By JAMES FINK
Business First

After more than three years of planning - marked by a few stops and starts - Damon Morey LLP has finally moved into its new downtown Buffalo offices.

The law firm has become the first tenant to move into the Avant building, an $85 million conversion of the former Dulski Federal Building on Delaware Avenue into a sleek downtown address that includes a 150-room Embassy Suites hotel, Class A office space and 28 upscale condominiums. While the hotel is due to open July 1, when staff and employees from Damon began unpacking boxes on June 14, the Avant officially opened its doors to the public.

The Avant just landed Capello's salon, which will offer spa services for its residents, hotel guests and office tenants.

Damon's move is one of the most significant shifts involving downtown offices this year.

For Peter Marlette, the law firm's managing partner, and Chris Greene, chairman, move-in day was like Christmas morning. Everything was new, and the milestone ended a busy period that included a site search and watching Uniland Development Co. transform the building into the Avant.

"I didn't recognize the building," joked Greene. "It was transformational."

The law firm has moved 185 people into the Avant from its longtime offices in Cathedral Place, also in downtown's central business district. The firm has leased 50,000 square feet spread over two floors. By comparison, Damon Morey had 57,000-square-feet in eight floors in Cathedral Place.

"We spent a lot of time waiting for elevators and going floor to floor," Marlette said.

The slight drop in office space was the by-product of a more efficient use of space and adjusting to modern trends, the firm reports. Marlette noted that the firm's law library was shrunk by two-thirds because so much research is now done online.

Less paper use allowed the firm to reduce its linear file space from 7,200 feet to 3,500 feet.

Damon Morey built 11 conference rooms in its offices, ranging from larger ones that can hold up to 16 people to smaller rooms for more intimate gatherings. Each of the 11 conference rooms is named after a deceased but prominent member of the firm. The largest conference room on the 12th floor, for instance, is named after founding member Joseph Morey Jr.

All of the rooms, from the offices for the firm's 45 partners to the conference rooms, offer postcard views of downtown Buffalo, Lake Erie and Canada, the Niagara River, Delaware Avenue or the East Side.

"It all came out better than we anticipated," Marlette said.

As a convenience to visitors to the firm, Damon Morey offers valet service through Embassy Suites. That should take away concerns about parking, Marlette said.

Both Marlette and Greene called the downtown office the flagship location for Damon Morey. The firm also has offices in Clarence and Rochester. Both hope to use the offices as a lure when recruiting new attorneys and workers.

"It's easy to walk around in and easy to work in," Greene said.