The historic Welsh Owen Building on the corner of Water and Queen streets in Charlottetown has a relatively new owner.
Earlier this year, Stamper Inc. – a commercial real estate company – received a $6.48-million loan from the provincial government to help purchase the property at 45 Queen St.
The five-year term loan has a four per cent fixed interest rate. The loan was approved on Jan. 8.
The building, formerly known as the Kay Bros. Building, was built in 1872.
In recent years, it underwent a modern expansion and revitalization of the older parts.
Chris Cudmore, co-owner of Stamper Inc., said the business began purchasing parts of the building, such as the ground floor of the revitalized historic part, from APM about three years ago. A year later, Stamper purchased the first floor of the new extension. The overall purchase was finalized on Dec. 8.
Stamper has also owned 110 Queen St., which is the Anne of Green Gables building on the corner of Victoria Row, for about 15 years and the adjacent building (with Anne of Green Gables Chocolates and Jems Boutique stores) a few years later.
“We love Queen Street,” said Cudmore. “We knew the Kay’s family was selling the property. And, we expressed interest at that point. But, we didn’t get our foot in the door, perhaps, quickly enough and somebody else purchased the building first. Tim Banks and APM developed the property and we made our deal with APM.”
Some of the building’s current tenants include EA Games (top three floors of the historic portion of the building), Campbell Lea Barristers and Startup Zone in the new extension.
He added that the business is looking for some commercial tenants to fill vacant spaces, but there are no planned changes to the building.
