Commercial real estate. (Buffalo, New York) (All About Business in Buffalo and Western New York) (Industry Overview)

Remember the Comet, the famous Crystal Beach roller coaster?

There are many parallels that can be drawn between the Western New York office market and the Comet. The most obvious is that both have peaks and valleys to give even the most seasoned broker a queasy stomach.

Like much of the country, Western New York's office market enjoyed some robust years in the late 1980s when Class A space was running at a nearly 95 percent occupancy rate.

If that was the peak of the commercial real estate ride, the past few years have been the valley.

A variety of factors tightened credit, including the closing of Goldome and Empire Federal Savings Bank of America, and the …