Rumor has it Issa may propose a 2nd City Center Tower

[Timmy]

Why?

Well the Rumor Issa's Tower is already 20% pre-leased and that Seneca Gaming may take the remaining office space in the city tower for an estimated 500+ workers for their corporate headquarters satisfying their pre-lease quota to start construction.

I hear that Issa may propose a 2nd City Tower for First Niagara and the other international corporations he has been marketing the existing tower rather than loose them. Nothing was mentioned as to where the second tower might be located.

[leets]

I hear that the second tower will be at least 70 stories and with have a its own subway stop.

[WNYresident]

We recieved mailed promoting the tower and to call for leasing informatiomn. Slick operation.

[Trolls_r_us]

wow...

so much for the whole "The casino will have no benefit downtown" argument

IF this is true then the Senecas and their Casino would be a major reason Issa's tower becomes a reality...

BTW, why can;t he just make the 1 tower TALLER?

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just build a building you were already going to build and just add 15-20 more floors?

How cool would that be?

[300miles]

No offense Timmy... but I take your rumor mill with a grain of salt.
Can anyone back this up?

[Timmy]

wow...

so much for the whole "The casino will have no benefit downtown" argument

IF this is true then the Senecas and their Casino would be a major reason Issa's tower becomes a reality...

BTW, why can;t he just make the 1 tower TALLER?

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just build a building you were already going to build and just add 15-20 more floors?

How cool would that be?

the reason that he is unlikely to just make the tower taller is simple and boils down to three factors:

1) both the Senecas and First Niagara want a signature building and probably want either naming rights....or dont want to share a corporate headquarters. Its an image thing.

2) after a certain height, every additional floor gets more expensive than the previous floor. Its an architectural fact of design and construction. Im not sure what the breaking points are with regard to floors but you will know what I mean if you look at the towers in NYC or Chicago...you will see that every 20 or 30 floors ... one floor has to get devoted to mechanicals to maintain air circulation, water pressure, fire sprinklers, air condition, heat, etc.

3) land is much to cheap in Buffalo....when you cant basically get Class A property in Buffalo for what $10 per sqft....the Class A market is only going to stretch the premium for a signature building so far. I think thats why Issa chose 40 floors and $30 per sqft...I think his prediction is that is the upper end premium for what this region can bare. If you go up to $40 or $50 per sqft (which you may need to add more floors) you may have priced yourself out of the region.

Better to build 1 Seneca Center and 1 First Niagara Center.

with all property developers ... you have to manage risk. after looking at the developers of the 3 floor M&T building on delaware....most local developers wont go above 3-5 floors.....because their afraid of the risk....so we are very lucky to have Issa who is willing to manage the risk for 40 floors.

My opinion.

[concernedwnyer]

Why?

Well the Rumor Issa's Tower is already 20% pre-leased and that Seneca Gaming may take the remaining office space in the city tower for an estimated 500+ workers for their corporate headquarters satisfying their pre-lease quota to start construction.

I hear that Issa may propose a 2nd City Tower for First Niagara and the other international corporations he has been marketing the existing tower rather than loose them. Nothing was mentioned as to where the second tower might be located.

Senecas already have a building and more land for the company headquarters. It is adjacent to the casino plot of land.

[concernedwnyer]

the reason that he is unlikely to just make the tower taller is simple and boils down to three factors:

1) both the Senecas and First Niagara want a signature building and probably want either naming rights....or dont want to share a corporate headquarters. Its an image thing.

2) after a certain height, every additional floor gets more expensive than the previous floor. Its an architectural fact of design and construction. Im not sure what the breaking points are with regard to floors but you will know what I mean if you look at the towers in NYC or Chicago...you will see that every 20 or 30 floors ... one floor has to get devoted to mechanicals to maintain air circulation, water pressure, fire sprinklers, air condition, heat, etc.

3) land is much to cheap in Buffalo....when you cant basically get Class A property in Buffalo for what $10 per sqft....the Class A market is only going to stretch the premium for a signature building so far. I think thats why Issa chose 40 floors and $30 per sqft...I think his prediction is that is the upper end premium for what this region can bare. If you go up to $40 or $50 per sqft (which you may need to add more floors) you may have priced yourself out of the region.

Better to build 1 Seneca Center and 1 First Niagara Center.

with all property developers ... you have to manage risk. after looking at the developers of the 3 floor M&T building on delaware....most local developers wont go above 3-5 floors.....because their afraid of the risk....so we are very lucky to have Issa who is willing to manage the risk for 40 floors.

