State Backs Statler Reuse Plan

I feel cautiously optimistic.

Haha. Good to know that the people at Flynn Battaglia Architects have a good sense of humor. Removing a giant structure for a ground level parking lot is even more horrifying/hilarious in rendered form than it is imagining it.

As for this news, you know Rudnick is out of touch when the State is in favor of keeping this beautiful building and he's not.

Nice, buy a building for less than a dollar a square foot then have the taxpayers pay for your renovations. Only in Buffalo. If the State and City cough up 5.5 million to stabalize this buiding since he obviously can't afford to [which is normally what the owner of a building would do] IT SHOULD BE A LOAN! The fact that no private developer stepped up to the plate with cash in hand for a complete over haul really does prove there is no place in this city for the Statler, big white elephant in the middle of a shrinking City. I smell another Hyatt and Paul Snyder. 3 empty towers for decades with a Croce restaurant on the first floor subsidized for years to come. Smart man this Croce and laughing at us.

The Buffalo News has written this type of editorial the past 3 owners/potential owners. Byron Brown is right to wait for a detailed plan.

I'm not really sold by lets activate the bottom two floors and organically fix everything. There are basic flaws that make the building not work. Going back to the way it was just doesn't feel like a step forward.

Don't get me wrong I'm supporting the effort it just seems like there is always an innovation deficit.

I'm glad that the building probably won't be torn down. But something about the chain of events seem fishy. Why did Croce buy the building if knew he can't even come up with the basic dollars to fix the falling facade? Did he assume from the beginning that NY would be funding it for him? I agree with the previous comment that the money should be given as a loan. If he really needs it as gap financing, that's totally fine. But once the building is profitable it should either be paid back, or NY should get a cut of the profits. If we don't, then why do we need Croce in the picture? We should have had NYS buy the building up front and pay for the renovations. Why pay Croce as a middleman to do the same thing?

For a group that routinely takes stabs at the Buffalo News, BRO sure takes alot of their material from the source of their ridicule. Anyone could have a website that simply regurgitates news.

isn't this called Hamisterizing?

I guess the thumbs down come from people who do not mind or prefer to have their tax money used to subsidize the real estate holdings of the Nuevo Riche. Croce obviously does not have the cash flow to see this through completion, never mind the basic stabilizing of the building. Everything comes in 3's, he is the third owner to be a "Savior" in as many years. Take off the rose colored glasses and see the situation for what it is. I may believe in him a tad more if his 1st hotel project that is a tiny fraction of this size was off the ground, but at the moment it is still an empty building abutting a shovel ready lot. Next time the Statler goes on the auction block have the bidders show a bank statement or a proven track record in large scale re-development. Stick to your successful restaurants Mr.Croce and leave projects like this to those who "can do".

Im happy that my tax money is going towards this project, in fact, ill DOUBLE my personal tax contribution towards this project cause I'm baller like that. where do i send my check for 30 cents?

Ill drink one less 12oz coke this year to cover the difference to my pocket book.

$5.5m is cheap

As an ArtVoice article said this week…we are a culture of Subsidies. Look at the big 3 developers in Buffalo and you can see it. They have the funding to buy the big buildings for a fraction of their worth and then they sit on them until State, County and Local funding gets offered to fix it up. Or they won’t move on them until funding is given to them. The Lafayette Hotel, the Statler, the Greystone by Johnson Park, the Nursing Home on Symphony Circle to name a few, are just sitting there. Why, because the developers need government funding to do the projects. They need laws changed. They need public sentiment to swing in their direction. An eyesore in your neighborhood swings sentiment in their direction quickly.

Whites Livery is costing what? 3.4 million to renovate? Free “no strings” funds amount to 2.1 million. It’s a GREAT thing!!! They are saving the front façade and an elevator shaft. Reading The State Division of Housing and Community Renewal press release it states that the Livery “will provide 14 units for people with physical disabilities or traumatic brain injuries.” I guess what ever it takes to sell the project!

Yes it is great to save the Statler. If we have to spend the money to stabilize the building then do it and lease the lower floors to businesses (how about the ones that got kicked out)? Set up a trust to take care of the building and hire a management company to run it. Don't just give taxpayer money away.

