By JAMES FINK
Business First

Daryl Ciambella thought finding new office space in downtown Buffalo was going to be an easy task.

He was wrong.

Ciambella, chief operating officer for the Cellino & Barnes law firm, found out what others already knew: While there is available office space in the central business district, the catch is finding large enough space to avoid having to spread offices out over several floors. The search was such that, at one time, Cellino & Barnes began negotiating with the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency about constructing its own building near the Adam's Mark Hotel.

The firm considered a number of office buildings and even thought about moving to the northern suburbs. Location was a big factor.

Principal and name partner Ross Cellino said staying downtown was the firm's first and only priority. Ciambella said the law firm wanted to be near the downtown courts as a convenience for its lawyers and clients.

At issue for Cellino & Barnes was the need to consolidate four local offices into one site and being able to bring those offices to one or, at the most, two floors. Cellino & Barnes ended up leasing the top two floors - the 25th and 26th floors - of Main Place Tower. The law firm wrapped up into the 20,000-square-foot space last winter.

"Finding the right mix was important," Ciambella said. "We were lucky, because finding larger floor plates was a challenge."

Cellino & Barnes is not alone. With several major companies and firms scouting the downtown office market for potential new locations, the issue of available of space is moving into the forefront.

"Right now, large floor plates is the big attraction," said Michael Schmand, Buffalo Place Inc. executive director.

Spreading offices over a multitude of floors is both expensive and inefficient, Schmand added.

"We were able to minimize a lot of costs by consolidating our office space," Ciambella said. The law firm has 110 employees.

Cellino & Barnes had been headquartered in the 17 Court St. building, but also leased space next door at 15 Court St. as well as offices in the Statler Towers and in Amherst. The firm also maintains an office on Grider Street on Buffalo's East Side, as well as four offices in other parts of the state.

Consolidating the four offices meant savings on everything from scanners and copy machines to smaller utility bills.

Also, moving into the top floors of the second-tallest privately owned office building in Buffalo carried a certain cachet. Every office offers a dramatic view of Lake Erie, downtown Buffalo or Canada.

"This is space with views that are second to none," Ciambella said.

From a convenience standpoint, the Main Place Tower space works well for Cellino & Barnes, firm sources said. There are plenty of nearby parking spaces employees can rent. Clients have parking options or can take the Metro Rail, which has a stop right in front of the building.

The space-search trials and tribulations that Cellino & Barnes went through are not uncommon.

The good news for downtown Buffalo is that office space is at a premium. A CB Richard Ellis-Buffalo annual review of the central business district found that available top-level Class A and Class B space is a scarce commodity.

The CB Richard Ellis report determined that Class A and Class B office space in downtown is running at a 9.8 percent vacancy rate, compared with the national average of 11.6 percent. Last year, Buffalo's central business district saw 99,977 square feet of Class A and B office space being absorbed.

In the past year, Uniland Development Co. opened the Avant building, which includes 128,000 square feet of new Class A office space. More than half of the building is occupied by the Damon Morey LLP law firm.

Within the next year, CityView Properties will be adding another 60,000 square feet of renovated historic office space as part of its Genesee Gateway project.

Broker Shana Stegner, CB Richard Ellis-Buffalo director of office leasing and sales, said downtown is walking a fine line.

Stegner said she understands the need for having available wide-open floor plates on the market.

"But I don't think it would be great for Buffalo if there were a lot of buildings with 80,000 square feet sitting there and on the market," she said.

On the books are plans for several new office buildings in downtown Buffalo. Ellicott Development Co. has in its pipeline a proposal to construct an 11-story, 300,000-square-foot office building on Court Street. As part of the Canal Side project, portions of the former Gen. Donovan State Office Building are slated to be renovated into Class A office space.

Other buildings have been proposed for the city's Cobblestone and Larkin Districts.

All of the proposed buildings are tenant-driven, and won't happen unless someone signs on the dotted line.

"At this point, you have to have a building at least 50 percent pre-leased before you can start construction," said Carl Paladino, Ellicott Development president and founder. "It's true everyone wants large floor plates, but you have to be realistic."

Older buildings may carry a historic ambiance, but in terms of 21st-century needs and wants, some come up short as practical options.

"It gets very, very expensive to start splitting costs over a lot of floors," Paladino said.