Assemblyman Sam Hoyt this week called on Sen. Charles E. Schumer to intervene with HSBC North America Holdings in order to keep the bank in the landmark downtown Buffalo tower that bears its name.

In a letter Hoyt fired off to Schumer, the Buffalo Democrat asks the state’s senior senator to help Buffalo retain and even expand HSBC’s downtown presence. The opportunity “could mean thousands of jobs for Western New York and a stronger, more vital downtown corridor that will anchor our waterfront development,” Hoyt wrote.

HSBC earlier this year launched a local real estate search to examine its options as its lease in the HSBC Center building expires in late 2013. At the same time, the building’s second-largest tenant, law firm Phillips Lytle LLP, is also exploring other property options, since its lease expires around the same time.

Together, the two companies occupy 87 percent of the 1.2 million square feet of rentable space in the 28-story building. So “the real possibility of an insurmountable loss to Buffalo’s downtown corridor therefore exists,” Hoyt wrote to his fellow Democrat.

In fact, Schumer has been involved in the effort since April, when Seneca One Realty LLC, the tower’s owner, reached out to him because it was concerned HSBC might leave. The senator’s office hosted a meeting between Seneca One and Empire State Development Corp. officials May 6 to discuss what the state could do, and the state agency contacted HSBC North America CEO Brendan McDonagh to find out the bank’s intentions.

Several weeks later, Schumer called McDonagh and urged him to stay downtown but didn’t specify where. In fact, Schumer, city and state officials are deliberately not focusing on any one building, since one other option under consideration is the Canal Side development. McDonagh did not give a commitment, except to say that the bank would stay in Western New York.

“The conversation went well, and we believe HSBC is well aware of the benefits of staying in downtown Buffalo,” Schumer spokesman Max Young said.

As an alternative, Hoyt noted, Seneca One has “a bold plan” to retain and expand HSBC’s presence, by creating a “spectacular campus-style addition” with 60,000-to 70,000-square-foot floor plates that would “rival any competitive proposal.” That could allow for executive and legal functions to move from the tower portion to the addition, freeing up space to bring additional jobs to Buffalo, where costs are lower.

jepstein@buffnews.comnull