From this morning's Globe and Mail:
Sony Centre, developer confident of deal soon
JENNIFER LEWINGTON
May 15, 2009
They missed one deadline but key players behind plans for a condo tower above the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts are still confident of wrapping up the deal before long.
"Things are moving forward with the developer and we anticipate that the closing will occur on or before July 10," Sony Centre CEO Dan Brambilla wrote in an e-mail response to The Globe and Mail yesterday.
Similar optimism was echoed by Alfredo Romano, a principal of Castlepoint Realty Partnership, a partner with Fernbrook Homes in a proposed 49-storey condo tower atop the Sony Centre. "It is so very close," he said in an interview late last week.
City council last month extended to June 30 a bridge loan of up to $5-million to the Sony Centre. The loan allows the 3,000-seat venue to carry out $25-million in renovations for a reopening set for January, 2010, without having to wait for proceeds from the real estate deal to pay for the makeover.
Still, some city councillors expressed frustration at the time it has taken for the Sony Centre and the developer to close a deal originally expected by April 1.