By JAMES FINK
Business First

Does this sound a tad familiar?

A downtown Buffalo landmark with a troubled financial past has a date with an auctioneer's gavel.

In this case, it's the Olympic Towers, which - in a touch of irony - neighbors on the Franklin Street side the mothballed Statler Towers.

Everyone knows how that turned out.

In what amounts to a fire sale, those responsible for handling the Olympic Towers auction said they will accept bids beginning at a measly $1 million - if $1 million can be considered measly.

Two years ago, the 10-story, 143,248-square-foot building "sold" for $8.46 million, even if it was a paper transaction between mortgage holders.

The thing about Olympic Towers is that, unlike the Statler, it is a healthy building with some attractive tenants, chief among them U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the U.S. Trustee's Office.

The bankruptcy court renewed its lease for 24,000 square feet just two years ago. The U.S. Trustee's Office moved in last summer. Both occupants are considered Class A tenants.

Government leases offer long-term pacts and security that they will fulfill the entire length of the contract. Government agencies are viewed in many quarters as Triple A level tenants.

Overall, the building is slightly more than three-quarters filled and, unlike the Statler, its tenants are not making an exodus for elsewhere in downtown. It is a building with a future, and one steeped in historic and a certain sense of architectural grace.

Having undergone a complete face-lift, renovation and expansion in 1987, Olympic Towers is considered to be in relatively good shape.

It also helps that its neighbors include the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Many will be watching the online auction being orchestrated by Real Estate Disposition LLC and the New York office of Jones Lang LaSalle. Bids are due between May 17 and May 20.

Online auctions, at least locally, have had mixed results.

The Uniland Development Co./Acquest Development tandem acquired the Dulski Building - now, the Avant - via an online, government-run auction.

Even that auction only attracted a handful of bidders, however.

Given a backdrop of the still-weak national economy and a downtown Buffalo office market that remains on the soft side, it will be interesting to see who bids and how much they bid.

In a more robust market, Olympic Towers might go for more than just a blue-light special price.

It is a good building with a strong tenant roll and a certain cachet. In many aspects, it is the polar opposite of Statler Towers.

It will be interesting to see what happens in a couple of weeks.

Being helpful

Down the Thruway, the city of Syracuse has found a way to make its development process customer-friendly.

Instead of making developers trudge through City Hall to get to five different departments, Syracuse has created a "permit center" where people have access to any one of 53 permits that may be needed, depending on the project.

The permit center is on the first floor of Syracuse City Hall Commons and, get this, the city has allocated five free nearby parking spaces for people visiting the center. The duly marked spaces are just outside the building.

The Syracuse center was modeled after one in Rochester that has operated for years.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Mayer, who took office Jan. 1, said she created the one-stop shop because of constant complaints about the city's permitting process.

Mayer said she hopes to shift another nine permitting functions to the new center in the coming weeks and months.

On the move

Millington Lockwood Business Interiors recently signed a lease to occupy 35,000 square feet of space on Genesee Street across from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

The new space will include offices, warehousing and showrooms for Millington Lockwood products, as well as those of its subsidiary, Richway Refinishing.

Richway Refinishing is currently located on Cornwall Avenue in Buffalo, while Millington Lockwood is on Cayuga Drive in Cheektowaga.

The move should be completed by this summer, according to company officials.