Buffalo, NY (WBEN) He's credited with revitalizing the Chippewa Entertainment District. He tells WBEN the Webster Block project got creative proposals because more people were allowed to give input on what should be there.

"What we're coming to learn is the stronger and more collaborative the process is, the better the end product is," says Mark Goldman, reacting to the Webster Block project going to the Sabres. "This is a pretty good end product, the result of the commitment of the mayor and his team to get involvement so I'm pleased with that."

Goldman says the Sabres project will fit in with the waterfront. "There's a tremendous amount of interest in league hockey and activities related to amateur hockey and it's going to be a strong destination that will be a good complement to activities on Canalside," notes Goldman, who adds the Sabres are spending the $123 million on the project themselves. "It's their risk making a big commitment with little asked of the public, so they're paying the market price for land. If they make it, they make it and if they don't it's their problem, not ours."

Goldman says waterfront business is expanding. "Private restaurants on the waterfront are growing. There's interest on the part of smaller-scale developers, so the more the merrier," says Goldman. "It's a high demand area along the water, and if you give them destinations along the water that are realistic and unique, it will work."