Webb Lofts is going hotel. Pearl Street Grill owner Earl Ketry is teaming with building owner Rocco Termini to convert the building into a boutique hotel. Ketry currently operates a banquet facility on the Webb’s first floor, Pearl @ The Webb. This will be Ketry’s second downtown hotel and second in a Termini-owned project. He runs the 57 room Hotel @ Lafayette which opened earlier this year.
The $11 million, 32-unit Webb Lofts project was completed in 2007. The Richardson Romanesque J.A. Webb Building was built in 1888 and had been vacant for almost two decades before being purchased by Rocco Termini. Carmina Wood Morris designed the rescue plan for the building.
James Fink at Buffalo Business First confirms the transformation from residential to hotel:
Developers Earl Ketry and Rocco Termini plan to turn the 141-year-old building into a 32-room boutique hotel. The conversion from a 32-unit apartment should be complete by mid-September, Ketry said. The building will reopen under the “Lofts on Pearl” banner and will be run as an independent boutique hotel.
Ketry said the decision to convert the Webb Building from apartments to a boutique hotel was the result of inquiries at his restaurant and banquet facility.
The conversion to hotel is not a sign that the downtown residential market is softening. According to Business First, all of the units in the building were leased when the decision to switch was made.
Termini and Ketry’s relationship is expected to continue to benefit downtown in the planned AM&A’s Department Store conversion.