Statler bid totals nearly $700,000
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge is expected to issue a federal order next week that could clear the way for a partnership led by local restaurateur and businessman Mark Croce to buy the Statler Towers.
According to documents filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District Chief Justice Carl Bucki, the partnership headed by Croce and Lackawanna's James Eagan has agreed to pay $200,000 for the 18-story Niagara Square landmark, plus nearly $500,000 in accumulated back city, county and water taxes -- bringing the entire deal closer to $700,000.
Bucki is expected to issue an order to proceed with the sale in a hearing set for 10 a.m., Aug. 9. At the hearing, Bucki -- who has overseen the Statler Towers case for the past 17 months -- will likely set a hearing where the Croce/Eagan bid will be reviewed, as will any others that may be submitted to the landmark building's court-appointed trustee, Morris Horwitz, or his special counsel, Hodgson Russ partner Garry Graber.
The sale hearing could be set three weeks out from the Aug. 9 date. It is expected that Horwitz and Graber may ask for a 15-day window instead of a three week period.