BIZZ BUZZ

The restaurant where many of Hamilton's biggest business deals get discussed has changed ownership. Lo Presti's at Maxwell's has been sold to Perry Torpoy, a restaurateur who was previously a major shareholder at the Edgewater Manor Restaurant in Stoney Creek.

Sam Cino was the owner of the previous Maxwell's Restaurant, having purchased it from Max Mintz in 1989. He had acquired Lo Presti's Restaurant at 92 Jackson St. seven years earlier as a birthday gift for his late wife, Gilda. "I never really wanted to be in the restaurant business; it was a whimsical thing," Sam says.

Rather than have the restaurants compete with each other, he merged the two establishments in 1994 at the Maxwell's location at 165 Jackson St. Two employees of Lo Presti's at Maxwell's, Werner Gieral and Rinaldo DeRosa, were also shareholders.

"A couple of years ago we decided it had been a good run, but it was time to let go. We quietly got the word out that we were interested in selling. We found a willing buyer to carry on in the same tradition."

Werner and Rinaldo will continue working at the restaurant, although in a somewhat reduced capacity, as part of the transition of ownership.

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Judy Marsales has opened her new real estate office on Locke Street South. She took possession of the former CIBC bank building at the corner of Herkimer Street just over a year ago, after successfully bidding $307,000 for a building the City of Hamilton had listed at $198,000.

She has since been renovating the property to accommodate the 12 staff now located there and to ensure the heritage features of the 1919 building are preserved.

"It turned out to be a lot more work and expense than we expected, but the building is absolutely perfect for us," Judy says.

In addition to residential properties, staff at the site will handle commercial properties -- with a particular focus on storefront retail locations. The office will be managed by broker/realtor Cam Nolan. The Locke Street office brings to three the number of locations for Judy Marsales Real Estate. The other offices are in Westdale and Dundas.

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The Hamilton-Halton Home Builders' Association has elected a new president for 2008-09. He is Steve Spicer, development manager of Multi-Area Developments. He succeeds Adi Irani, CEO of A.J. Clarke and Associates, a company that provides surveying, planning and engineering consulting.

Bizz Buzz runs every other Friday. Tricia Hellingman is president of Hellingman Communications, a Hamilton-based public relations and marketing agency. You can e-mail her at thellingman@hellingman.com.