Pioneering a New Buffalo

By Kyle Patterson

What started as an $83 million gamble on success in Buffalo, Avant, now finished, is a symbol of hope for what is to come. “If this was a project I was doing in a city that wasn’t my hometown, we probably wouldn’t have done it,’’ said Carl J. Montante, President and Managing Director of Uniland Development Company, a Buffalo based development firm that has built over 12 million square feet of property, “but because it’s Buffalo, because my children live here, and hopefully my grandchildren will grow up here, we have to provide these opportunities.”
     With Avant, Uniland has pioneered a new market in Buffalo for what is called a vertical community. Though common in major cities, Avant is the first of its kind in Buffalo. Living up to the meaning of its name, Avant brought something so fresh to Buffalo that the city had to rewrite its building codes in order to accommodate the new structure. “I love the old architecture in Buffalo; I love the restoration,” says Montante, “but there is also a place for good solid architecture that is new, refreshing, and exciting. It raises the spirits of all.”
Avant facilities include hotel, condominiums, office space, designer suites, three restaurants, salon, spa, and pool all under one roof totaling a stunning 475,000 square feet. The building features a glass curtain wall system that welcomes abundant natural light and beautiful views of the city and Lake Erie.
Avant was Uniland’s largest and most risky venture in their 35 years of business. The transformation of the Dulski Federal Building into the 3-dimensional Avant started in the summer of 2007 without a single tenant or buyer lined up. Compounding the risk, not a year later the economy tried to call their bluff by laying down a full recession. Despite the economy dropping in an almost unprecedented manner, however, Uniland’s project actually finished ahead of schedule.
“In the development business speed is money,’’ explained Montante. Reflecting on the process, Montante said, “The city of Buffalo did back flips to make this project happen.” Due to the multi-faceted aim of the new building and the complexities that come along with it, all sorts of obstacles might have delayed construction. City building inspectors, however, showed up every day during construction. Their faithful presence served to accelerate the project towards completion.  
Full-scale marketing for Avant began in January 2009. By November of the same year, well over half the condos had sold with several sales over $1 million each. “This says something about the underlying strength of the residential market in the WNY area,” Montante said. Though marketing entirely locally, Avant has attracted out-of-town buyers. One buyer from Toronto who bought a condo after seeing an ad for Avant in a program at a Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra concert took interest in Avant’s condos because of the cultural opportunities in this area. The first condo residents are expected to move in this December.
“There is a certain synergy that exists among all three uses of the building. One use assists in marketing the others,” Montante points out. The hotel can be used for business guests, Avant business tenants have the convenience of renting the hotel’s large meeting rooms instead of having to spend the money to build their own conference room. Condo residents can take advantage of fine dining, a pool, spa, and work out room without ever leaving the building.
Among Avant’s first occupants are the law offices of Damon Morey LLP and Embassy Suites Buffalo. Also serving the downtown community from inside Avant are Capello Salon and Spa and Della Terra, a new restaurant featuring Northern Italian cuisine open seven days a week for both lunch and dinner.
Avant’s excellence and avant-garde qualities, caught the attention of experts in the field. The Upstate New York Chapter of NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Association recognized the building with its Award of Excellence November 12 at its Annual Awards Dinner. Winning projects were credited with changing the economic climate for the better in the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. Avant was also recognized by The Greater Buffalo Building Owners and Managers Association this September as the real estate development of the year.
    Citing an interview he’d heard on NPR, Montante shares why architecture is so important. He said, “The interviewee was saying that other art forms—music and painting—you can turn off or look away, but architecture is always there. You’re stuck with it. That’s why it is so important to have buildings and architecture we can be proud of. My hope is that what we’re doing spurs other development downtown, and it has. Mark Croce, (President of Buffalo Development Corp. and numerous restaurants in Buffalo), has announced a new hotel will be built within a block or two of Avant. People ask me about the competition, but in my mind ‘a rising tide lifts all ships,’ and I think it will be a great addition.”