BUFFALO—The Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation (BERC) Board of Directors recently approved the hiring of Young and Wright Architects to work on the transformation of the former East Utica Library into a future business incubator. Young and Wright has worked with the BERC in the past on the Commercial Area Revitalization Effort (CARE) program.

Young and Wright will provide Architectural and Engineering Services for the former East Utica Library. This 7,450 square foot, former public library is will be converted into business incubator space for professional service businesses serving a low-income area on Buffalo’s East Side. This is in addition to the Jefferson Avenue Marketplace, which is a retail business incubator.

“This incubator is geared toward professional services,” said Mayor Byron W. Brown, Chairman of the BERC Board of Directors. “We are hoping to attract accountants, lawyers, and other professional services to the new incubator on East Utica near Jefferson Avenue, which will provide area entrepreneurs and business owners with the type of professional services that can help their individual businesses.”

A Request For Proposal (RFP) was issued for the architecture services for the project. The East Utica Library closed after the new Francis E. Merriweather Library opened last year on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and East Utica. Work on the new business incubator is expected to begin in the spring 2007.


Businesses interested in space should contact the BERC at 851-5035 or via email at start@berc.org.