Comment 84790

By Mahesh_P_Butani (registered) - website | Posted January 08, 2013 at 00:43:17 in reply to Comment 84768

LOLAOA:

"If you can arrange for those kind of resources to be provided for 24-28 King East then I think we can and should save them. To ask the owners to take on the task by themselves is a bit far fetched."

First off all, the Tower of Pisa is leaning, and Blanchard's buildings are NOT.

Secondly:

"The city has never demanded a historical restoration job on these facades. The condition of his building's facades only call for routine maintenance and upgrades to the cornices, eavestroughs & drains, possibly new windows and such, and possible upgrades to the store signs if required. All of which is clearly covered in the city incentive program."

The interiors may require stripping of lathe-plaster and sandblasting the bricks, and sanding and polishing the floors. It may or may not require new services, washrooms and kitchen based on how badly Blanchard has let these buildings go, and whether he is interested at all in converting them to live/work lofts for which there are city loans and a great demand for rentals.

If designed well, he could get around 20 units into these buildings, and still keep the rear area above for a boutique hotel of around 60-80 rooms while retaining 5 commercial storefronts and building two very tall high-rise buildings on the vacant lots at rear, facing James and Main.

The main floors and some upper floors have/or had tenants in the very recent past. So, they are not as run down in condition as being claimed. I remember visiting Premi's office with a friend this summer, and it looked like it was in decent shape. (Also, see interview of Premi in the Spectator from a few years back, when he moved into that office--and read his quotes there).

So, what kind of resources are you really talking off here LOLAOA?

Are you saying Blanchard cannot afford these simple renovation expenses to keep his buildings going?

If I were thinking of tearing down some buildings, I'd hate to hire you as my consultant, LOLAOA, You seem to make a mess of all arguments you raise in favour of this demolition!

"To ask the owners to take on the task by themselves is a bit far fetched."

Isn't that what developers exactly do? If not, they are simply not developers.

And aren't you being a bit presumptuous here LOL?

Before I found out that there were no plans--except to demolish these buildings, I did email David Blanchard on hearing of his venture.

The fact remains that he has refused to acknowledge my message to him--even with a canned courtesy response. This, is so Hamilton!!

When I wrote to him, I had no reasons to doubt his undertaking, and it was an earnest reach-out on my part although knowing fully well that he does not possess the skills required to undertake such a project.

Having money and possibly pots of it, and even a helping hand from the media which is eager to give a free ride, is no guarantee of turning over a successful development project in a peculiar market such as Hamilton.

I do not know of any real developer/businessman in this world who is not curious to find out what someone has to offer, especially when their project is conceived on such a thin foundation of logic.

Like I said earlier, a Realtor and owner of properties, and a developer are two very distinct mind sets.

If he does decide to get off his high horse and chooses to respond to my email, maybe something wondrous may result--beyond his wildest expectations.

Being the consummate consultant that you are, I am sure, you will see that he gets this message from three months ago, just in case it has not reached him yet:

On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 3:54 PM, Mahesh P. Butani, wrote:

David H. Blanchard, B.A., FRI., CPM., ACCI., CCIM, SIOR, President/Broker -- Email: wbm@wbmgnt.com

Hello David,

With reference to the news article: http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/talk/story/2012/10/22/hamilton-king-condos.html my congratulations to you on the plans!

I would like to meet up with you to discuss some ideas that may help brand, promote and market this development successfully - given the historic component and the possibly hurdles.