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

Faced with a number of issues involving downtown buildings, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership has assembled two squads of volunteers for a detailed report and blueprint for economic development issues facing landlords and property owners in the central business district.

Buffalo Building Reuse Project was crafted at the urging of Mayor Byron Brown amid uncertainty regarding the vacant Statler Towers and HSBC Tower. Brown made his request to the partnership in December and committees were formed during the past month. The partnership is doing the study on a pro bono basis with volunteers from the public and private sectors.

"There's a lot happening with HSBC Bank and the (HSBC) Tower," Brown said. "That led me to be concerned about how we can make and keep all downtown Buffalo buildings more commercially competitive."

HSBC Bank, anchor tenant of the 38-story tower, is considering a number of real estate options for its Buffalo headquarters, including moving to another site. HSBC Tower also could lose another tenant, Phillips Lytle, which is reviewing its office options.

The 18-story Statler, meanwhile, has been closed for a year and the prospective buyer, Statler City LLC, said while its lobby and mezzanine might be used for a restaurant and catering operation, plans for the upper floors will be determined based on future market needs and demands.

Together, major vacancies at HSBC Tower and the Statler could drive downtown's office vacancy rate from 10.99 percent, as reported by CB Richard Ellis/Buffalo, to nearly 30 percent.

"This study is not so much about today and not so much about any single building," said Andrew Rudnick, Buffalo Niagara Partnership president and CEO. "We can't keep looking at these building by building, and we can't keep doing these fire drills building by building. We have to be stronger, smarter and more nimble."

The respective study groups - one headed by Robert Shibley, dean of the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, and James Morrell, NFTA director of route planning and chairman of the Buffalo Planning Board - will address such issues as targeted redevelopment and space specifications.

The second group is chaired by First Amherst Development Group President Ben Obletz and Christina Orsi, Empire State Development Corp. regional director. It will look at what sort of incentives will be needed to keep the buildings economically viable.

Both reports are due by early summer, with formal recommendations to be made by late summer or early fall.