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Thread: Croce to bid on Statler

  1. #1
    Member steven's Avatar
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    Croce to bid on Statler

    Local developer Mark Croce is expected to make a bid to acquire the mothballed Statler Towers.


    Sources confirmed that Croce is leading a local partnership that wants to acquire and renovate the Buffalo landmark, which has been shuttered since January.


    The sources said Amherst attorney Morris Horwitz, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court-appointed trustee, and his special counsel, Hodgson Russ partner Garry Graber, will file a motion with Western District Bankruptcy Court Chief Justice Carl Bucki to authorize the sale to Croce and his partnership. The motion could be heard within a few weeks.


    Sale terms will be set during the hearing.


    Croce, Horwitz and Graber could not be reached for comment.
    Tentative plans call for a mixed-use development, although final details are being worked out, sources indicated.


    Croce already has a stake in the Statler’s fate.


    Two years ago, a partnership led by him acquired a surface parking lot at Mohawk Street and South Elmwood Avenue from financially troubled Bashar Issa, a British investor. The lot was used as parking for Statler tenants and people attending special events there.


    The building would add to Croce’s vast downtown holdings, which include restaurants such as Buffalo Chophouse and Laughlin’s in the city’s central business district. He currently is in the middle of an $18 million conversion of the former Curtiss Building on Franklin Street to a boutique hotel scheduled to open next fall. He also owns several parking lots.
    People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable.

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    Member newwayofthinking's Avatar
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    Croce doesn't have that kind of scratch. Everybody in the development business knows it'll take $100M to get that place in shape. There won't be any public money available for it either. Rocco Termini would do it if that was the case.

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    Quote Originally Posted by newwayofthinking View Post
    Croce doesn't have that kind of scratch. Everybody in the development business knows it'll take $100M to get that place in shape. There won't be any public money available for it either. Rocco Termini would do it if that was the case.


    What they said.

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    Quote Originally Posted by newwayofthinking View Post
    Croce doesn't have that kind of scratch. But everybody in the development businessknows it'll take $100M to get that place in shape. There won't be any public money available for it either. Rocco Termini would do it if that was the case.
    a) You don't have to be in the development business to know about the $100 million - all you have to do is read the newspaper. But, everybody in the development business does know you don't need to have $100 million to do a $100 million deal.
    b) He'll have investors - between them, i'm sure they could raise 25% of it
    c) Of course there will be public money involved

  5. #5
    Member 300miles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by newwayofthinking View Post
    Rocco Termini would do it if that was the case.
    I think Rocco has his hands full right now.

    He's planning to renovate the AM&A's building and the Lafayette Hotel... both are huge projects that need complicated financing.

  6. #6
    Member leftWNYbecauseofBS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by newwayofthinking View Post
    Croce doesn't have that kind of scratch. Everybody in the development business knows it'll take $100M to get that place in shape. There won't be any public money available for it either. Rocco Termini would do it if that was the case.

    I think you need to read between the lines and connect the dots a little bit....

    1 - Croce does not have the money but he is not doing it 100%. Croce is leading a local partnership, so who knows what kind of backing he has.

    2 - The biggest challenge on the Statler was parking. None of the other developers had parking as a realistic option. However, as the post points out, Croce not only has a surface parking lot at Mohawk Street and South Elmwood Avenue but the City of Buffalo wants to give Croce $7M to develop a $35M / 11 floor parking ramp a stones throw away. When announced in the spring, it was called the Statler Intermodal Transportation Facility. Also to note, the ramp and office building leads the City of Buffalo's 2010-11 Federal Agenda.

    So much for your idea that Croce was not going to public money. The reason why Rocco or everyone else could not make the math work was PARKING. Croce has parking locked up already.

    A lot of people were upset or concerned that his ramp idea did not have enough development on it. But development for the ramp was never a goal. The goal was to build Croce a ramp for his OTHER PROPERTIES downtown.

    So with the money from the parking during the day (city workers/office space on top of the ramp) and money from the parking deck at night (hotel guests and events), Croce takes over the Statler with his new parking deck and works on 20% of the hotel at first with 100% of the event space from the get-go.

    It will take time for him to complete the entire Statler but during the whole process he will return a nice profit for his "local partnership" of investors.

    Oh...did I forget to mention that Croce has a Boutique Hotel in the works around the corner in the former Curtiss Building? That is going to be a 59 room hotel with event space. That is 1100 feet from door to door between the two hotels.

    With that kind of booking power, Croce would essentially control the downtown hotel market in 5-8 years.


    Oh...one more thing. If you look at what exists on the west side of Delaware Ave between W. Mohawk and W. Huron...you will see a huge opportunity for Croce.

    YELLOW = His hotels
    RED = His parking
    GREEN = Future Event/Convention Center?????


  7. #7
    Member 300miles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by leftWNYbecauseofBS View Post
    GREEN = Future Event/Convention Center?????
    Have there been any plans floated for that?
    I thought that land is owned be several different owners.

  8. #8
    Member leftWNYbecauseofBS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 300miles View Post
    Have there been any plans floated for that?
    I thought that land is owned be several different owners.

    No plans...just me reading the tea leaves so to speak. The ownership of the North section of this block is a mess. I think there are 4-5 lots owned by 4-5 people.

