Michelle Mazzone has a challenging job- she has been retained to help reposition and refill the Main Place and Liberty Building properties in the center of downtown. Good news: she is making progress. Two law firms have recently committed to leases in the Liberty Building to occupy 26,000 sq.ft. of space. ‘Several’ other office deals are pending and there are preliminary plans to address the retail space in the properties.
Mazzone’s American Capital Real Estate firm was hired in December by Main Liberty Group to assist with finding new tenants for the office and retail complex. The buildings have been struggling with substantial vacancies in recent years. Main Place mall and tower are 55 percent leased and Liberty is fairing somewhat better at 75 percent occupancy.
Mazzone sees the vacancies as an opportunity. The owners are willing to deal to get the buildings filled and are planning changes and investment to make it happen.
Main Place was hit with a double whammy when Empire Saving Bank shuttered and AM&A’s/BonTon closed. The bank had been an anchor tenant of the complex and its demise unloaded several hundred thousand square feet of office space onto the market. Retail vacancies increased after the department store closed across Main Street. The owner also made the decision to convert much of the mall into space for telecommunications companies, further weakening the building’s retail prospects.
Downtown retail remains a tough sell and the owner is studying various options for the mall space. One scenario being considered is shifting the retail to the Main Street side of the mall, remodeling and re-branding the central interior corridor, and converting the Pearl Street side of the mall into a mix of offices and business service space. The work would also involve exterior renovations to the Main Street façade.
In a hopeful sign, the retail space at Main and Court Street in the Liberty Building could soon be reoccupied. There have been rumors circulating that the former Main Street Bistro space is close to being leased to a well-known coffee chain. A lease has not been signed however.
Michelle has experience in bringing new life to worn properties. Before starting her own business, she was Vice President at Ciminelli Development. One of the projects she worked on was the successful conversion of the struggling Appletree Mall in Cheektowaga into business space.
With 48,000 sq.ft. of space at Main Place leased late last year by the State Attorney General office in a relocation from the Statler, and the two law firms taking 26,000 sq.ft., there is momentum building.
Get Connected: Michelle Mazzone, 716-631-2273
Photo credit: Emmy Sykes