Does this sound familiar?

A youthful foreign investor steps forward to purchase a troubled iconic landmark and immediately promises to change the building's fortune.

With visions of Bashar Issa and his well-documented but failed attempt to revive Statler Towers fresh in people's minds, there is a fair amount of skepticism about Jamil Kara. He agreed to purchase the Hotel Niagara for slightly more than $1.36 million, once all the auctioneer's premiums and assorted other costs are factored into his original bid of $1.25 million.

Kara emerged from an active pool of bidding for the 12-story building, which sits on the doorstep of the world-famous waterfalls. In mere minutes, there was a volley of 31 bids and Kara's came through as the last one standing.

The 30-year-old Vancouver resident has an air of mystery. He entered the Niagara Falls picture just a few days before the April 26 auction. As he left a private room in The Giacomo, where he signed a mountain of paperwork, Kara asked a reporter from YNN TV station not to videotape him. He did agree to answer a flurry of questions, minus the camera.

Still, the image of an equally youthful Issa generously answering questions and talking about his plans for the Statler could not be shaken - at least, not immediately.

Privately, those who know and have worked with Kara insist he is the 180-degree opposite of Issa. Citing confidentially clauses, most asked that their identity be kept out of the newspaper.

First of all, they say he and his investment group have a track record of finished projects. There's a couple of high-rise condos in Vancouver. Closer to Western New York, he and his investors recently renovated the former Hamilton Spectator's printing press building and turned it into the Film Works Lofts with 50 decidedly upscale units.

"I'm a problem-solver," he said.

Issa, for the most part, talked a good game. He did have a few projects in England that ended up under the control of a court-appointed receiver.

And while Kara said he has never heard of Issa, he is aware of what went on. In fact, Kara is just learning about Western New York. This much is certain: He said he does not own a light-brown corduroy sportcoat - Issa's trademark clothing.

"Why is there so much doubt?" Kara said.

Another sign that he may be the real deal is that he did enough advance work to understand that for a project to be successful in Niagara Falls, it has to be handled by union contractors. That was abundantly clear in his earliest survey of the Cataract City's landscape.

Curt Schneider, vice president of the Cleveland-based Chartwell Group - which handled the Hotel Niagara auction - said Kara and Carl Paladino were the only interested parties who went deep into the building's basement to check out the most minute details.

"They went down 30 feet to look at the sump pump," Schneider said. "That tells me something about how serious they were."

Issa barely knew there was a basement in the Statler and seemed amazed when John Gingher, the building's longtime manager, told him there was an abandoned indoor pool there. The pool was well-known among locals.

"Jamil pays attention to detail," Schneider said.

The Hotel Niagara will not be Kara's only local investment.

While Issa dreamed of building a 40-story skyscraper on South Elmwood Avenue, Kara said his focus is on buying properties similar to the Hotel Niagara. In other words, older buildings that are in dire need of a cash infusion and some vision.

"I wouldn't have bought the Hotel Niagara if I didn't think I could do it," he said.

His vision for the building is a mix of upscale, loft-style apartments and a boutique hotel.

That's the same economic-development model he may bring elsewhere to Niagara Falls, Grand Island or even Buffalo.

That's all well and good, but Kara remained vague about where a 30-year-old could get access to the $10 million in private funds needed for Hotel Niagara. It is a legitimate question.

"My brother is a successful mortgage broker in Vancouver," Kara said. "We have access to a private consortium of investors because of that."

Many are hoping he will bring a storybook ending to the Hotel Niagara.

He said, with an air of confidence, that within two years the project will be completed, pointing to Film Works Lofts as evidence.

He knows he will be working under a microscope, especially in Niagara Falls.

"I've been around long enough," Schneider said. "I looked Jamil in the eyes. He is the real deal. You'll see."