From the Star:
Sony Centre receives condo unit as donation from developer
L Tower condominium project developer gives arts centre gift of 10th-floor unit worth $559,534
Jul 05, 2008 04:30 AM
Paul Moloney
city hall bureau
A developer planning the boot-shaped L Tower condominium project above the city-owned Sony Centre for the Performing Arts is giving the theatre $1 million in the form of a new condo unit and cash.
The condo donation was not publicly disclosed last year, but was revealed in the centre's audited financial statements released this week.
It certainly came as news to Councillor Howard Moscoe, a Sony Centre board member.
"I wasn't aware we were given a condominium," Moscoe said yesterday. "As far as the condo, I've never heard (of) that one."
The financial documents place a value of $559,534 on the condo, an approximately 900-square-foot, 10th-floor unit expected to be ready by November 2010.
Councillor Mike Feldman, another Sony Centre board member, said he was aware of the donation and praised the developer, Castlepoint Realty Partners, headed by Alfredo Romano.
"I've got to say that the developer, Castlepoint, I guess they're happy with their sales and happy with the location, and they've been more than kind," Feldman said.
Councillor Adam Vaughan was more circumspect about the gift. It complicates what is already a complex development, said Vaughan, who wants to preserve as much as possible of the original theatre.
"It would be easier if the (condo) development and the business activities of the Sony Centre were kept as separate as possible," Vaughan said. "The more you mix the two of them together, the murkier it begins to get. It just muddies the water."
Vaughan said he understands the need to raise donations.
"They have to try to get funds for the Sony Centre. This is what happens when you don't fund arts properly. You end up with these arrangements. It creates a layer of complication."
The donation is not part of any contributions or payments due to the city, said Dan Brambilla, chief executive officer of the Sony Centre, previously the Hummingbird Centre and originally known as the O'Keefe Centre when it opened in 1960.
Brambilla said the highrise condo tower will provide funds to carry out a $20 million renovation of the Sony Centre, which closed last week for a 16-month makeover, but the donation is separate from those funds.
Romano is "just a great developer, a great guy, and he's just trying to support the organization, and that's really all it is," Brambilla said. "Other than the fact I know him and I asked him for a contribution in 2007 and he said he would do it, it's completely separate from the development as far as any monies owed.
"All I can tell you is it's not unusual for people that have resources to make gifts. Look at all the gifts the opera company has received, and the ROM and the AGO.
"We were the lucky recipients of a gift in kind, we're happy to get it and hope we can get further gifts from him and others in the future."
Brambilla said the intention is to sell the condominium once it's built, subject to market conditions. All the proceeds of a sale would go to the centre.
"Who knows what the board will do in 2010 or 2011 when the condo is built, but the intention is the board would sell it and put the money in its account," he said. "If the market gets soft, the board could hang on to it until the market gets stronger."
When the Star contacted Castlepoint's Romano by phone and email for comment, he suggested the questions be submitted in writing, via email.
The Star did that and hadn't received a response by late yesterday.
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/454833
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