Apr 21, 2026
Written by Agritecture, a leading company in urban agriculture
How Agritecture and Heart, Love & Soul are turning a half-acre vacant lot on Ontario Avenue into a community-designed urban farm — and why your voice is part of the blueprint.
On Saturday, May 2, 2026, three teams of Niagara Falls residents, growers, designers, engineers, and business minds will sit down together for one day, with one goal: to imagine what a half-acre of long-vacant land on Ontario Avenue could become when the community gets to design it themselves.
It’s a collaboration between Agritecture, a global leader in urban and controlled-environment agriculture consulting, and Heart, Love & Soul, a Niagara Falls nonprofit that has served the community since 1980. And whether you can make it to the workshop or not, there’s already a way for you to help shape what gets built.
Who is Agritecture?
For more than 15 years, Agritecture has helped ambitious agriculture projects become viable ones. The firm specializes in feasibility, design, and business planning for urban and controlled-environment agriculture — from rooftop farms in dense downtowns to greenhouses that anchor community food systems.
The numbers tell part of the story: 350+ projects delivered worldwide, 10+ years planning climate-smart farms, and over $1 billion in agrifood projects advised. But the part that matters most for Niagara Falls is Agritecture’s workshop methodology — a format proven across 20+ cities including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Minneapolis. In each one, hundreds of participants have left with something a spreadsheet alone can’t deliver: a living, grounded vision for how urban agriculture can actually fit into their neighborhood.
“Where ambitious agriculture projects become viable ones.” — Agritecture
Who is Heart, Love & Soul?
Since 1980, Heart, Love & Soul has fed, employed, and stood alongside the people of Niagara Falls, NY. Today, HLS operates an emergency pantry serving roughly 1,500 households, a daily dining room, and the Daybreak social services program — meeting immediate needs while investing in the community’s long-term well-being.
Demand is rising. Pantry distribution in Niagara Falls has grown 135% in recent years. HLS already sources what it can from local farmers, but a half-acre of land at 922–928 Ontario Avenue — four adjacent, environmentally cleared, commercially-zoned parcels in the heart of the city — represents something bigger: the chance for a nonprofit that has always distributed food to start growing it, right where it’s needed most.
The project: from vacant to vital
The site itself has a century of story. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show it as residential and commercial from the late 1800s, a hotel through the mid-twentieth century, and — after progressive demolitions between 1995 and 2006 — vacant land awaiting its next chapter. A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment was completed in 2021, confirming the site is environmentally clear. Utilities are in place: City of Niagara Falls water and sewer, National Grid, Verizon, Spectrum. It’s not in the FEMA 100-year floodplain. It’s ready.
What happens next is the question on the table. On May 2, three diverse teams will spend a full day co-designing competing concepts for the 0.54-acre site — from crop strategy to site plan, community impact to budget snapshot. Each team mixes community members, growers, architects, engineers, sustainability managers, business managers, and marketers. No prior experience with urban agriculture or design is required; Agritecture provides the framework, participants bring the community knowledge and creativity.
At the end of the day, each team presents. After the workshop, an expert panel and the broader Niagara Falls community — through a public vote — help choose the path forward. This is the kind of early-stage, community-led design step that aligns directly with emerging federal priorities around urban agriculture and innovative production.
Why your voice matters
Great urban farms aren’t designed by experts alone. They’re shaped by the people who live alongside them, shop at them, and depend on them. That’s why, before the design teams ever pick up a pencil on May 2, HLS and Agritecture are asking a simpler question of everyone connected to Niagara Falls:
What do you need this land to become?
The survey is anonymous, takes under five minutes, and directly feeds both the May 2 workshop and HLS’s long-term planning for the site.
How to get involved
There are two ways to be part of this:
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Take the survey. Add your voice to the community input that will guide the design teams. Share your input here.
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Apply for the workshop. Anyone 18+ with an interest or experience in urban agriculture, design, engineering, business, sustainability, or marketing is welcome — with a special invitation to residents of ZIPs 14301–14305. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply here.
Workshop details at a glance
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Date: Saturday, May 2, 2026, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
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Location: Heart, Love & Soul, 939 Ontario Avenue, Niagara Falls, NY 14301
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Site being designed: 922–928 Ontario Avenue (four adjacent parcels, 0.54 acres, zoned C2-A Traditional Commercial)
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Format: 3 balanced teams × ~6 participants, co-designing competing concepts in one day
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Cost: Free for accepted participants. Meals, snacks, and refreshments provided.
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Accessibility: The venue is wheelchair-accessible; accommodations can be noted on the application.
A blueprint, written by a community
The best urban farms don’t just grow food — they grow trust, jobs, and a sense that a place is being shaped by the people who live there. On May 2, 2026, a half-acre in Niagara Falls will take one real step in that direction. Whether you come to the table or share your input from home, the blueprint gets better every time another voice is added to it.
Learn more, take the survey, or apply to join the workshop at urbanagricultureniagarausa.base44.app.
Further reading & partners
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Agritecture workshops — formats, past cities, and how they work.
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Agritecture blog: Urban Agriculture — Can it Feed Our Cities?
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Agritecture blog: Workshops Empower Others to Develop Urban Farming
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Heart, Love & Soul — meals, pantry, and Daybreak services in Niagara Falls.
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Visit Niagara Falls USA — the community and visitor context for Ontario Avenue.
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USDA Urban Agriculture programs — federal context for urban and innovative production.