Clarence Planning Board in summer 2025.
Phase one will include a mix of residential offerings, restaurants, entertainment uses, green space and office space.
The developer doesn’t have a timeline for starting phase one work to share publicly but the goal is to start as quickly as possible, with a formal announcement anticipated in the months ahead, according to Ryan Weisz, Uniland senior marketing manager.
The Clarence mall’s interior closed about two years ago to clear the way for partial demolition and redevelopment of the property.