A condo project in Burnaby has found a new developer just over six months after it was placed under receivership, according to filings in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
The project is set for 4451 Hastings Street (also known as 4437 Hastings Street) in Burnaby, across the street from the Safeway near Willingdon Avenue in the Burnaby Heights area of Burnaby. BC Assessment values the property at $12,269,000 in an assessment dated to July 1, 2024.
The developer was I4 Property Group (I4PG), which was planning a five-storey mixed-use building called Siena the Heights with 38 condos and approximately 8,500 sq. ft of retail space. The project was beneficially owned by I4PG through Hastings Street Limited Partnership under I4PG Hastings Street Inc.
Siena the Heights had already received rezoning approval from the City of Burnaby and excavation has already been completed, with work on the two-level underground parkade started at the time the project was placed under receivership.
The Receivership
The receivership proceedings were initiated by Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company, also known as Desjardins Group, in November 2024 pertaining to a non-revolving loan in the maximum amount of $29,200,000, a non-revolving standby letter of credit facility in the maximum amount of $2,500,000, and a revolving line of credit in the maximum amount of $500,000.
The two sides entered into all of the credit agreements in March and April 2022, with I4 Property Group Inc. and Myron Calof serving as the guarantor of the loans. According to court documents, I4 Property Group defaulted on the loans just over a year later, with Desjardins delivering a notice of default on September 12, 2023. According to Desjardins, those defaults included a failure to keep the property free of liens, failure to fund cost overruns, and the ceasing of construction, on top of failure to pay the owed amount.
The 4451 Hastings Street site in Burnaby. / Goodman Commercial
The two sides then entered into a forbearance agreement that was extended three times before finally expiring on August 30, 2024. The developer was still unable to provide a solution to complete the Siena project, forcing Desjardins to issue a formal demand for payment and then initiate the receivership.
As of March 20, Desjardins was owed a grand total of $16.6 million with interest continuing to accrue.
Although Desjardins' application was filed in November, the receivership did not come into effect until February 14, 2025.
The Sale
The 4451 Hastings Street property was subsequently listed for sale in April by Goodman Commercial for $16,000,000, with the listing agreement granting Goodman a commission of 0.85% on the gross sale price in the event that the buyer was introduced by Desjardins and a commission of 1.95% if the buyer was not introduced by Desjardins.
According to the court-appointed Receiver's August 22 report, a total of 28 interested parties progressed to the point of signing a confidentiality agreement, but only three ultimately submitted a formal bid.
The selected bid was that of Vancouver-based Landa Global, introduced by Desjardins, who submitted a bid of $12,000,000 to acquire the property via a share sale — a purchase of the shares in the company that holds the property, rather than directly purchasing the property (which requires payment of the property transfer tax). Pending court approval, the transaction is expected to close on September 15.
To date, 27 of the 38 condo units and all six of the commercial units have been pre-sold, but the offer by Landa Global does not include the presale contracts, 29 of which have now already been terminated.
"The Receiver's counsel undertook a preliminary review of the Pre-Sale Contracts and concluded that there would be substantial challenges in enforcing both the commercial and residential unit contracts due to specific termination clauses that had already been extended to, or close to, their contractual limits," said the Receiver.
Notably, this is the third insolvent project that Landa Global has acquired this year. As first reported by STOREYS, Landa acquired both the Elm41 project by iFortune Homes for $14 million and the Modus project by Centred Developments for $10.6 million.
