The Vacant Property Summit is coming up, Tuesday, November 18 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo in room Regency C from 5 pm to 7pm. The purpose of the Summit is to bring together Erie County citizens to develop innovative policies and programming to address vacant property issues in our county.

The Vacant Property Summit is free and open to the public. It will be moderated by Michael Groman, founder of Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Philadelphia Green program and Anthony Armstrong, of Local Initiative Support Corporation – Buffalo. Members of the City of Buffalo Mayor’s Office and Council Member David Rivera’s office have already committed their attendance. The more city and county officials who enter into this conversation, the more we will accomplish.

Summit participants also include people from other cities who have established successful programming, community members, and stakeholders interested in issues of abandoned properties in Buffalo. Please join us at the table!

In order to plan for a room large enough, we ask that you RSVP to this email address, rebekah {at} buffaloreuse(.)org, by 5pm on Monday, November 17.  We hope that you will join us for the Summit. If you know of others who should attend, please extend an invitation to them.

It is sure to be an important event!  The Summit is part of a four-day conference – the Great Lakes Building ReUse Conference – which will take place November 16 through November 19, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo. The Great Lakes Building ReUse Conference will focus on deconstruction, vacant property stabilization, neighborhood revitalization, and policy & implementation. We are hosting an exciting group of keynote speakers from around the country as well as local movers and shakers for nine workshops, two keynote addresses, networking and exchange. For more information or to register for the Great Lakes Building ReUse Conference, please visit www.greatlakesreuse.org.