Emile Mashaal, president of Yale Properties, said the city's support of a revised proposal to redevelop the derelict Lister Block on James Street North -- with a phased-in $7-million investment -- makes him want to cry.

"I can't believe this is happening," he said. "It's mind-boggling ... Why would anybody (choose to build in Hamilton) when the city is going to go into competition with you?"

He said he met privately with Mayor Bob Wade to discuss his concerns about the ambitious $78-million project but felt compelled to send a letter to make it clear the company was reviewing its development agreement and options.

"We have to look at our agreements and see what they are. It might entail (legal action)," he said. "We might have grounds, we might not have grounds. Suing is not a picnic and nobody likes to do it but when people are backed against a wall and they have to do it to protect themselves, they might do it."

Part of the ambitious proposal backed by council in a 12-4 vote Tuesday night calls for moving the successful Hamilton Farmers' Market, now joined to Jackson Square off York Boulevard, into the Lister Block complex.

The strongly worded letter, sent by the company's Hamilton lawyers, warned Wade the company believes it "will have substantial claims against the city" if the market is relocated.

The letter states a part of the mall was allocated, at the city's request, for the public purposes of the farmers' market and library. Source.