A quiet champion of downtown Victoria and a man whose labour of love and ties to his Italian homeland breathed new life into a rundown hotel and, in turn, sparked renewed interest in a near-forgotten corner of downtown Victoria, has died.
Danilo Danzo, who reimagined the 100-year-old Douglas Hotel as a boutique destination he would call The Rialto, died at home Saturday afternoon. He was 90 years old.
A driven and intense workaholic, Danzo was also an engaging and charming businessman with a gift for finding diamonds in the rough.
“People were fond of him, there was a warmth and fondness people had for him,” said his wife of nearly 50 years, Jane Danzo. “He was full of life and full of fun, such a dynamic man.”
Jane Danzo said her husband was a man of vision, who had a knack for taking advantage of the opportunities he saw in front of him and on most occasions having them pay off.
“He went about his business quietly,” she said. Until recently he met regularly with friends in the city to talk business over coffee, but her husband tended to listen more than he shared. “He wouldn’t let on what he was doing.”
But he was taking in everything, learning, taking notes and devising plans.
“He loved what he did.”
What he did was quietly build an empire of residential and commercial properties around Vancouver Island, though it wasn’t until The Rialto started taking shape that he started getting more public attention.
He bought the century-old Douglas Hotel, previously the Prince George Hotel, in 2000. It was the first place he had stayed when he came to Victoria in the 1960s.
Just over 10 years and well over $10 million later, the new hotel opened in 2012 with Italian marble accents, and names that echo of northern Italy — the Veneto restaurant in The Rialto is named after the province from which he emigrated in 1956.
On a tour with the Times Colonist when it reopened, Danzo’s pride over the new-look hotel was evident, though he admitted it was a transaction that was unlikely to turn a profit.
That alone made it an exception in his life.
“He was an astute negotiator and knew absolutely everything that was going on in business in the town,” said old friend Walt Burgess, who met Danzo when he was developing apartment buildings in 1971.
Burgess, who at the time was selling building supplies before himself turning his hand to development and real estate, said Danzo would often enjoy the coffee group’s get-togethers quietly, but said his mind was never turned off and he was always taking mental notes.
“If you’re talking you don’t hear, right?” he said, adding Danzo’s tough negotiating became his calling card.
Rob Hunter, founder of Devon Properties and another long-time friend, said Danzo was from the old school.
“You could do a deal on a handshake,” he said, adding that Danzo, who was fiercely proud of his Italian heritage, was always impeccably dressed in his Italian silk suits. “Danny was a mentor to me and until recently a group of us have met for coffee every weekday morning for over 25 years to discuss what was happening in the city, the world and development in Victoria. He always had great insight.”
That insight allowed him to see past the rundown Douglas Hotel and to imagine what would become a shining boutique property and led to the redevelopment of the area around him.
Former Victoria mayor Alan Lowe, who worked on some of Danzo’s early developments when he was an architecture student, said The Rialto played a big role in downtown revitalization.
“Danilo wanted to change the image and make sure that the Hotel Dougie was of the past,” he said. “He knew that he would never get his money back out of it, but the family may get the money back someday.
“I know he was really proud of that. It was also about him bringing his roots here. He was from that area and he wanted to make a difference in downtown Victoria because he wanted to change what that corner was like,” Lowe said. “Danilo was a very bright individual that had lots of great ideas and a great businessman.”
It was a long trip from where he started.
Born in Valdagno, Italy in 1932, Danzo came to Canada with no English and little money in 1956. With the promise of good jobs on the west coast, he moved to Port Alberni.
There he met Armido Franco and they developed a construction firm that would build a series of public buildings and residential neighbourhoods in Port Alberni, Campbell River and Courtenay before moving the operation to Victoria in the late 1960s.
The company continued to expand with the addition of property management and a real estate firm until Danzo bought what would become The Rialto.
Sarah Danzo, Danilo’s only daughter, said her father was a doting and indulgent man who at times seemed to be making up for his own impoverished youth by ensuring the family wanted for nothing.
She said her father treated most everything as a competition — from growing tomatoes, racing his wife home from dinner downtown to every business deal he was ever involved in.
Sarah believes that competitive edge may have been sharpened by a rough deal when Danilo was nine years old and he and his friends were stiffed in the sale of watermelon. “They ended up not making their profit on the watermelon thing, and that burned my dad for the rest of his life,” she said. “Those early experiences really shaped who he became later.”
Sarah said her father was full of life and energy — up first in the morning, spend the day out wheeling and dealing before coming home to get back to work in the garden.
“He would rarely stop, except on Saturday mornings when he and I would watch professional wrestling together,” she said. “There was always more to be done.”
Jane Danzo said her husband won her over with his warmth and charm, though she brought a chaperone on their first few dates.
“There’s this guy with sparkling eyes and an engaging accent,” she said with a laugh. “He was very dignified considering his roots, he was extremely sophisticated and dignified.”
She said he was a Renaissance man and capable of everything. Despite being a bachelor for 44 years he quickly took to being a father, a care giver, cook and ironer of shirts — whatever was required.
“Danilo was perfectly willing to just pitch right in there as if it was nothing. That’s unique in men his age, I know men in their 80s who can’t cook a meal.”
Danzo was diagnosed with a form of dementia eight years ago, which eventually robbed him of his ability to get outside and socialize. He died at his home, listening to his favourite traditional Italian music.
Danzo is survived by his wife Jane, their daughter Sarah and grandchildren Hugo and Greta.
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