SYRACUSE — The former HSBC Tower in downtown Syracuse, now known as Onondaga Tower, will soon bear the name of a prominent Syracuse and upstate New York law firm.

 

“It was an important [lease] term to entice us to [relocate],” says John Langan, managing partner of Barclay Damon, LLP.

 

Barclay Damon’s Syracuse office and its 158 employees will move from One Park Place at 300 State St. to its new home in what will become Barclay Damon Tower in July 2016, the Syracuse–based law firm announced on Nov. 9. 

 

The former Hiscock & Barclay firm has operated for 170 years, says Langan, but took on its new name after announcing the combination with Buffalo–based Damon 

Morey LLP on June 1.

 

Langan believes having the Barclay Damon name on the building will help in “connecting the dots” between the former name and the new name.

 

“It’s going to be on all four sides of the building at the top in lights … It’s going to be very prominent in the city,” he says. 

 

Langan would have still sought the naming term, even if the firm still had the Hiscock & Barclay name, he notes. 

 

“It just happens to be particularly helpful now with the combination,” says Langan.

 

The law firm’s planned move had been under consideration prior to its combination with the Damon Morley firm, he notes.

 

Langan spoke with CNYBJ while traveling on Nov. 10.

 

Onondaga Tower, located at the corner of East Jefferson and South Warren Streets, is known for being illuminated at night in different colors.

 

Barclay Damon will initially occupy 50,000 square feet in the building, with an additional 10,000 square feet scheduled for occupancy in the fall of 2017.

 

“Some of it is build-out related, and some of it is simply … logistics for us,” says Langan in explaining the reason behind the two-phase move. 

 

“It’s a 15-year lease under terms that [both parties] view as favorable,” he says, declining to disclose the monthly lease payment. 

 

Barclay Damon will be able to keep some of its administrative functions at One Park Place following the initial move next July. 

 

Its lease expires at One Park Place in the fall of 2017, Langan says.

 

Syracuse–based Barclay Damon describes itself as a 275-attorney, “super-regional” law firm, making it the largest law firm in upstate New York.

 

It has offices with between 30 and 105 attorneys each in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany. Barclay Damon also has growing offices in New York City, New Jersey, Boston, Toronto, New York’s Southern Tier, and Washington, D.C.

 

Including support staff, the firm employs about 460 people, says Langan.

 

The search

Barclay Damon has operated at One Park Place for about a decade and has two years remaining on its lease, says Langan. It conducted a search for a new Syracuse operating space, which included consideration of its present space at One Park Place, he says.

 

“We’re a 60,000-square-foot tenant, so we wanted to see what the market looked like,” he says. 

 

The search started in the fall of 2014.

 

The company 360 Warren Associates, LLC, which owns Onondaga Tower, has already invested $9 million in the structure, with an additional $6 million planned to prepare the space for the Barclay Damon offices, according to the law firm.

 

360 Warren Associates includes the CBD Companies, a partnership involving developers Charles Sangster and Courtney Wilson, and Cadaret, Grant & Co., Inc., a Syracuse–based investment-brokerage firm.

 

Sangster helped the Hiscock & Barclay firm secure its space at One Park Place, says Langan. “He’s a personal friend. He’s very talented,” he adds.

 

Langan had congratulated Sangster on the work CBD had conducted at Onondaga Tower, and Sangster invited Langan for a cup of coffee and to take a look at the structure.

 

Langan mentioned the law firm was conducting a search, and Sangster suggested he “might have a crazy idea,” as Langan recalled it.

 

A few weeks later, Sangster contacted Langan, indicating he could possibly propose an option for new space.

 

Barclay Damon will initially occupy four floors of the 15-story tower and put signage at the top of the building. 

 

“The building is virtually brand new, except for the original outside skin, and the space we are building for Barclay Damon is like nothing else we have seen in upstate New York,” Sangster and Wilson boasted in a news release. 

 

The law firm’s new floor plan will include “large and less-formal” work areas, including a 3,400-square-foot, multi-media café designed to “spark greater collaboration.” It will also include more outdoor space, such as a 2,000-square-foot, 15th story, rooftop terrace.

 

The amenities also include a two-story reception atrium, flanked by glass conference rooms with views and natural light for client meetings and presentations. 

King + King Architects, LLP is handling the renovation design with support from the Effects Group of Syracuse, Barclay Damon said. 

 

Other tenants in the building include Ephesus Lighting, which handles the night-time illumination; along with Aspen Athletic Club, Jolime restaurant, and a number of other professional-service firms.