Stop giving out taxpayer money to wealthy developers and corporations. All these tax breaks and grants are putting me in the poor house. I have no money to repair my home and someday it will be torn down, on the bright side the neighborhood could use the parking. End this subsidy culture. If you can’t do it with your money don’t do it with mine!!!

Government assistance is commonplace for development so I'm not sure why the Statler is being singled out for all the anti subsidy rage.
They come in various forms: historic preservation incentives, infrastructure to spread development to the far reaches of the region, and mortgage subsidies to make it possible for people like Allentownguy to purchase a home.

If you guys want the "subsidy culture" to end, you ought to be willing to forfeit public assistance that you receive and or benefit from.

They let you sign in with the old name?! Hooray the mailman is back.

Where is Dan Snyder in all of this? He was up in arms about the Seneca's opening a hotel a mile or so from his heavily subsidized Hyatt. What are his thoughts on Croce re-opening the Statler?

Finally, a voice or reason prevails in the “anal” halls of Buffalo – I have been an advocate of renovation in stages as time and money allows, as this is a good, sound, economic approach!

For years, I have echoed renovating each pavilion of the Richardson Complex as time and money allows, as Richardson’s design is ideally suited for renovation in stages; little did I know it would be utilized at the Statler.

Incidentally, I like the water-coloring affect of the renderings contrary to the art critics blogging on the topic.

I agree that this would be a great Urban fabric lose to the city, but the Statler is a white elephant as it stands. I have not heard a proposal yet that would be the greatest and best use of this building/parcel.

In general these are all half hearted attempts to guarantee a future of this corner of Delaware Ave. There is no will to propose a viable reuse because no single entity wants to go broke. I have heard some estimates that it would take $50 M to do a core and shell stabalization! (that is building envelope and mechanical, electrical, plumbing modernization) What then? Who is going to foot the rest of the bill for renovation costs for an urban core building that has no dedicated parking? Not foreign money, not the government, and not local developers. There needs to be a more rigorous study of potential market use with project costs. Until then it is just throwing good money after, well nothing.

Also the "Rudinicked" rendering also seems to indicate that the Olympic Towers would be demo-ed too. I am sure it is a mistake, but come on man!

Food, shelter, and clothing should not be for profit enterprises that exclude the majority of citizens. The current system rewards the few at the expense of the many. The top 5% walk away with huge profits made from the hard work of the bottom 25%.

Statler HOTEL ... hm, what could we possibly use it for?
Like the grain ELEVATORS ... hm, what could we possibly use them for?

Hey! How about turning the Statler into Grain Elevators?

Would somebody with a real, workable idea (i.e. not one that would be paid for wishfully by somebody else), please stand up!

The loss of the Statler would be a huge hit to the urban fabric of the city. But as Buffalo's population declines, it makes sense that the size of its downtown would decline as well. Fewer large buildings are needed when fewer people live and work there. A smaller skyline would simply reflect the reality that Buffalo is becoming a smaller city.

wow Nbuffguy... I can agree that we may have to cope with realities that our downtown area might have to get smaller but I think the areas that are on the outskirts and not as desirable like south/east industrial builidings and whatnot should be the targets here.

losing an original building from the hub circle of our radial street plan is simply unacceptable. Especially one with as much history and promise as the statler.

In the 1970s and 1980s the city's future looked beyond bleak. Today is an entirely different story. Just take a look at all the exiting downtown projects completed and successful in the past 5 years to see that now is NOT the time to be demoing some of our largest / most impressive downtown built environment...

I have a hard time stomaching the fact that we have to start hearing from Palamess again, who outright slams Croce for "subsidies". Paladino is almost pathological with his denial and double standards. Give 'em hell right back, Mark!!

I am not in favor of giving these guys any money. They have no design or plan for the building. If they had a Business Plan that we could all observe and it showed a future for the building I would think there would be a chance. But they are asking for 5.5 million in taxpayer money to stabilize the building and then what? Another 85 million to do what with it?? Tear it down. All cities have "treasures" but sooner or later those "treasures" become an expensive emptiness that goes into terrible disrepair. If it was such a "treasure" why haven't people like Benderson or Paladino gone after it? Think with your heads people. Not just your hearts.