Supporting UB’s Historic Move Downtown

Our role in securing land for the new medical school building enabled UB–and taxpayers–to save millions of dollars in construction-related costs.

UB’s decision to relocate the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to downtown Buffalo is transforming health care in Buffalo Niagara—and far beyond. Faculty and students now have access to state-of-the-art teaching resources. Leading hospitals and research facilities are now just steps away. With this move, our region is continuing its growth as a major health care destination, attracting patients from all over the Northeast.

The new home for the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences —located on UB’s Downtown Campus (part of the growing Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus)—has allowed UB to increase its class size from 144 to 180, add 100 new faculty positions (bringing our total to approximately 800 faculty), and continue to attract world-renowned scientists, physician-scientists, clinicians and top medical students. The UB Foundation is proud to have played a supporting role in helping UB achieve this vision.

“This is the start of a new era for the University at Buffalo, for our medical school and for this entire region,” says Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The new facility—the largest construction project in the university’s history—strengthens medical education, promotes cross-disciplinary collaborations, and improves access to health care in the community.

“This strategic move would not have been possible without the help of the UB Foundation.”

Michael E. Cain, MD, Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Saving UB–and taxpayers–$700,000 per month

UB officials estimate that construction on the new building that is home to the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences began at least a full year earlier than anticipated thanks to strategic land securement and flexible financing through FNUB, Inc., one of our affiliates. On a project of this scale starting construction a year early saved UB (and, by extension, New York State taxpayers) an estimated $700,000 per month in construction inflation costs.

Growing the local economy

The new medical school building was the largest medical education building under construction in the U.S.,* and one of the largest construction projects in Western New York. The new Jacobs School brings 2,000 UB students, faculty and staff to downtown Buffalo each day, providing a significant impact on the local economy.