Nasser grabs reins

The highly touted $200-million River Landing hotel-office-condo megaproject was saved Monday with just minutes to go before an agreement with the city died.

Saskatoon-based Victory Majors Investments Corp., backed by a group of unnamed local investors, bought out Calgary-based Lake Placid Developments and provided last-second documentation saying it has the wherewithal to build the city’s most-hyped project — a cornerstone riverfront development on Parcel Y in the city’s south downtown.

Mayor Don Atchison confirmed at a news conference Monday that Victory Majors, the company led by local philanthropist and retired professor Karim Nasser, provided the needed proof minutes before the deadline.

"It’s a project that’s right for the city," Nasser told reporters. "There is no doubt in my mind everything will fit in place."

The project, which Nasser estimated will take three years to complete, will be the same one pitched by Lake Placid and approved by the city — a complex located across Second Avenue from the Remai Arts Centre that would include a hotel, residential condo tower and two office-retail buildings surrounding a public plaza and pool.

"The project is the project," Atchison said. "I’m sure as things unfold over the next few days, everyone will be just as excited and confident as I am in Dr. Nasser."

Since June, Lake Placid and Victory Majors has had an agreement in place with the city to build the project, with a clause that either could move forward without the other.

To break ground, however, the developers had to show the city documentation by Monday at 5 p.m. that an estimated $50 million is in place to build an expensive underground parkade and bring the project to grade level.

The city now has to verify through an auditor if the financing is sufficient. If the auditor is satisfied, the company has 15 business days to pay a remaining $5 million for the land.

Minutes before a scheduled press conference, cheering could be heard coming from a city committee room, where council members had received word the project would go ahead.

Councillors, city hall administration, Victory Majors’ management and lawyers stood in the hallway and listened in on the press scrum, many expressing relief the development, which has died and been revived a number of times, will finally move forward.

Earlier in the day, councillors received a report that the public portion of the 37-acre River Landing, which was supposed to be revenue neutral, will cost taxpayers $1 million in 2011 to maintain because of the lack of private investment.

Nasser, a retired University of Saskatchewan engineering professor, told reporters he officially bought out Lake Placid CEO Michael Lobsinger’s equity in the deal on Monday after the Calgary developer was unable to secure the financing he was chasing.

Nasser and his son, John, travelled to Calgary two months ago to tell Lobsinger they were pursuing a backup plan to secure the financing while they waited for him.

Victory Majors and the group of local investors officially signed off on the deal last week, but gave Lobsinger until Monday to get his financing in place, said Nasser, who thanked Lobsinger for his involvement.

"We were working together all the time," Nasser said.

"When we didn’t see much progress we wanted to make sure the project could be built. We hadn’t seen concrete things from him that the financing was available.

"When we wanted to know for sure (he had financing), it was names but not real documents."

PROJECT TIMELINE

March 2007: Saskatoon-based Remai Ventures scraps plans to develop a hotel and mineral spa, citing rising construction costs as the reason for its withdrawal.

June 2007: Calgary-based Lake Placid Developments expresses an interest in the development despite land costs increasing by $3 million to $4.8 million. The company has built the Centuria Urban Village, a 151-condo-unit landmark in downtown Kelowna, B.C.

September 2007: Only one company — Lake Placid — submits a proposal to build on south downtown’s Parcel Y. Council approves plans to build a highrise condominium, hotel and retail stores and the company enters negotiations with the city administration.

January 2008: City council approves a sale agreement with Lake Placid.

March 2008: Lake Placid CEO Michael Lobsinger tells a luncheon he will build "something spectacular for the city" at River Landing. "I won’t let you down," the Calgary developer tells the audience.

May 2008: Lake Placid applies to the city to build a hotel four storeys higher than zoning rules currently allow. Council approves the change.

September 2008: The MVA and city council approves the developer’s Urban Village plans.

January 2009: Lake Placid misses a deadline to pay the $4.55 million outstanding for the city-owned site south of 19th Street. The purchase is delayed while the company pays interest.

August 2009: Lake Placid misses a final payment deadline. City council sets a new deadline at the end of October, one day after a civic election. "I sit in front of you embarrassed and humbled . . . but believe the funding is imminent," Lobsinger tells council. "There’s no more chances," says Mayor Don Atchison.

Oct. 31, 2009: Lake Placid misses the deadline, citing tight financial markets. Lobsinger says funding is still forthcoming, but loses the downpayment on the land.

November 2009: Lobsinger tells the city’s executive committee he is "one signature away" from securing hundreds of million of dollars in financing for investment in Western Canada. Council moves to give the company time until a new request for proposals is prepared to come up with the money. He says he has spent more than $8 million on the project. He says the financing transfer must pass the rigours of U.S. Homeland Security Office, New York bankers and the scrutiny of the American Embassy or the U.S. Treasury.

March 2010: Local philanthropist Karim Nasser and his Victory Majors Investment Corp. says he wants to revive the project. At council, Lobsinger says the group could "complete (this project) in its entirety within 36 to 38 months." Marriott Hotel chain representatives attend the meeting to show support.

April 2010: A reappraisal pegs the value of the Parcel Y land at $11 million, up from $4.8 million.

May 2010: Council agrees to enter negotiations with Lake Placid and Victory Majors with the land priced at $5.2 million pending an audit. "We’re ready, willing and able now to proceed with the $200-million project," Lobsinger says. "We have financing in place . . . and are ready to move dirt in June or July." A number of well-known local business people and MLA Ken Cheveldayoff show support for the plan.

June 2010: In an 8-2 vote, council officially enters an agreement with the group but the deal includes a clause that the group must prove it is able to get the project to grade level, estimated at at a cost of $50 to $60 million, before Nov. 1. "We can move forward and move forward quickly," Lobsinger tells council.

November 2010: Victory Majors buys Lake Placid out and provides documentation it can start construction.