Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexander 90
"Another project milestone Mathieson is able to report is completion of the removal of hazardous materials from the former St. Regis Hotel on Portage Avenue.
CentreVenture was obligated to take back the property from Ontario company Fortress Real Developments of Richmond failed to follow through on a plan to build a parkade and commercial complex on the site.
St. Regis Hotel site is up for grabs once more
At one point CentreVenture hoped to sell the building as it stood, for redevelopment, but is now marketing the property as a clean site and demolition of the old hotel will begin soon.
As a partial reflection of uncertainty of the value of the downtown property, CentreVenture has written down a loss totalling $1.535 million off its books for the St. Regis."
You are a volunteer at Centre Venture and you do not have a clue. Angela admitted to a huge loss. And that did not include interest, property taxes and utilities.
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I will edit this and try again.
I invite you to go back and read your original post. You claimed that money was lost because of CV’s engagement of Fortress. That is not the case.
The City told CV to purchase a property and a business from an owner who was not selling, to make an investment in downtown by trying to get rid of a major location for crime. Again we can debate this logic.
CV paid more than the building was worth to achieve this.
Fortress made a good offer on a building that didn't exactly have a lineup of buyers for, but CV understood (like you did) that this developer came with risk, so the agreement came with development timelines, buy-back clauses and penalties for costs incurred by CV if it failed.
Fortress did actually work hard to create a development and went after RFP's to find tenants. In the end, they did fail and all costs to CV were reimbursed by Fortress.
The building was put up for sale again.
A new buyer was found with good financing and a portfolio of significant developments. The offer for what is essentially a piece of land, once again does not cover the initial cost of buying the building and business from an unwilling owner. This was never the expectation.
CV has done pretty well to find a buyer for a derelict, asbestos filled building in a bad location. The same penalties and development timelines apply to the new buyer.