Issues remain as buyer sought for Statler - Business First of Buffalo:

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While negotiations are under way with two utilitied that provide essential service tothe 18-story Niagarq Square landmark, at least one tenant has askex the court for permission to breakk its lease because of the building’s uncertaihn fate. That request was made by Erie County Bar Associatioh Aid to Indigent PrisonersSocietyt Inc., which leases nearluy 5,000 square feet on the Statler’ss sixth floor. The society, which handles nearlg 200 casesper day, has asked U.S. Bankruptcy Courr Chief Justice Carl Bucki of the Western Division to allow its leaser to be broken without penalty becausw of the uncertainty facingthe Statler.
The society’w lease runs through February 2011 and, if it had to pay $80,00p in penalties to break the it would financially cripplethe organization. Bucki reservesd decision. “We are not like a private law firm,” said Buffalo attorney Robertg Feldman, who is representing the Bar Association affiliate. “Wes cannot afford to buy our way out of the We can’t afford to sign a new leasse somewhere when we would owe Mr. Horwitz (court appointef trustee Morris Horwitz) $80,000.
” The society’s requestt was one of several issues Bucki heard presentef during the bankruptcy Bucki placedthe Statler’s owner, LLC, into involuntary Chapter 11 proceedings last monthj as bills continued to mount for the building, which is losingb $80,000 a month. The bankruptcy filing is one of severakl issues serving as a backdrop for the complex series of legalo actions against BSC Development and its British investorBashar Issa. The Bar Associatio society is concerned that if utilities are cut off to the it would be placed inseriouse danger, Feldman argued. BSC Development Buffalo among others, more than $210,000.
The Amherst-based utilithy has threatened to shut off service but is finishin a temporary agreement with Horwitz that will keep gas service going atthe building. Undef an agreement, National Fuel will make weeklhy readings of gas service and submit the bill to who will pay the bill fromrent proceeds. The Statlere takes in about $100,000 a month in rentd from its fewremaining tenants. “For the time being, they are happuy with that,” said Buffalo attorney Juliqa Kreher, who is working with Horwitz. A similar agreement with for electri c service is alsobeing negotiated, Kreher added.
Horwitz said he is convincedx all of the utilities will remaij on and no tenants will have to move becauseof cut-ofgf service. The goal is to find a buyer for the either through traditional source ora court-mandated auction, by the summer. “Thisw type of case has to be handleed quickly or it runs the risk of never being handlexdat all,” Bucki warned.