Talk about redeveloping the Royal Towers Hotel in New Westminster is premature until the sale is complete, says a member of the family that owns the building.

"We are presently under contract for sale, but there are still several subjects (to conditions being met) - it's nowhere near being done," says Sergio Cocchia.

New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright says city council expects to receive a Royal Towers redevelopment proposal in the near future.

But Cocchia says the sale could still take several months to complete.

Cocchia is married to Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia, the daughter of late hotelier Roy Lisogar, who purchased the Royal Towers in 1982 and was well known for his philanthropic efforts in the Vancouver area before he died in 2003.

The Lisogars also own the Century Plaza Hotel in downtown Vancouver, which Roy Lisogar built in 1972.

Cocchia says he's trying to get more information on possible development plans and the family is running the hotel as usual until the deal is complete.

"Until somebody gives you some money, they don't own anything," quipped Cocchia.

The offer is not subject to New Westminster city council accepting the redevelopment plan, says Cocchia.

Nor did it result from Gateway Casinos' decision to move its casino out of the Royal Towers as it develops a new casino in Queensborough.

"For us, it's the right time," says Cocchia.

The Lisogars did not stipulate any requirements for the new owner to develop the hotel in a particular manner.

But Cocchia says the family hopes the new owner will allow current employees to keep their jobs.

"From our perspective, we're selling it and the new buyer will do what's appropriate," says Cocchia.

The family has been trying to sell the property since Lisogar passed away.

Several other prospective purchasers attempted to acquire the Royal Towers, but the deals could not be completed because of financial factors and other reasons.

As a result, Cocchia says he is not confident that this deal is more likely than any of the others to succeed.

"The hotel has been under offer at least a dozen times in the past two years and none of them went through," says Cocchia.

According to Wright, New Westminster city planners have received details of a proposed Royal Towers renovation project.

New Westminster's business community is keeping a close eye on activities at the Royal Towers, built in 1962 and located just off downtown.

Since it's one of only two hotels in the city, the Royal Towers is tremendously important to the community, say both Cocchia and Wright.

The mayor believes a Royal Towers redevelopment will spark other development activity in the area.

The hotel became a landmark under the colourful Lisogar, who viewed himself as a self-made man who came from nothing.

After growing up in Vegreville, Alta., Lisogar once tried out as a punt returner for the Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos, even though he only weighed 145 pounds at the time.

He was widely praised for his charitable ways as he founded the Ladies Media Golf Classic, which has raised millions for breast-cancer research.

Lisogar also helped build the Down Syndrome Resource Centre and the Vancouver Oral Centre for Hearing Impaired Children, and a facility for the B.C. Children's Foundation.

According to reports, in many cases he provided properties to charities for a token $1 payment.

The Vancouver Board of Trade made him an honourary life member and the Variety Club of B.C. has also bestowed him with its coveted Golden Heart Community Achievement Award.

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)