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

The demand for more hotel rooms prompted the owner of the Avant building to convert a floor designated for office space into an expansion of Embassy Suites, anchor of the Delaware Avenue landmark.

Officials of Uniland Development Co. confirmed they are starting a seven-figure conversion of the eighth floor for 29 new rooms. The privately funded project should be finished by April.

Embassy Suites will see an increase of nearly 19 percent, from 153 to 182 rooms. The 25,000-square-foot eighth floor has been vacant since the building opened in July 2009.

"We always knew that some of the space might shift one way or another," said Michael Montante, Uniland vice president.

The Avant features three floors of upscale condos, four of Class A office space and seven floors for the hotel. The first two floors serve as the lobby and tenant amenity space.

Montante said he considered shifting the floor to hotel space after seeing the strong demand for rooms. The hotel runs well above 80 percent occupancy - almost 15 points ahead of the average for Erie County hotels and 10 points ahead of those in the downtown corridor.

"The success at the Embassy Suites since they've opened is a testament to the quality experience that visitors are having at this property," said Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, president and CEO, Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The idea took hold this summer and was cemented in October, Montante said, adding, "Once we started digging into the numbers, it became fairly obvious."

The extra rooms will enable Uniland to handle more corporate and large-scale bookings, he said. Ten jobs will be added, mostly housekeeping staff, to Embassy Suites.

Montante said he doubts the hotel will expand upward to the ninth floor. That will remain as office space, along with the 10th floor. DamonMorey law firm leases the 11th and 12th floors.

"If we start going beyond 182 rooms, we could end up putting too much strain and taxing the hotel's amenities and other spaces in the Avant," Montante said.

Uniland invested more than $83 million to renovate the former Dulski Building. Other projects on Delaware Avenue include the new federal courthouse, due to open in February, and New Era Cap Co.'s corporate headquarters across the street from the Avant.