In downtown Buffalo, Croce will build something on site he bought from Issa
He says it won’t be a 40-story office building, but it won’t be just a parking lot, either
With a portfolio of successful restaurants and parking lots in hand, Buffalo businessman Mark Croce is moving into the commercial development arena.
He turned heads last week when he bought a prime downtown parcel from cash-strapped British developer Bashar Issa for $2.15 million. The vacant nearly one-acre property at 85 W. Mohawk St. at South Elmwood Avenue is the site where Issa proposed erecting what would have been Buffalo’s tallest building.
“I definitely won’t be building a 40-story tower,” Croce said. “But I will build something that makes sense in the context of the location, something that makes the highest use of the property.”
Best known as a developer of restaurants and nightclubs in downtown’s Chippewa/ Franklin entertainment district, Croce’s diverse entertainment holdings range from the high-end Buffalo Chophouse, to the Irish-themed D’Arcy Mc- Gee’s pub, to the Country-themed Buckin’ Buffalo Saloon.
He also owns several downtown parking lots, and his Skydeck Corp. was hired by Issa in June to run surface parking at the 85 W. Mohawk St. site.
“I was thinking about that property before [Issa] bought it,” Croce said. “It’s in an ideal spot and has tremendous potential.”
Issa purchased the lot in May 2007 for $1 million, a price that doesn’t reflect its true worth, according to its new owner.
“It was part of a package deal he made with Gerry Buchheit when he bought the Statler, so you can’t judge its value from that transaction. I don’t feel I paid too much,” Croce said.
While he declined to get more specific about what he’ll do with the site, he said it won’t remain a parking lot “much longer.”
“I’ve hired an architect and have a bunch of preliminary renderings. I’m at an important juncture moving into development, so I’m going to do it right. I’m not going to waste a prime development site,” Croce said.
While he’s previously said he’d like to develop a boutique hotel downtown, he said that’s not in his plans for the site. And he won’t be putting up a standalone parking deck.
“It will be a building that fills in a lot of gaps and complements the major buildings around it, like City Hall and the new federal courthouse. So it might intergrate parking, Class A office space and some entertainment,” Croce said.
James Militello of JR Militello Real Estate said the Issa-Croce deal was unexpected.
“I think Mr. Croce made a very smart move,” Militello said. “Even if he never uses for anything but a parking lot, it’s a hot buy.”
The commercial real estate veteran said he was less surprised by Croce’s purchase than by Issa’s decision to sell the lot, leaving the Statler with no associated parking.
“Now he’s got an 800,000- square-foot building he’s trying to redevelop and has given up the only parking he controlled. I don’t know how that makes sense,” Militello said.
Buffalo developer Carl P. Paladino also questioned the parking lot sale.
“He’s left himself high and dry. You’ve got to be nuts to sell off an asset like that,” Paladino said.
Issa halted his $100 million makeover of the Statler Towers office building into a hotel/residential/ office complex this spring citing cash-flow problems. The sale of the West Mohawk property is believed to be tied to his efforts to raise capital to restart the work.
Croce said he is “not counting Issa out” when it comes to bringing the historic Statler back to life.
“He’s a nice guy who’s taking a lot of cheap shots because things haven’t played out the way he hoped,” Croce said. “My impression is that he remains committed to the Statler and is working on funding. He’s not walking away.”
Issa could not be reached to discuss his decision to sell the “City Tower” site and how that might impact his Statler plans.
