By JAMES FINK
jfink@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1611

David Sweet was talking to one of his Rand Building employees when the man blurted out something that left him speechless.

"He told me I was almost as old as this building," the soft-spoken Sweet said with a smile. "Almost."

The Lafayette Square landmark was built in 1929. Sweet, at age 80, is a year younger.

A lawyer by trade, he is a respected downtown leader. When he speaks, people listen.

"I consider David a real pioneer," said fellow developer Rocco Termini. "He was here doing things long before anyone else."

Sweet, through his Main Seneca Corp., owns five prominent buildings in the central business district: the Rand, the Main Seneca Building, Main Court Building, Stanton Building and 241 Main St. Collectively, they represent nearly 600,000 square feet of mostly office space. The tenant list includes Saperston Real Estate Corp., the law firm of Magavern Magavern Grimm LLP and Townsquare Media, owner of several area radio stations.

Talk to tenants or any one of his 60 employees and you'll hear the same thing: Sweet is a gentleman, a great landlord and a class act.

"You know what makes David such a good landlord?" said Michael Schmand, Buffalo Place Inc. executive director. "He takes care of all the details, no matter how small or minute. David sweats the details."

He's old school, some say, but in a good way.

"If David shakes your hand and says he is going to do something, he does it," Schmand said.

Sweet's daughter, Kathleen, is a partner in the Buffalo law firm of Gibson McAskill & Crosby. She said she is not surprised to hear people praise her father.

"He's got such a strong ethical compass," Kathleen said. "He is unwaveringly loyal, honest, thorough and careful. My father is a tremendous role model."

The son of local businessman Stanton Sweet, he said his own father served as a model for how to treat people. Stanton bought and sold a series of delicatessens and corner stores and believed in treating customers like family members. Decades before Transit Road became one of the region's busiest north-south routes, he bought large tracts of land between what is now Main Street and Sheridan Drive. In the late 1960s, the land was sold to the developer of Eastern Hills Mall.

That mix of savvy purchases and his father's commitment to customer loyalty ultimately led David Sweet to the real estate industry, he said.

A 1953 graduate of the University at Buffalo School of Law, he joined a firm headed by the late James Heffernan in 1956 following a three-year Army stint. In those early years, he handled various clients and issues for the law firm. Perhaps most notable, he was part of the legal team that put together a deal to sell American Steamship Co. to New York City-based interests.

In 1978, as a full partner in the firm, Sweet had a unique offer: Would he be interested in buying what is now the Main Seneca Building from Marine Midland Bank (now HSBC Bank USA)?

"I thought it would be great to be a proud landlord," he said.

So he put together a deal to purchase the 15-story, 150,000-square-foot building. What he got was a place steeped in history and architectural splendor but not much in terms of a tenant roll. Including his firm, the building was about 12 percent leased at the time.

"It was a struggle," Sweet said. "I learned very quickly what it took to be a building owner."

What attracted additional tenants, including a then-expanding HSBC Bank? His people skills and some basic marketing, he said, along with a healthy dose of word-of-mouth and goodwill, These days, the Main Seneca Building is more than 60 percent leased.

Sweet followed that deal with another - a neighboring, equally historic structure he bought from HSBC Bank - and then bought the 40,000-square-foot, adjacent Dennis Building.

In late 1989, he was approached to buy the Rand Building for 50 cents on the dollar from New York-based investors. And nine years ago - on his daughter Susan's birthday - he bought the Main Court Building for $3.025 million at auction.

In each case, Sweet managed to increase occupancy.

He notes, with a touch of irony, that four of the five buildings he owns have roots with local financial institutions. The Main Seneca and 241 Main Street were owned by Marine Midland Bank. The Rand Building, meanwhile, was named after George Rand, a Marine Midland executive and civic leader. And the Main Court Building was once the Western Savings Bank headquarters.

"David was one of the first people to buy these older, historic buildings in Buffalo and bring them back to life," Termini said. "He was doing it long before anyone else. If it wasn't for David, I'm sure we would have lost buildings like Main Seneca."

Added Sweet: "Here I was, innocently sticking my nose into something. I never would have dreamed a scenario like this."