The Buffalo Niagara Partnership is temporarily moving its offices to Amherst, while Invest Buffalo Niagara is relocating within downtown.
The shuffle comes as the two business groups prepare to exit 257 W. Genesee St., the office building alongside the Niagara Thruway where Highmark BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York was based.
Highmark has moved its employees to Seneca One tower from 257 W. Genesee St.
The Partnership and Invest Buffalo Niagara have been at their current location for eight years but have anticipated moving for some time. Both organizations sublease space from Highmark, which announced in April 2023 it would move its offices to Seneca One tower. Highmark’s lease at the West Genesee Street complex expires at the end of the month.
The owner of the West Genesee Street complex, Phoenix-based Orion Office REIT, has said it plans to launch renovations after the tenants have left. Orion has said it wants the building to remain an office complex, rather than convert it to a different use.
The Partnership hasn’t announced its permanent new home for its offices yet. In the interim, the business group will move to Evans Bank’s headquarters at 6460 Main St. David Nasca, Evans’ president and CEO and a Partnership board member, has donated the space through October.
The Buffalo Niagara Partnership will temporarily move its offices into donated space at 6460 Main St. in Amherst.
The Partnership will host some of its meetings and events at Evans’ headquarters, and some at other venues, depending on size, needs and other considerations.
Invest Buffalo Niagara, which focuses on business and talent attraction, will move its employees to the sixth floor of the Brisbane Building, at 403 Main St.
Invest Buffalo Niagara is moving to the Brisbane Building.
The Buffalo Niagara Partnership and Invest Buffalo Niagara – originally called Buffalo Niagara Enterprise – have shared the same address since 2000. That was the year Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, a newly formed offshoot of the Partnership, moved into offices adjacent to the Partnership’s at Main Place Tower.
02, both organizations moved to a new building at 665 Main St. in the Theatre District. They continued to be co-located when they moved again, to the West Genesee Street building.
“We investigated options both co-located and separate,” said Greg Pokriki, an Invest Buffalo Niagara spokesman. “Our needs and wish list in a new space were different. Ultimately, the option that best suited our needs and the wishes of both the staff and our board of directors was the Brisbane Building.”
Invest Buffalo Niagara partners with dozens of organizations in the region without being co-located with them, Pokriki said.
“Our mission and that of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership remain strategically aligned and we will continue our collaborative leadership for the betterment of our region and its economy,” he said.
Grant Loomis, the Partnership’s senior vice president, said the two business groups “explored a number of spaces together.”
“Ultimately, each organization is making a new location decision based on its specific needs regarding size of space, location and amenities,” Loomis said, adding that the two organizations “continue to be strategic partners.”
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