RALEIGH -- The City Council voted this afternoon to allow Empire Properties to move forward with plans to build offices, condominiums and hotel rooms near the city's new convention center, even after the developer missed a deadline that could have killed the project.

The council unanimously approved giving Raleigh-based Empire until Nov. 1 to submit site plans for the 22-story Lafayette tower it is proposing south of the convention center. That also will give Empire more time to find a lender.

Greg Hatem, Empire's managing partner, was relieved by the vote. He said his company will now focus on a redesign "that better fits these economic times."

That could include building the project in phases or reducing the number of condominiums proposed.

The Lafayette is a crucial piece in the city's effort to attract events to the $221 million convention center that it is building at McDowell and Lenoir streets.

The city previously agreed to sell the land to Empire for $1.44 million -- if the developer could meet certain city-imposed development deadlines.

But a skittish lending environment has thrown the project off schedule.

City Manager Russell Allen opposed granting the developer's request for further extensions, and recommended that the City Council reopen bidding to developers who would compete to build on the 0.51-acre city-owned lot bordered by Salisbury, Lenoir and South streets.

But City Council members disagreed. Councilman Rodger Koopman said the council and the city need to make sure that local developers like Empire are successful.

He also said the city should listen when developers like Hatem say that now is an extremely difficult time to raise money in the capital markets.

"To give a guy like Greg, who has done a lot for the city, a little extra time seems appropriate," Koopman said before today's meeting.

The city's ability to attract bigger events -- and free-spending convention-goers -- is governed by the number of available hotel rooms. Of 850 rooms planned, about 500 have been delayed as lenders have instituted stricter lending standards.