Tim Banks responds to complaints about property

Members of Council,

Like the City of Summerside, APM and I are very cognizant of our “brand”, and rumours and innuendo in the public about our Company in relation to a property that we haven’t yet taken possession of causes me concern as to how APM is perceived by the public. I have had three media calls on Council ' s comments last night, and my name, along with APM’s, is being associated with an “eyesore” even though we are not the property owners. We understand Council’s desire to keep your City clean and safe , but laying blame at our doorstep without the facts is not acceptable.

APM has a long history of fully developing projects , bringing jobs, investment and choice to Summerside , such as the Granville Street Plaza, the new Canadian Tire, Wal­-Mart, Superstore, Northgate Apartments, etc... and until we get possession of this property we don’t think Council should be discussing our name in Public unless it’s associated with something that is within our control.

For your information we are scheduled to “close” this deal on April 4th and take over the property then. As you are probably aware, the retail development climate and economy is kind of “in the toilet” these days and although we believe we may have something immediate for part of the property, we don’t want to put any big plans out there until they are achievable, as we like to deliver on our promises. In the interim it is our intention, once we take control of the property, to clean up the graffiti and safely secure the property until we have a firm deal to develop it. W e would be prepared to sit down “off the record” and discuss such with whoever Council would like to represent them. For the record, there is asbestos roof sheeting in the existing roof system which is quite safe and only has to be dealt with environmentally if we decide to demolish parts of the existing building, which may or may not happen, depending on who we secure as end users for the property.

APM are firm believers in Summerside and we want to bring more jobs, investment and choice to the City. We will undertake to do our best, but let’s start off on the right foot and not raise the bar of expectations too high, as was done in the case of the Waterfront Mall Development.

I am currently out of the Country and if any of you would like to discuss this matter you could email me or contact Brian Gillis who will be back in our Charlottetown office after today.

Regards

Tim Banks