Donn Esmonde Column / Buffalo News
Sunday, March 22, 2011
Friend's Vision Helped
Save Statler
The politicians and the principals clustered on the
makeshift stage Wednesday in the lobby of the Statler
Hotel, celebrating the sale of the endangered downtown
landmark to developer/ restaurateur Mark Croce.
At the edge of a gaggle of spectators, a middle-aged man
with blond hair softly played the piano, unnoticed. Yet
it was Howard Goldman, perhaps more than anyone except
Croce, who deserves credit for the rescue of the iconic
building in the shadow of City Hall.
Like most big stories, this one has a personal
connection at its core. Goldman and Croce have been
friends since meeting as struggling businessmen some 20
years ago. Goldman is restoring the old brick mansion
just steps from the Statler. His affection for Ellsworth
Statler’s 1920s flagship dates to when his late
accountant father had an office on the second floor.
After a prospective sale failed to close last year,
Goldman—spurred by nightmare visions of wrecking balls—
launched a one-man crusade to save the 18-story edifice.
With the bankruptcy trustees’ blessing, he created a
website --
www.buffalostatler.com --
to market the property and gave tours to interested
parties. And he bugged his old buddy Croce, now the king
of Chippewa District nightlife, to make a bid.
“I told [Croce] even before the [2009] auction that he
should get this place,” said Goldman, who runs an
e-commerce business and is the husband of News music
critic Mary Kunz Goldman. “I knew that the skeptics had
it wrong.”
Goldman was arguably the first to understand that the
building could be bitten off in small pieces. It was the
strategy that saved the Statler.
“I thought you could open the first levels and make them
self-sufficient, then build the rest to suit in the
future,” Goldman told me, minutes after Croce signed
ownership papers. Which is why he kept pounding the plan
at Croce— who loved the building, but thought it was too
heavy of a lift for him.
“I didn’t think I’d have an interest, it is such a
monumental property,” Croce told me. “Howard’s approach
made it scaleable . . . He convinced me that the
building was savable.”
Goldman knew that the gorgeous ballrooms and lower-floor
open space were ripe for moneymaking bars, banquets and
weddings—businesses right in Croce’s wheelhouse.
“I know the hospitality business,” Croce said. “It will
be easy for me to get this [lower] level going again, to
create a lobby bar and a lounge and make it a fun
place.”
They are an odd couple. Croce is a plain-spoken,
scuffed-edge street guy. The dapper Goldman apologizes
when a four-letter word slips out in conversation. But
they share a love of business and opportunity. It added
up to Statler.
Goldman’s step-by-step plan convinced Croce to lay out
$700,000 for the purchase and back taxes. There is a
prospective $5 million subsidy to seal a building that
would cost taxpayers $20 million to demolish.
“Howard and I had a lot of midnight conversations about
the possibilities,” said Croce. “[Eventually] the
conversation became not ‘why?’ but ‘why not?’ ”
Croce acknowledged Goldman’s part in the saga Wednesday,
giving a shout-out to the unnoticed guy at the piano.
The public thanks and the Statler’s survival is all that
Goldman will get—or wants—for his efforts. That, and one
more thing: He can play the lobby piano whenever he
wants.
