Word has it that local developer Rocco Termini is purchasing the 105,000 sq.ft. Hotel Lafayette. Though Termini said he was “only kicking the tires,” a reliable source said it is a done deal. Rocco is currently renovating the adjacent AM&As warehouses into a mix of commercial space and 48 loft apartments.
A few years back, Hunt Commercial was retained by property owners Lavan Hotel Corp. (of NYC) to find retail tenants for the hotel’s first floor, and more recently it was rumored that local developer Carl Paladino put a purchase offer in, but the owners didn’t bite.
A previous post by Steel shows the beautiful interior of the faded hotel. According to the Buffalo as an Architectural Museum website, 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.
The hotel caters to short-term rentals with bottom floor commercial including the Lafayette Tap Room. Until Termini is ready to talk, we have no word on what his plans are for the building.