A downtown Hamilton highrise condominium project placed in receivership this summer is poised to secure a new buyer, but that will mean tearing up existing agreements with would-be unit owners.

Receiver Spergel Inc. entered into an agreement of purchase and sale for The Connolly — located at the site of the former James Street Baptist Church — with Hue Developments and Investments Canada Inc. last month, according to a March 6 notice the bankruptcy trustee sent to people who bought units.

The Feb. 12 deal, which still has to be approved in court before the end of May, would see the receiver terminate all of the prebuild agreements and start a claims process to help those who bought units get their deposits back, the notice reads.

Michael St. Jean of St. Jean Realty, which has been the selling agency for the project, said this is a procedural step as the buyer expects to revise plans for the condominium project.

The builder's intention is to offer all buyers their exact unit or another one in the building at the original price per square foot, he said.

"Because the project is being altered, they decided it was better to terminate the agreements," he said. "The plan is to move ahead with basically version 2.0 of the project."

Some of the proposed changes will include rejigging parking, and adding and altering some suites, St. Jean said.

The builder still plans to include the stone facade of the former James Street South church in the development, he added. "They plan on keeping the nuts and bolts of the former project."

The Connolly had been envisioned as a 30-storey, $80-million undertaking. Former owner Louie Santaguida previously said the 259 units were between 70 and 75 per cent sold and ranged in price from $250,000 to $500,000.

Ward 2 Coun. Jason Farr stressed that The Connolly's planning approval included the retention of one-third of the facade, specific parking ratios and ground floor commercial space.

Part of the value in purchasing the project is council has already approved the plan, Farr said. To shift gears could mean heading back to city hall. "Any proponent who comes along that doesn't want to contemplate the preservation of what remains of James Street Baptist is going to have an uphill battle."

Plans for The Connolly looked like they would move ahead this fall after the receiver entered into a conditional agreement of purchase and sale.

But Spergel Inc. learned the transaction wouldn't go through and restarted its marketing efforts, the receiver said in a Dec. 20 notice to people who had purchased units.

St. Jean said the buyer is eager to get going on the project once the deal closes.

"They do fully plan to move ahead in the next few months and put a new project out there," he said. "They don't intend on dragging this on."

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