Adding office space to a complex with nearly a million square feet of empty offices? Yes, that is the plan for the Seneca One property. Douglas Development is proposing an office addition on the western plaza level and along the Pearl Street side of the complex. The proposal, which is on the Planning Board agenda, comes as The Buffalo News has new details on M&T Bank’s search for a large block of offices to consolidate its technology and support operations. Do you think the two are connected?

M&T Bank is looking for 150,000 sq.ft. of office space by next June and the ability to expand by another 100,000 sq.ft. in the same building or campus in the next two or three years according to The News. The bank wants large, contiguous floor plates, nearby amenities such as retail, restaurants and fitness facilities, and outside space for employee gatherings and events. It also is seeking 1,000 on-site or nearby secured parking spaces with the ability to add another 500 parking spaces over time to accommodate its growth, and “access to mass transit lines and metro stations.” Proposals from developers are due January 11.

At Seneca One, Douglas Development is calling its newest submission Phase III of its effort to redevelop the former HSBC Center. Phase I and II involve renovating the complex’s annex buildings into retail space and 115 apartments and construction of two retail buildings on the complex’s eastern plaza. That work is currently underway.

Phase III includes a one-story, 28,500 sq.ft. addition on the building’s western plaza to create a total of 42,475 sq.ft. of commercial space. Also, the western half of the first and second floor basement levels will be altered to allow for integration of these areas with the newly remodeled plaza. The western portion of the basement levels will be demolished and reconfigured creating 69,120 sq.ft. of new commercial space along Pearl Street. A new office entrance would be constructed at Pearl and Upper Terrace.