My opinion.

Go sell your agument to the folks in NYC. Skyscrapers are in. They are symbols and they take up limited land resources. Buffalo is tight for large blocks of developer ready parcels.

[leets]

The second tower is rumored to be intended for Wachovia bank. They may be bringing their corporate HQ to Buffalo.

[VegasDude]

The second tower is rumored to be intended for Wachovia bank. They may be bringing their corporate HQ to Buffalo.

WRONG. Soon they will be taking over M & T

Full Business Journal article on Wachovia:

The country's fourth-largest bank is close to a deal to build its Arizona headquarters in downtown Phoenix.

Wachovia Corp. is talking with a few "large developers" to become the "anchor tenant and have great visibility downtown," bank officials said.

That likely will be in Copper Square, which already is home to JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America. The "Big Three" controlled 63 percent of Arizona's $79 billion in deposits last year.

The move, expected to be announced Oct. 22, sends a clear message to Wachovia's competitors as the Charlotte, N.C.-based firm increases its Phoenix presence through the acquisition of World Savings Bank.

"If you're going to be one of the prominent banks in this marketplace, (downtown) is the place to be," said Bill Morgan, Wachovia's regional president for Arizona. "We're looking forward to competing in this market."

Wachovia also plans to add more than 1000 employees to its Arizona work force by next June and double its financial network to 30 offices within four years. This past summer, the firm opened its first Arizona financial service center in Paradise Valley.

Wells Fargo and BofA officials downplayed the competition. Pamela Conboy, president of Wells Fargo Arizona, said Wells has achieved significant growth in Arizona over the past several years, and "we're determined to continue that growth." The San Francisco-based bank has opened more than 38 branches in Arizona since 2004, and is on schedule to open 15 more this year.

BofA spokeswoman Colleen Haggerty said her bank is the market share leader in retail deposits, and it plans to aggressively expand its customer base. "Bank of America welcomes the competition in Arizona," she said.

Next week, Wachovia will complete the conversion of the 15 World Savings Bank branches it acquired last year through Golden West Financial Corp. Wachovia is changing 51 signs throughout the Valley and replacing them with its trademark blue and green logo. It will redesign branch interiors during the first quarter of 2008, officials said.

The bank is educating potential clients about the merger through print, television and radio ads, as well as a direct-mail campaign that has covered nearly 110,000 Valley homes. Outdoor promotions will be placed on billboards and gas pumps.

In July, The Business Journal reported Wachovia's $23.5 billion acquisition of California-based Golden West. In that deal, Wachovia netted 285 branches in 10 states -- more than half of them in California and Texas -- and added Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and Nevada to its franchise.

Wachovia will add staff to run service divisions that were not offered at World Savings, such as car and student loans, home equity loans, mortgages and credit card products. Bankers will be added to its retail banking, wealth management, private client and treasury franchises as well. The bank will target businesses with $25 million to $250 million in annual revenue.

Wachovia brass were swayed to establish Arizona headquarters downtown because of ongoing developments in the area, including light rail, Arizona State University and University of Arizona expansions, and the growing biomedical campus. Wachovia officials have met with Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon on more than one occasion, and they plan to meet with ASU President Michael Crow in November.

Wachovia has operated a real estate division in the Phoenix market for more than 18 months under its Wachovia Mortgage division. Wachovia Securities recently acquired St. Louis-based brokerage A.G. Edwards in a $6.8 billion deal. The full-service firm operates nine branches in the Valley and 17 in the state.

[leets]

Hahahahahahaha,

I am going to choke my self laughing. Oh my God the people on here!

By the way way to we care about Phoenix?

[VegasDude]

Hahahahahahaha,

I am going to choke my self laughing. Oh my God the people on here!

By the way way to we care about Phoenix?

Well you should, because it's not just Phoenix AZ that's thriving.
It's the whole rest of the Country that is thriving. It doesn't matter if it's
Atlanta/Fulton County GA , Dallas/Ft Worth TX , Raleigh NC, Las Vegas NV, Salt Lake City UT, Tampa Bay FL, Denver CO, Lexington KY, Nashville TN. just to name a few.
Even Boise has ton of development going on it's lake front
and even Bethlem PA is now thriving
Why is Buffalo Dying ?

