HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Town of Hamburg is giving the public a new look at what could eventually be built around Highmark Stadium.
The town is considering conceptual designs for the area around the Erie Community College South Campus. Documents show potential housing, restaurants, retail, green space and entertainment.
The concepts were created by Progressive Companies, an outside planning firm. Town officials stress that the renderings are conceptual and do not represent a final development proposal.
Instead, the town says the ideas are intended to help show what it wants to see around the stadium and give potential developers a starting point.
WATCH: New renderings show what could rise next to Highmark Stadium
The town's project goals call for a walkable, mixed use neighborhood with year round activity and specifically call for bringing activity to the area beyond game days.
The planning document includes examples of what that could mean, including high density mixed use development, an outdoor amphitheater and a hotel. It also identifies potential medical, entertainment and office uses as possible drivers of activity.
The two concepts offer different visions for how that development could be arranged.
One includes a larger amount of green space and a mix of buildings surrounding pedestrian areas.
The other shows a denser development with more buildings and entertainment spaces.
Josh Rogers, a planning consultant for the Town of Hamburg, said the town wants to make sure its planning work translates into actual development.
"Everybody puts up a plan, but a lot of times they just sit vacant, they collect dust and nothing ever happens," he said.
"We don't expect the development to look exactly like what's put there," Rogers explained.
It is still unclear when and if this plan could happen.
The concepts focus on the area surrounding the ECC South Campus, but the property itself has not yet gone up for sale.
An Erie County spokesperson told 7 News it that they are looking into when the property could be put on the market.
That means the renderings are still very much a vision for the future.
The town's planning documents identify the potential reuse of the community college property as one of the opportunities around the stadium.
You can view all of the renderings on the Town of Hamburg's October 5, 2026 meeting agenda by clicking this link.
For now, Hamburg is trying to establish what it wants that future to look like: a development that complements Highmark Stadium, but does not depend on it.
