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But last call for the Strath is coming.

The hotel, the oldest wood-framed commercial building on Whyte Avenue, has just been sold to Ivan Beljan of Beljan Development.

“We want to remake into a showpiece of a building,” Beljan told me Friday. “This is a key piece of real estate in the city. This is just the opportunity to really change a whole block.”

The hotel is at no risk of demolition. It has protected heritage status, not only from the city but from the province.

Beljan has actually been trying to buy it for years, to add it to his growing portfolio of Old Strathcona properties.

(He currently owns 10 sites in the Whyte Avenue area, including the old Dominion Hotel building a little bit west of the Strath, the Crawford Block, just north across the back lane, and the Hulbert Block, home to the Block 1912 cafe.)

Beljan’s plans for site aren’t yet finalized. Because the building has historic designation from two levels of government, he has to get two levels of approval for any renovations that might change its heritage character.

But his current proposal is to renovate the two upstairs floors of hotel rooms and turn them into 34 apartments.

“Being able to work on a building with a story to tell, with some complexity, for us it’s what we wake up loving to do.”

“These things are costly. They’re not easy. The return has to be there, at the end of the day.”

“Lots of people have told us they have many stories and lots of fond memories. But it’s 2018 now and we have a next chapter that people will fall in love with for the next generation.”

“We’re a small group and we’re local. We move quickly because we know time is money.”