$9.2 Million of Tax Credits for Expansion of Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY
October 18, 2013
Building America CDE, Inc., is providing $9.2 million of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) to help finance construction of a $46.3 million Clinical Science Center at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute on Buffalo’s east side. The new Clinical Science Center will enable the cancer institute to meet the growing demand for both in-patient and out-patient services.
The 11-story building will offer new patient screening, out-patient clinics, team diagnostic space, and other clinical and administrative services, including targeted cancer screening and counseling for high-risk, medically underserved populations in the surrounding low-income community. Building America is a subsidiary of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust.
The 142,000-square-foot development is expected to generate 210 on-site union construction jobs. It will also help support 340 permanent jobs in the new facility, including staff represented by the Public Employees Federation and the Civil Service Employee Association. Designed to be environmentally sustainable, the project will meet or exceed the New York State Energy Code and will seek LEED Silver designation.
“We welcome the construction work this project will bring to Buffalo, at a time when we greatly need the jobs,” said Paul Brown, President of the Buffalo and Vicinity Building and Construction Trades Council. “Roswell is an important institution in our area, and we look forward to helping it expand through this new state-of-the-art addition.”
Roswell Park is a New York State-supported cancer research, treatment, and educational institution, whose revenues are invested back into its clinical, scientific, and educational missions. Founded in 1898 as America’s first cancer center, today it is at the forefront of cancer care and research as a National Cancer Institute-designated “Comprehensive Cancer Center.”
The neighborhood where the new Clinical Science Center will be located has a poverty rate almost four times the national average and unemployment that is more than 1.5 times the national rate. The neighborhood is designated an Economic Development Hot Zone and a federal Renewal Community Zone, qualifying the project for NMTCs.
The new Clinical Science Center will significantly increase access for members of this community to medical treatment, prevention services, and mammography and high-risk population screenings. Expanded programs will include 10,000 on-site mammogram screenings annually; the creation of a Cancer Survivorship Program; a 100% expansion of space for the Institute’s Department of Cancer Prevention and Control; and expansion of the Institute’s High Risk Clinic and the Chemotherapy Infusion Clinic.
“The Roswell Park Cancer Institute is not only a source of critical healthcare services for residents of western New York – it is also a major engine driving the region’s economy,” said Eric Price, Building America’s CEO. “Support for the new clinical center helps assure that Roswell can continue to grow as a regional institution as it expands its preeminent care to low-income and at-risk groups. We are proud to be part of this effort.”
As a public benefit corporation, Roswell Park operates primarily through funding from private and governmental contracts, grants, and donations. To build the new Clinical Service Center, financing includes a total of $30.5 million in New Markets Tax Credits provided by Building America and three other Community Development Entities (CDEs), plus donations and sponsor equity.