The Tacoma Elks temple.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Banerjee said while pacing the sidewalk Tuesday afternoon following a tour inside the vacant 1916 building. “I love the architecture. I absolutely love it. I’d like to restore the building and keep the top floor for myself.”

Banerjee and his father, Ajoy, form the nucleus of The Banerjee Group, a Seattle firm that finances real estate developments. So far, however, the group hasn’t developed anything on its own.

“Every developer is looking for capital right now,” Banerjee said. “We’ve got the capital. We’re not real estate developers looking for financing. We’re finance guys looking for development projects.”

Tacoma’s precious, historic Elks temple might end up as The Banerjee Group’s first development project. Or she may break their hearts.

The father-and-son team have started preparing an offer that could be submitted as soon as this week on the building put up for sale by its Portland owners, Williams & Dame Development.

They won’t have to wait in line. A Seattle real estate development company had an option on the temple that expired Wednesday afternoon, Williams & Dame confirmed.

So we’ll see whether The Banerjee Group takes its long-shot chance, although Banerjee doesn’t consider it a long shot at all.

“We’re confident in our (overseas) sources of capital, and we’re confident in our development team’s expertise,” he said.

When you hear Banerjee talk, you simultaneously think him far too green to pull off such a complex project without a track record and so gutsy he just might make it work.

On the home page of The Banerjee Group’s Web site, you’ll find a quote from George Shinn, a North Carolina entrepreneur who owns the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association: “Believe you can do it. Believing something can be done puts your mind to work for you and helps you find ways to do it.”

When it comes to the Elks temple, others thought they could it, too. George Russell, the former head of Russell Investments, tried to make an executive health club out of it. Then Ron Zimmerman, an Oakland real estate mogul, wanted to tear down the Elks and start over with an Asian import mart. At City Hall, folks didn’t take kindly to Zimmerman’s teardown option and started condemnation proceedings to seize the old temple on grounds Zimmerman had neglected repairs. Before that could happen, Zimmerman died and his heirs sold the building to Williams & Dame, a blockbuster developer with an eye toward restoration of the temple in part for a high-end restaurant and a residential tower of at least 18 stories on the adjacent vacant lot. The only detail left to decide? Condos or apartments, Williams said.

The world seemed right at that moment in September 2006.

Then something called the sub-prime mortgage crisis hit. You know the story on the country’s residential real estate market by now, right? Homes sales and prices have plunged in recent months. Foreclosures soared. Money lenders lost money. Condominium sales in downtown Tacoma have screeched to a halt. Capital to finance just about anything new has dried up, especially a costly makeover for a one-of-a-kind historic temple. Williams & Dame put her up for sale this spring.

In April, we thought we caught a break when word leaked out that Sirius Real Estate Group, a team of young Tacoma developers building the 505 Broadway luxury condominiums just up the street from the Elks, bought an option that would incorporate an underground Pierce Transit bus hub into the Elks.

But the costs to buy and make the Elks beautiful again outweighed the return on that investment. Sirius let its option expire.

When Ajoy Banerjee stepped out of the Elks temple Tuesday afternoon, you could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

“Fifteen million,” he said. He called that a rough estimate of how many dollars it would take to get the building functional again. The Beaux-arts architecture, a creation of the French, relies on a lot of detailed flourishes that make it expensive to re-create.

As with all the Elks lovers, while the temple itself offers the charm, the profit, they say, will come from the attached vacant lot on the north side.

Banerjee stood above the lot and pictured his vision.

Apartments? Restaurants? Shops? Hotel? Condominium?

He had something specific in mind but wouldn’t say what.

As for the temple, Banerjee said he wants to hear what the community prefers to see go into her cavernous spaces.

He’s discovered what so many of us have. The Elks temple – even at 92 years old and a shell of her former glory – is easy to love. But it’s tough to make her love you back.

Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785

dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com