    But if you think about Buffalo...and what it would be really good at in regards to 'conventions'...the small but upscale space is a much better match.

    For starters, it would be an easier sell. Not only would it cost less but it would change the competition. Instead of trying to compete massive conventions, you go after the smaller groups that currently max out at hotel spaces. As for the cost, it could be put under the level of a 'silver bullet' which WNY has a bad taste for and it would be easier to get funding.

    Even if the COB does it, Croce is so close with the City 'Leadership' he would have an inside track and reap the benefits as if he did.

    Hell, even if a new CC/Meeting space is not built...the two hotels he owns are right next door to the current one. No matter what happens...he wins.


    I worked for Croce as he built out the Coliseum. I was just staff and he would not even remember me but what I watched was pretty smart. A different developer would have built out every one of those bars from the get go. Marc on the other hand did one at a time. He built enough to make a profit...made enough in profit to build a bit more...rinse and repeat...fast fwd 12 years and here you are.

    I mean this was a guy who had nothing but a jewelry store in Amherst 20 years ago. He now is on the verge of being a huge player in downtown Buffalo.

    I do not like how is so close to Brown but I love his process of growth. If there were 50-100 people like him...Buffalo would be a much MUCH better place IMO.

  9. #9
    Member 300miles's Avatar
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    ok. that would be nice at that location but with the existing convention center just across the street from it, I don't think the idea would go very far. Especially since they're currently sinking a few million dollars into modernizing the current conv.center.

    I've always wondered how difficult it would be for the Statler investors to purchase the L-shaped parking lot on that site right next to the Statler. It could have several floors of parking plus some ground floor retail on the Delaware side. The Huron side would directly face the Statler making it's use ideal.

    But since that is never brought up I'm assuming the private owners of the site have no interest in selling.

  10. #10
    Member leftWNYbecauseofBS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 300miles View Post
    ok. that would be nice at that location but with the existing convention center just across the street from it, I don't think the idea would go very far. Especially since they're currently sinking a few million dollars into modernizing the current conv.center.
    Good point. Just to throw out an idea for fun...

    What if Buffalo went with two smaller convention centers? Say they were to shrink the existing one and reopen Genesee and then build another one on the site I mentioned.

    Look at the upcoming conventions for Las Vegas. A lot of these are under 2000 attendees. What if Buffalo were to think outside of the box and focus on trying to attract two smaller conventions every week and simply not go after the conventions that have more than 10,000 attendees?

    I would love to see Snyder have his connection to the current convention center cut off....as well as his funding....



    Quote Originally Posted by 300miles View Post
    I've always wondered how difficult it would be for the Statler investors to purchase the L-shaped parking lot on that site right next to the Statler. It could have several floors of parking plus some ground floor retail on the Delaware side. The Huron side would directly face the Statler making it's use ideal.
    Maybe the owner wants to sell the building and the lot. I think they are all together.

    Quote Originally Posted by 300miles View Post
    But since that is never brought up I'm assuming the private owners of the site have no interest in selling.
    Or maybe just waiting on the right price. Sadly surface parking is too profitable in Buffalo right now. If the parking ramp gets built for Croce, maybe that will change the dynamics.

    I think I suggested before that the city should help private owners build 4-6 large parking decks in specific areas and then change the tax laws on the rest of the surface lots.

  11. #11
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Anyone have statistics on convention size and popularity?

    How many conventions are between 100 to 500, 500 to 1000 and so on?

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    Member leftWNYbecauseofBS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    Anyone have statistics on convention size and popularity?

    How many conventions are between 100 to 500, 500 to 1000 and so on?

    Looked for a bit. Could not find much. Found some stuff on Chicago that separated Conventions and "Meetings"..which I am talking about meetings.

    From 2007-09:

    • Chicago had 135 Conventions with on average 19,745 attendees per.
    • Chicago had 150 Meetings with on average 1252 attendees per.

    From personal experience I spend more money in the places I go to meetings than conventions. The reason are the events themselves.

    Take real estate for example. The NAR conference is MASSIVE and they get great speakers. So when I went, I spent a lot of time at the hall. However, there are smaller conferences or meetings like Inman Connect. I used these to get out on the company dime and network. I was much more likely to pull people out of the hall and have food/drinks at Inman and people were more likely to leave the hall to have meetings.

    Essentially I have been to San Francisco for both and only experienced San Francisco with Inman...and personal trips. This is just my personal experience.

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    Member steven's Avatar
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    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.
    People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable.

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    Another dreamer???

    Quote Originally Posted by steven View Post
    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.
    AND HERE WE GO!!!....around and around again...
    show me da' money...TO PROVE you have the resources to complete the renovations!!

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    Member bflonum1fan's Avatar
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    UB Law School

    A while back I heard the idea of moving the UB Law School to the Statler. Sure it would take millions to refurbish, but what a great way to reinvigorate downtown. It's proximity to all the courts, jails, police HQ, legal firms would make this a great choice.

    I have a real hard time thinking that any mix of retail, housing, would be able to even begin to payback the $100 million (?) investment.

    But wait, weren't we going to give Bass Pro $60 million for building ?
    It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required. (Sir Winston Churchill)

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