Budding prospects for Erie County Home site

ALDEN. For more than two decades, the sprawling brick complex at 11580 Walden Avenue has stood largely empty. Once the Erie County Home and Infirmary, the 152-acre property fell quiet after operations ended, fenced off while officials struggled to attract a buyer willing to take on asbestos and other structural problems.

That long dormancy is giving way to a redevelopment plan. Under an agreement with Erie County, the property was sold for a nominal dollar to the developers behind the North Eastern Alliance Redevelopment Project. According to the developers’ application to the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA), the private investment is about $33.1 million. Plans call for an approximately 57,933-square-foot cannabis cultivation, processing, and distribution facility on roughly five acres behind the older structures. The applicant, 11580 Walden Ave LLC, would lease the facility to North Eastern Alliance LLC.

Although the town of Alden opted to ban retail and on-site consumption lounges in Local Law 3, in 2021, cannabis cultivation, processing, and wholesale operations are not included in that ban. Since news that cannabis is coming has stirred curiosity, skepticism, and relief that something is finally planned for the parcel. As the proposal put forth by the ECIDA states there will be no sales or customer access to the site, it was not covered under the ban.

At the Town of Alden Planning Board meeting on Sept. 9, 2025, project representatives addressed concerns about traffic, odor, and safety. Meeting minutes show developers described a sealed operation with charcoal-filtered, recycled air and no outdoor venting - “more of a laboratory than a greenhouse.” Traffic is expected to be light, with about one commercial truck per day and workers split across two shifts.

In a statement provided to local media, Ryan and Luke Rich, partners in the development venture, said: “We are extremely excited to bring this project to Erie County and the Town of Alden. … This project is not a dispensary, rather it will bring the region to the forefront of cannabis cultivation in a safe, extremely secure, and economically impactful manner; all while redeveloping a long-dormant local property.”

For county officials it seems the site’s sale both reduced the financial liability of addressing the disrepair and bringing local agricultural and manufacturing jobs to the area. Erie County legislator, Frank Todaro, whose district includes Alden, has called the shuttered home an “eyesore and a long-running burden for the county and local residents” in a 2025 news release published on his office’s official website. In published interviews discussing the proposal, Todaro also pointed to the prospect of higher-wage jobs at the facility.

Although construction and development of the new business are currently underway, the long-term plan for mitigating the existing facility remains uncertain. At the Sept. 9 Planning Board meeting, Ryan Rich said the first priority is developing the new cultivation building, with landscaping and security for the front of the property while the team decides what to do with the older structures. Because the vacant structures on the site demand environmental remediation and asbestos abatement, these iconic buildings are expected to remain standing for the foreseeable future.

With construction now moving forward, the coming months will reveal how quickly the new facility takes shape and comes online. For Alden, the transformation represents a long-awaited chapter of renewed purpose and economic activity.