Statler Nominated to America’s 11 Most Endangered List

Preservation Buffalo Niagara (http://www.preservationbuffaloniagara.org) has nominated the Statler Building to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2010 America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places (http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/) program. The nomination has been submitted to the Trust with broad support from the community, local and state elected officials, and civic organizations.

The National Trust’s America’s 11 Most Endangered program provides national recognition and visibility to treasures such as the Statler; benefits include preservation expertise services and a countrywide development platform. The program is non-restrictive and is not the same as an historic registration. It is hoped that resources available through the program will assist in a truly viable, successful redevelopment of the Statler. The program is owner-independent; participation and implementation are not dependent on a stable ownership circumstance. The program is designed for precisely the situation in which the Statler currently resides.

Regarding the nomination, Preservation Buffalo Niagara Executive Director Henry McCartney stated, “This nomination is a community call to action. With national attention, and the assistance of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Buffalo Niagara is confident that public support and private investment will eventually be secured to preserve and revitalize the Statler. The Statler is a vital part of our city’s heritage and is of state and national significance.”

Below is the list of elected officials and civic organizations that have sent letters to support this nomination. Additional offices still are working on their supporting letters, which will be submitted as they are received.

New York State Governor David A. Paterson
Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter
Congressman Christopher J. Lee
A Joint Letter from Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles E. Schumer
New York State Assemblymember Sam Hoyt
New York State Assemblyman Robin Schimminger
New York State Senator Antoine M. Thompson
Buffalo Common Council President David A. Franczyk
Preservation League of New York State
Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society
Zonta International (Founded in the Original Statler)
Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (Held National Event in 1935)
Theodore L. Lownie, Partner, Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects, LLC (Architect for The Roycroft Inn, Another 11 Most Recipient)

Remember Bashar Issa?

You know, wide right – whether we’re talking about 47 yards in 1991 or 47 yards last night – isn’t just the phrase that drives Bills fans insane. It’s also a metaphor for all the wonderous projects that have come Buffalo’s way over the last billion years and never came to fruition. Outer Harbor development, Peace Bridge expansion, Skyway removal, a Metro rail network – all of them live in the as-yet non-existent museum of abandoned or unrealized Buffalo plans. We are so used to going one step forward and two steps back that when we actually get the step forward (see Canalside), we go overboard in our gushing.

I have visions of the ECHDC demolishing the Aud and the Donovan building early next year, and we get a Fotomat, a Perry’s ice cream kiosk, and an Airport Plaza Jewelers hut on the property. In fact, I think everything built there should be named “shack”, “hut”, or “shanty” just for that extra bump of historical accuracy.

Buffalo. Where a really great project shouldn’t cost [pause] an arm and a leg.

The centerpieces of that Buffalo Museum of Abandoned Dreams (BMAD) are Bashar Issa’s promise to completely overhaul the Statler Towers into a mixed-use extravaganza, together with his pump & dump of a nearby property, which was inexplicably going to tower over the HSBC tower and offer Class A office space for a city that has a need for it, but probably not quite that much of it.

Issa ingloriously sold off the site for the office tower, and later agreed to sell the Statler to an investor group that includes Erie, PA’s Scott Enterprises of Splash Lagoon fame.

By happenstance, I googled Mr. Issa yesterday and found this article from Property Week in the UK. Evidently, Mr. Issa – who promised to completely self-fund all of his projects, and convinced a lot of people that he had the means and the know-how to get it done – is busy selling off just about everything. Issa’s companies went into bankrupcty earlier this year, and assets are being sold off:

It is thought that administrator KPMG and its adviser, Knight Frank, are assessing bids of between £2m and £4m, from as yet unnamed parties, for the site on Lena Street, where Issa planned to develop a 23-storey tower.

Sarah Tower was one of three Manchester residential sites put up for sale in August. The other two sites are Sarah Point on Great Ancoats Street, funded by Yorkshire Bank, and Issa Quay in the Piccadilly Basin, which is the only project near completion.

The three schemes were put on the market after KPMG took full control of three subsidiary companies of Issa’s BSC Group: BS Developments, Issa Developments and BS Construction.

One of Issa’s financing sources pulled out of a deal to loan £89 for Issa’s projects. But this is even more troubling:

Issa is also in advanced negotiations to sell another troubled development site, Statler Towers – in Buffalo, New York, in the US – to the Greystone Group for around $3.5m (£2m). Greystone is undertaking due diligence on the site and it is thought market conditions are hampering the progress of the deal.

So, we’re back to square one. The sale of the Statler is in doubt, and the fading, Class F structure is going to continue to fade for the foreseeable future.

Two steps back. Wide Right. [Insert metaphor here.]

Chapter 9

The City of Vallejo, California files for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy protection. The deets:

The Vallejo City Council unanimously agreed May 6 to begin bankruptcy filings after months of negotiations with city public employee union negotiators. Several meetings between city and union negotiators after the May 6 vote didn’t break the stalemate. City finance officials attribute Vallejo’s looming $16 million deficit for the coming year to a plummeting housing market and the cost of ballooning public safety employee contracts. Officials expect the city’s general fund to run out of money June 30 and hope Chapter 9 bankruptcy will protect the city from its creditors while it works out a long-term plan to pull out of debt and continue to pay its employees. City officials rejected a union proposal its representatives say offered a two-year plan to avoid bankruptcy and even build city reserves through assumed new revenue sources and union concessions.

Sometimes, it’s heartening just to get confirmation that we’re not the only place with problems.