A Slate Office REIT board battle will not affect two major Hamilton redevelopment projects, according to a spokeswoman for Slate Asset Management.

SAM is redeveloping two sites formerly owned by Hamilton-based Steel manufacturer Stelco. The asset management company plans to convert an 800-acre parcel into a 12-million-square-foot advanced manufacturing, logistics and creative industries development.

In the other project, Toronto-based SAM plans to develop a 27-storey multi-residential tower.

“Slate Office REIT has no impact on Slate Asset Management’s portfolio of investments, including our Hamilton projects,” Karolina Kmiecik told the Bay Observer. “Slate Office REIT is separate from Slate Asset Management; it is a publicly traded trust that Slate Asset Management manages on behalf of a majority [of] independent board of trustees.”

According to a Globe and Mail report, a battle has erupted among three of the debt-riddled REIT’s six board members.

The REIT’s CEO Brady Welch and his brother Blair, also principals of SAM, have accused fellow trustee George Armoyan of inappropriately bidding for the trust’s assets, the Globe reported. The accusations were made in a letter sent to other board members, according to the Globe.

Armoyan, a Nova Scotia-based investor who owns 20% of the REIT, has denied the allegations and responded to them in a letter of his own to board members, the publication reported. He told the Globe in an e-mail that the REIT has badly underperformed its peers over the past decade while the Welches’ company has collected $132 million in management fees.

Rendering: Slate Asset Management