Pigs might fly past the upstairs ballroom at the Great Northern Hotel

Yeah, and pigs might fly. The renovations have been "about to begin within a few weeks", for the last five years. If Mr Braune sold the hotel in 2013, why was it that in 2014 he was talking to locals about starting renovations upstairs in late 2014, or early 2015? The Herald story says that renovations are about to begin, but how many times have we heard that? Also, the mystery deepens as to who exactly is the owner of the hotel.