The Lafayette Hotel is back in local hands. Signature Development has taken title to the property and will soon kick-off renovations to the venerable downtown Buffalo landmark. Signature paid $500,000 for the property. New York City-based Alphonse Hotel Corporation was the seller. The transaction closed yesterday.
Rocco Termini and Signature Development have been working on a deal to purchase and renovate the faded Lafayette hotel since late 2009. The 367-room Lafayette Hotel, in its prime, was considered one of the 15 finest hotels in the country. It was designed principally by Louise Blanchard Bethune, the first professional woman architect in the country, the first female member of the American Institute of Architects, and the first woman to be made a Fellow of the A.I.A. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in August.
The $40 million redevelopment project will see the upper floors converted into 115 one and two-bedroom apartments. A 34-room boutique hotel will occupy the second floor. The Pearl Street Brewery is expected to run the former Tap Room while the balance of the first floor will be a mix of retail and banquet space.
Renovation plans are being prepared by architecture and engineering firm Carmina Wood Morris. The National Park Service recently signed-off on renovation plans, a necessary step to qualify for federal historic preservation tax credits. Demolition and asbestos abatement work is expected to start shortly.
According to Rocco Termini, the project will be finished in ‘about a year.’