[Linda_D]

WRONG. Soon they will be taking over M & T

Full Business Journal article on Wachovia:

The country's fourth-largest bank is close to a deal to build its Arizona headquarters in downtown Phoenix.

Wachovia Corp. is talking with a few "large developers" to become the "anchor tenant and have great visibility downtown," bank officials said.

That likely will be in Copper Square, which already is home to JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America. The "Big Three" controlled 63 percent of Arizona's $79 billion in deposits last year.

The move, expected to be announced Oct. 22, sends a clear message to Wachovia's competitors as the Charlotte, N.C.-based firm increases its Phoenix presence through the acquisition of World Savings Bank.

"If you're going to be one of the prominent banks in this marketplace, (downtown) is the place to be," said Bill Morgan, Wachovia's regional president for Arizona. "We're looking forward to competing in this market."

Wachovia also plans to add more than 1000 employees to its Arizona work force by next June and double its financial network to 30 offices within four years. This past summer, the firm opened its first Arizona financial service center in Paradise Valley.

Wells Fargo and BofA officials downplayed the competition. Pamela Conboy, president of Wells Fargo Arizona, said Wells has achieved significant growth in Arizona over the past several years, and "we're determined to continue that growth." The San Francisco-based bank has opened more than 38 branches in Arizona since 2004, and is on schedule to open 15 more this year.

BofA spokeswoman Colleen Haggerty said her bank is the market share leader in retail deposits, and it plans to aggressively expand its customer base. "Bank of America welcomes the competition in Arizona," she said.

Next week, Wachovia will complete the conversion of the 15 World Savings Bank branches it acquired last year through Golden West Financial Corp. Wachovia is changing 51 signs throughout the Valley and replacing them with its trademark blue and green logo. It will redesign branch interiors during the first quarter of 2008, officials said.

The bank is educating potential clients about the merger through print, television and radio ads, as well as a direct-mail campaign that has covered nearly 110,000 Valley homes. Outdoor promotions will be placed on billboards and gas pumps.

In July, The Business Journal reported Wachovia's $23.5 billion acquisition of California-based Golden West. In that deal, Wachovia netted 285 branches in 10 states -- more than half of them in California and Texas -- and added Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and Nevada to its franchise.

Wachovia will add staff to run service divisions that were not offered at World Savings, such as car and student loans, home equity loans, mortgages and credit card products. Bankers will be added to its retail banking, wealth management, private client and treasury franchises as well. The bank will target businesses with $25 million to $250 million in annual revenue.

Wachovia brass were swayed to establish Arizona headquarters downtown because of ongoing developments in the area, including light rail, Arizona State University and University of Arizona expansions, and the growing biomedical campus. Wachovia officials have met with Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon on more than one occasion, and they plan to meet with ASU President Michael Crow in November.

Wachovia has operated a real estate division in the Phoenix market for more than 18 months under its Wachovia Mortgage division. Wachovia Securities recently acquired St. Louis-based brokerage A.G. Edwards in a $6.8 billion deal. The full-service firm operates nine branches in the Valley and 17 in the state.

Ummm... maybe I missed something here, but where does this article have anything to do with Wachovia taking over M&T which would be the only way this has any relationship to WNY?

BTW, Vegas Dud/Palm Tree/Jennifer, did you move back to Arizona from Las Vegas ... or did you never move out of your mom's basement in Cheektowaga?

[Linda_D]

Well you should, because it's not just Phoenix AZ that's thriving.
It's the whole rest of the Country that is thriving. It doesn't matter if it's
Atlanta/Fulton County GA , Dallas/Ft Worth TX , Raleigh NC, Las Vegas NV, Salt Lake City UT, Tampa Bay FL, Denver CO, Lexington KY, Nashville TN. just to name a few.
Even Boise has ton of development going on it's lake front
and even Bethlem PA is now thriving
Why is Buffalo Dying ?

Obviously, you haven't heard of the housing crisis in California, Las Vegas, and Florida that is killing the economies in those areas. I guess it's kinda hard for a troll living in his/her/its mom's basement in Cheektowaga to find out about those kinds of things.

BTW, is your next fantasy address going to be Boise?

[VegasDude]

Obviously, you haven't heard of the housing crisis in California, Las Vegas, and Florida that is killing the economies in those areas. I guess it's kinda hard for a troll living in his/her/its mom's basement in Cheektowaga to find out about those kinds of things.

BTW, is your next fantasy address going to be Boise?

Sandy Beach Quote
"People of WNY are Brain Dead and they get what they deserve"