About Us | Main Place Liberty Group

Main Place Liberty Group was founded in 1995 when its ownership group purchased the Liberty Building & Main Place complex. Ownership’s holdings include roughly 5 million square feet of commercial space in Manhattan, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, and Buffalo. Since purchasing its Buffalo holdings, ownership has invested significant capital in improving the buildings, including a complete overhaul of the HVAC systems and repointing the Liberty Building’s brick façade, which took ten years.

Management Team

Art Hauret, Property Manager

Art Hauret joined with Violet Realty, Inc. in 2018. Prior to VRI, he spent tenure with the Buffalo Bills Organization, Uniland Development and was the Senior Building Manager at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, where he was the recipient of the Commitment Award exemplifying excellence and teamwork. Mr. Hauret has an extensive background with over 25 years’ experience in facilities management and third party contract negotiations. As Property Manager, he is responsible for overseeing 1 million sq ft of commercial and retail office space. In addition, Art oversees the operation of the largest privately owned parking garage in Buffalo. Mr. Hauret also leads a staff of administrators, project managers, maintenance and engineering personnel. Mr. Hauret manages all functions related to customer service and tenant relations, property budgeting, risk management, capital projects and all vendor contracts associated with the property. Art received his Associates Degree in Business Administration from Empire State College and has also attended Dale Carnegie Training for Professionals. In addition, to being a USCG United States Merchant Marine Officer, Art enjoys coaching little league baseball as well as youth football. He is an active member of the Eastern Great Lakes Charter Boat and Southtowns Walleye Associations.

April Hunter, Assistant Property Manager

April has been with Violet Realty, Inc. since 2002. During her tenure she has gained a diverse background in Property Management including generating monthly billings for tenants, rents and invoicing, producing and modifying construction contracts, reviewing leases, overseeing the entire properties staff from Janitorial, Security, Maintenance, Engineers and Administration.

She earned her Bachelor of Science with a major in International Studies with a minor in Spanish from Niagara University. While at Niagara University, she had the opportunity to study abroad for a semester in Seville, Spain. Traveling throughout Europe, she was able to experience all the cultural and historical aspects of so many countries.

In her spare time, April enjoys spending time with her family and being part of Buffalo’s transition back to greatness.

Michael Manning, Vice President - Leasing

Born and raised in Buffalo, Mike graduated from the Park School of Buffalo in 1999, has a B.A. in Political Science from Allegheny College and a Master’s Degree in Real Estate from Georgetown University with concentrations in development and finance. He has earned the CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) designation as a commercial real estate industry expert and is licensed in the State of New York as a Real Estate Broker (Lic. #10351209159). Since coming on board in 2007, Mike has negotiated numerous lease deals for office, retail & telecommunication space and also has experience in property management and investment-grade real estate acquisitions analysis.