Delaware North, reinvented | June changes the trajectory of the $1M home market

In January, Delaware North's three CEOs climbed onto snowmobiles near Vail, Colorado, for a live companywide town hall meeting.

The move by the three Jacobs brothers represented much more than a photo op: A year prior, the company had completed the acquisition of Nova Guides, a Red Cliff, Colorado-based outdoor recreation and adventure tour business, making Delaware North one of the nation’s largest snowmobile tour operators.

The deal was part of a decade-long shift by the Buffalo-based company to expand its owned operations, decrease reliance on contract work and allow better control of its destiny, said Jeremy “Jerry” Jacobs Jr., who shares the CEO title with his brothers Lou and Charlie.

That intentional shift has helped the company manage growth and minimize the impact of low-bid business deals like the Buffalo Bills' stadium concessions contract, which will transition away from Delaware North when the new stadium opens in 2026.

“The portfolio is changing, and that’s not bad,” Lou said. “We’re continuing to want to have real assets and continue to grow and have what I would characterize as intergenerational assets. The contracts are important, they’re important to our legacy and culture, important that’s the foundation you build upon, but by definition, every day you turn a contract you’ve got less time to be in that business.”

The changing business model was among several topics the Jerry and Lou touched on during a recent sit-down interview with Buffalo Business First where they shared how Buffalo’s second largest private company has bounced back from the pandemic, and what lies ahead.

"We were raised as operators; it’s in our blood," Jerry said. "And now we have to learn how to be owners. It’s a different role and a different scope and purpose to what we were doing. We’re in the process of learning.”

Click here to read more from Tracey Drury's cover story.

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June's $1M home sales put 2024 on pace to beat 2023

A slow but strong start to 2024's million-dollar home sales has this year pacing to beat last year's record-breaking tally.

So far, there have been 29 million-dollar home sales in Erie County, compared to 26 this time last year.

“I do expect (sales) to continue to increase,” said Alina Pierowicz , founder of Verax Real Estate LLC. | Read more

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Robots, a giant dome and $500M coming to Lewiston

Removing all the World War II-era nuclear waste from Lewiston will require the construction — and subsequent decommissioning — of an entire industrial complex.

The project, part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, will cost between $500 million and $600 million, and even after years of planning, it's just getting started. | Read more

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$40M earmarked for Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse tech hub

The Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region has been awarded $40 million to create a semiconductor superhighway along Interstate 90. The tri-city region was one of 12 winners of a piece of $504 million in implementation grants | Read more

Plus, an East Aurora-based aerospace company has landed a $215 million contract, and the founder of 22nd Century has launched a new company in Niagara Falls.

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Big-city background spotlights Buffalo's high-end homes

Buffalo – a great city for architecture but not an area known for being ahead of the curve. That’s where Matthew Digati comes in.

The architectural photographer, who founded Buffalo Homes Media & Marketing, aims to push the Queen City into the future, representing its most impressive architecture in the best way possible. | Read more

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Buffalo's top auto dealer is ...

West Herr Automotive Group again ranked No. 1 on the annual Western New York Auto Dealers List, ranked by new car sales in 2023 — and it recorded a 7% increase in new car sales last year as it did so. | Read more

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Inside a new Lake Erie beach resort

Just weeks after opening for business, Hideaway Bay Resort is almost completely booked for the summer season.

The beach resort opened on the Lake Erie shoreline in the Village of Silver Creek. The $2 million project was built on the site of the former Hideaway Bay restaurant, which was destroyed by fire in early 2020. | Read more

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This Weekly Edition was compiled by Sara Paulson Meehan. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Send them to smeehan@bizjournals.com.