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“It’s difficult to get anyone to really work any further, go any further than we’ve gone, until we get some sense that the city wants to work with us,” he said. “It seems they’re so adamant that they want to rub this one away.”

Fougere called it an “unfortunate situation.” He said any development on the site would be better than nothing. It would be ideal if Westgate Properties, which currently owns the site, had built the 27-storey hotel and condo tower first pitched almost 10 years ago.

But Nichilo stressed that his group is not like Westgate. First off, he recognizes that the condo market isn’t going to support the original project. He’s pitching a shorter building, with six to eight storeys of hotel and two above-grade levels of parking.

He said he’s not yet sure how much that will cost, but is confident his company can finance it. It might include a plan to buy out the bank that owns the first ranked mortgage on the property. His team would convert their debt to equity and find a “local credible partner” to build. According to Nichilo, there’s already interest.

All they need is “a little bit of time.”

“If the site remains as it is today, it has much more value because we can begin building immediately,” said Nichilo. “All we asked the city for was a little bit of time to prepare proper development plans and get the necessary approvals through the normal course.”

He got the feeling that the city seems “out of patience,” though he acknowledged that Capital Pointe has been a drawn-out affliction for Regina.

The project was first proposed in 2009 under the name Westgate Properties. But excavation work only began in 2015, and was put on pause two years later.

The site has sat idle ever since. The city first attempted to get it filled in April 2018 through an order to comply, which Westgate challenged before an appeal board.

It took another appeal, this time to a court, and then another board decision before the city got the authority to begin backfill work, which it plans to have completed by the end of October.

“I get that this has been seven or eight years of craziness, but not with us,” said Nichilo.

Nichilo said the plan isn’t about profit. It’s about recovering his investment. But even if the project happens, it likely won’t be enough to save those who’ve sunk their life savings into Capital Pointe through syndicated mortgages.

“They’re so deep in the stack, that if they were included in any plan here, they would likely cannibalize the plan for our partners,” he said.

“I can’t see a scenario where it would.”