BY NORMAN DE BONO, FREE PRESS BUSINESS REPORTER

London developer Shmuel Farhi has won an outstanding business award from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

The president of Farhi Holdings Corp. took home the Outstanding Business Achievement Award in the small business category for the province following a nomination by the St. Thomas Chamber of Commerce.

"This is the Oscars for business," Farhi said yesterday.

"I am very excited about this acknowledgement from my peers in London and across Ontario. I am humbled by it."

The St. Thomas chamber nominated Farhi for his work helping to develop and restore more than eight buildings in that city's downtown, said Bob Hammersley, the chamber's president and chief executive.

Farhi won, however, for business growth of 4,500 per cent over three years and a provincewide portfolio of buildings now valued at more than $800 million, said Hammersley.

"It is staggering. His holdings are immense."

Farhi, 43, owns 70 buildings and two million square feet of property across Ontario, with about half that square footage in London.

"His path of success in Ontario started in St. Thomas and we feel a special connection to him,

Hammersley said of Farhi's work on the historic Elgin County Courthouse in St. Thomas, Farhi's first major renovation.

Farhi has bought several major buildings in downtown St. Thomas and renovated them to become commercial and apartment space.

His properties include the former Woolworth building and Anderson's department store.

"He has literally changed the face of our downtown," said Hammersley. "He took properties which were an eyesore and restored them. He maintains the historic integrity, that's the beauty of his work."

Farhi won an award several years ago from the St. Thomas chamber. It nominated him two years ago for the outstanding business achievement award.

He did not win that year, but the St. Thomas chamber was contacted by the Ontario chamber, asking for more information for this year's award and the nomination was submitted.

"He is tireless at what he does," added Hammersley. "Just shadow him for a day and you will be exhausted by his pace."

Although known in London for his work buying downtown buildings, Farhi also has developments in Ottawa, Kingston, Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Kitchener and Windsor, many of which are government buildings.

"We are throughout Ontario -- we develop in a lot of other communities. We have had phenomenal growth," Farhi said.

Farhi, who came to London from his native Israel, has been working as a developer here for about 18 years.

"I don't do this for my peers to bring it to light. I do this because I believe in it," said Farhi. "We have to do things to make our place here better to live and work and raise our children."

In London, Farhi has more than 50 buildings, including the Royal Bank building on Richmond Street and the TD-Canada Trust building on Dundas Street.

One year ago, he acquired for $12.3 million the former Ivest Properties block, north of Victoria Park, a 1.4-hectare parcel of land.

"He is a brilliant entre-preneur," said David Taylor, chief executive of Pacific and Western Bank of Canada in London. "He is extremely intelligent and filled with energy and vigour. We have an entrepreneur in this city with boundless energy."

Taylor has worked with Farhi, financing acquisitions, and wasn't surprised he won the provincial honour.

"His attitude is to provide the best service he can to his tenants. That is a necessary ingredient for a successful entrepreneur."

Bernie Bierbaum, president of the London Chamber of Commerce, praised Farhi for the achievement, saying it reflects well on the region.

"We are happy about anyone in Southwestern Ontario reaching that level of achievement," said Bierbaum.

"He has been very active in London. He has invested a lot downtown. He has supported the core and done great work restoring buildings. We're very happy for him."

Last month, Farhi bought downtown office buildings at 685 Richmond St. and 201 Queens Ave. for $3.2 million from Standard Life.