The Statler is being newly offered for sale through local businessman Howard Goldman. As a public service, Goldman, the owner of a neighboring property, is voluntarily marketing the building through the web site www.buffalostatler.com, and will also be advertising the hotel through other media.
Goldman says, "I am grateful to Morris Horowitz, court-appointed bankruptcy trustee, for the opportunity to help Buffalo's favorite building find a new owner. When a successful bidder at the auction failed to secure financing and complete the transaction, the bankruptcy estate ran out of money and there were no resources to begin a sales campaign. That is why I offered to invest a little bit of my own effort to get the word out with some guerrilla marketing. I believe in the Statler."
"The tremendous love for this building has caused many of us in the community to panic a little and over-sell the value of this property. This creates a tremendous buying opportunity for someone with a fresh set of eyes. The closing of the Statler as a business was not the fault of the building itself -- it was an unfortunate result of an owner's external financial debacles."
A grand hotel built in the 1920s, the Statler was most recently sold in a bankruptcy auction for $1,300,000. The buyer, William Koessler, had been a former tenant but after winning the auction, fell short on the financing. Prior to that auction the hotel had been owned by British developer Bashar Issa.
The Statler has features that Goldman emphasizes have potential without necessarily requiring the type of full restoration that Issa planned. The Golden Ballroom played host to lavish weddings and parties as recently as several months ago. The Statler has been an uninterrupted going concern since 1923. Businesses occupied the building until cleared out by the bankruptcy trustee.
Goldman believes that Statler Towers can have a future to match its glorious past. He says a modest business plan that stresses organic growth within the space rather than a full scale restoration may be the best approach to dealing with the mammoth building. With that approach, a developer could let the market dictate what uses are brought into the building and pace the redevelopment over several years if necessary.
But first a new owner must be found.
"I am trying to do this without embarrassing anyone because the amazing thing is that the Statler really has never been placed up for sale," says Goldman. "You can't even find it on Google if you were looking for it. It was never listed with a Realtor and it is in none of the listings."
"For that matter, there isn't even a For Sale sign on the building," he says. "A kid selling lemonade at least puts a sign up."
Get Connected: Howard Goldman, 716.833.6111
Still waiting for UB President Simpson to tell us the results of his study to move UB Law School into the Statler.
See bumper sticker at
http://www.makestickers.com/addtocart.aspx?SKU=90&DesignNumber=100330091901&cid=4g3zov45wehrlj45emz3fb2n
("UB LAW @ STATLER" - This is an independent site, & I get no money from them.)
Also use the UB 2020 feedback form: http://www.buffalo.edu/ub2020/overview/feedback.html
(“Be a part of shaping the future of UB.")
Refresher on why this is a good idea:
http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/01/24/933562/downtown-law-school-would-strengthen.html ("Downtown Law School would strengthen UB")
The Statler has been sitting mostly vacant for 20 years, but now it is UB's fault that it hasn't been redeveloped.
Maybe the community, including Congressman Higgins, should have brought up the idea of UB purchasing the Statler and redeveloping it as a home for its Law School when UB was in the process of developing its 2020 Plan, not after. I understand that plans are ongoing, adaptable works-in-progress, but it seemed like as soon as the final plan was completed, individuals within the community starting chiming in about major shifts in policy regarding acquisition and use of physical space. I’m not saying that I agree or disagree with the concept...I'm just asking - why wasn't this brought up before? Also, as I have said before on BRO, I don't think that it was very appropriate for Congressman Higgins to call a press conference without UB to basically brow-beat the University into reconsidering this idea, when development of the UB 2020 Plan was in its eleventh hour.