Now, the IDA has written to Uniland CEO Michael J. Montante seeking data on where the hotel’s guests come from and the project’s effect on how the Northtown Center is used. Depending on the company’s answer, the agency could cancel the project’s tax breaks and direct Uniland to refund previously awarded incentives. The IDA board “will have discretion to terminate moving forward, but also has the ability to go back and recapture a portion, or all, of what was provided depending on the violation of a material term,” said David Mingoia, the agency’s executive director and CEO. In response, Uniland officials insisted the hotel project has lived up to the requirements set in place by the IDA. “We continue to work with the Town of Amherst regarding matters at the Hampton Inn Buffalo–Amherst and have every expectation that the information provided will show that the hotel has been successful in bringing sport tourism to Amherst and the Northtown Center,” Uniland spokesman Ryan Weisz said in an email.
Project wins incentives
Uniland in 2017 announced it would construct a 105-room, four-story hotel at 1601 Amherst Manor, off Millersport Highway. Amherst wanted a hotel built on a 3-acre parcel next to the rink complex, but Uniland was the only developer to respond to a request for proposals. The following year, however, Uniland said it couldn’t move forward unless the Amherst IDA issued $1.15 million in property, sales and mortgage-recording tax breaks to offset the hotel’s $14.4 million cost. Under state law, hotels and retail projects generally aren’t eligible for tax incentives.
However, Uniland said the hotel, connected to the Northtown Center, would draw more youth and amateur hockey players and their families to Amherst. The company also said the hotel’s universal design and accessibility would attract sled-hockey tournaments to the Northtown Center. Critics said there were already enough hotels around the North Campus, and Amherst didn’t need to subsidize another one.
The IDA board of directors debated the request before approving the tax breaks in July 2018 with a single no vote. The Hampton Inn opened in July 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Uniland sued Amherst in August after the town closed a section of Amherst Manor Drive that directly connected to Millersport Highway. The town closed the road at the recommendation of the state Department of Transportation to make way for construction of the nearby 716 Health medical complex. This eliminated the most direct connection from the Hampton Inn to the UB North Campus. However, town officials pointed out, hotel guests still can reach the campus by driving a little out of their way.
Uniland argued that the town did not follow proper procedure and the move would harm the hotel. “The site’s hospitality use was targeted due to the site’s location in close proximity to the SUNY Campus and the Hampton Inn–Amherst largely services customers associated with the college in some capacity,” the company wrote. This statement caught the eye of Amherst Supervisor Brian J. Kulpa, who previously told The Buffalo News it raised questions about whether the hotel has functioned as a true “tourism destination.”. “That was not the situation they represented when they asked for tax abatements,” Kulpa said last week.
Hotel data sought
The IDA recently sent the letter with a list of questions about the Hampton Inn to Uniland officials. The letter is dated Sept. 12, but was never delivered by the Postal Service. Agency staff delivered it by hand on Oct. 13, Mingoia said. Uniland has met several provisions of the tax-incentive deal, such as completing construction of the hotel and hiring the promised number of employees. But, Mingoia said, the language in the lawsuit obligates the agency to follow up with the company on other components of the agreement. “We felt, because of the kind of attention that’s been brought to the matter, it makes sense for us to do a formal inquiry,” he said.
For example, the IDA asked Uniland to show how many of the hotel’s guests have come from beyond Erie, Niagara and three other area counties to attend Northtown Center events. The bulk of the letter seeks information on whether the opening of the hotel has attracted more national hockey tournaments and training sessions here. The agency reminded Uniland of the projections it made about various USA Hockey programs – particularly sled hockey and others that serve skaters with disabilities – committing to hold events at the town ice complex. The letter asks Uniland to document the efforts the company made to bring the programs to the hotel and which, if any, have taken place.
“There has to be a causal link there,” Mingoia said. “There has to be some type of increase that the facility itself provides.”. Mingoia said the Amherst IDA does monitor company compliance. However, it is rarer for the agency to act after determining a recipient has violated provisions of a tax-break agreement. Most recently, in August, the agency’s board voted to end its agreement with Bureau Veritas after the consumer products testing company failed to keep the promised number of full-time local jobs. The provisions at issue in the Hampton Inn project agreement are less straightforward, Mingoia said, but require examination.
Uniland has 30 days to reply. An IDA board committee will review the information before the full board takes it up, Mingoia said. The board could take one of a number of actions, up to and including ending the tax-break agreement and ordering Uniland to pay back the value of previously earned incentives. The News asked Uniland if it could provide the data requested by the IDA, but the company said it still was in the process of gathering it. The town declined to provide information on USA Hockey’s use of the Northtown Center, saying it would defer to Uniland or the IDA to release the data.
Amherst, Kulpa noted, has made its own efforts to attract USA Hockey events. The supervisor said he looks forward to seeing Uniland’s response, and he is glad the IDA is taking action. “They’ve been taking this very seriously, and I want to let them go through their process,” Kulpa said.
