[markbarbera]

I would think the difficulty with private financing for Lister and (pre-Stinson) Connaught had little to do with the properties themselves and much to do with who held the properties. Essentially, prior to Stinson's purchase of Connaught, the projects were owned by the same group of people, who had little large-scale redevleopment experience and shakey business plans for their redevelopment. This woudl give pause to many potential investors.

There is significant value in both properties, and there is measurable demand for residential properties downtown. Should Lister transfer into the hands of an experienced developer with a realistic redevelopment plan, financing would definitely be forthcoming.