A downtown property owner is hoping the lure of cheap rent will help fill a vacant building. The $1/sq.ft/year triple net lease is available for a tenant committing to at least 80 percent of the four-story, roughly 37,000 sq.ft. commercial building at 392 Pearl Street. The property is also available for sale with a $999,000 asking price.
392 Pearl, just south of Chippewa and next to the Augsperger Parking Ramp, has 8,964 sq.ft of space on the ground level and 9,287 sq.ft. on each upper floor. The building features open floor plans, separate restrooms and kitchens on each floor, a large four-story atrium with glass elevator, and excellent visibility.
392 Pearl Street Properties, LLC purchased the property in March 2006. Hunt Commercial Real Estate is trumpeting the $1 annual lease offer for a creditworthy tenant as being “unheard of.” An eight-year minimum lease is required with the lease rate increasing to $2 in year two and $3.75 in years three to eight, triple net. In a triple net lease, the lessee pays taxes, insurance, and maintenance in addition to the rent. The tenant has many of the advantages of ownership, including control over the property, without the substantial capital investment that a purchase represents.
The building once housed Leonardo’s Restaurant, a Buffalo institution that catered to the downtown theater crowd. The restaurant closed in 1975, reopened in 1979 and closed for good in 1982. Chris Lory and Jane Griffin purchased the property and conducted a thorough renovation that was completed in May 1986. At the time, the building was close to being condemned due to extensive water damage. Fleet Bank’s operation and administrative group was the last occupant of the building.
Get Connected: Carolyn Murray or Clarke Thrasher of Hunt Commercial Real Estate: 716.854.5943