The high-rise rental development in Burnaby known as the Willingdon Rose is the subject of ongoing foreclosure proceedings, according to filings in the Supreme Court of British Columbia obtained by STOREYS.
The Willingdon Rose is a planned 34-storey project with 362 market rental units and 98 non-market rental units — one of the rare full-rental projects in Burnaby — set for 6622 and 6688 Willingdon Avenue, one block east of Central Park and about a 10-minute walk away from Metrotown Station and the Metropolis at Metrotown shopping centre.
As reported by STOREYS in December 2022, the project has received third reading (conditional) approval, but has yet to receive final approval. The rezoning application was submitted by Richmond-based IDS Group, who is serving as the development manager for the project and has no ownership stake in the project, said IDS Group President Josh Adelberg in an email to STOREYS.
Both parcels are currently occupied by low-rise rental buildings constructed in 1967, with a total of 72 units. The properties are legally owned by 1147979 BC Ltd. and controlled by Zhiping Yang, both of which are named as respondents in the foreclosure proceedings.
The Foreclosure
The foreclosure proceedings were initiated by Vancouver-based real estate finance company Terrapin Mortgage Investment Corporation (TMIC), which is managed by the development company Adera Development.
In a Petition to the Court dated August 28, Terrapin said they reached a mortgage agreement with 1147979 BC Ltd. and Zhiping Yang in February 2021, and TMIC subsequently advanced $12,500,000 to the borrower, with interest accruing at escalating rates.
Prior to the mortgage agreement with Terrapin, the borrowers also reached a mortgage agreement with Amber Mortgage Investment Corporation, also known as Amber Financial. The amount was not disclosed in TMIC's filing, but the two lenders reached an agreement that grants TMIC priority over Amber Financial.
According to Terrapin, they are owed $12,634,972.60 as of August 6, with interest accruing at a daily rate of $4,333.97.
The Supreme Court has not issued an order nisi confirming the debt and setting the redemption date, or an order granting conduct of sale. However, the owners have already found a potential buyer.
"The property is currently under contract with an accepted offer, pending the removal of subject conditions," Adelberg, of IDS Group, told STOREYS.
It's unclear what the sale price is, but BC Assessment values 6622 Willingdon Avenue at $11,026,100 and 6688 Willingdon Avenue at $21,856,000, for a total valuation of $32,882,100.
The two properties have also been at the centre of a long and winding civil claim, initiated in July 2020 by a company called Vandev Consulting, a development consulting company wholly-owned by Vandevelop Properties, which is itself owned by a company controlled by Jiangming Zhu, a company controlled by Gordon Tang, and a company controlled by Patrick Lynch, in a 40/40/20 ownership split, according to court documents.
The civil claim was over a $1 million service fee Vandev Consulting says Pacific Maple Manufacture Inc. — a company controlled by the aforementioned Zhiping Yang — owed the company. In 2021, Pacific Maple then tried to have that civil claim dismissed, only for Vandev to make a successful appeal, despite Vandev never being licensed under the Real Estate Services Act to provide services. The successful appeal returned the proceedings to the Supreme Court, who decided in a judgment last month to proceed with cross-examinations of the principals rather than a summary trial.
As is common in real estate in Metro Vancouver and many of the foreclosures that have occurred, there is also a China connection. In a 2018 memo prepared for then-Minister of State for Trade George Chow ahead of a meeting with a delegation from the Henan Province of China on November 28, 2018, Zhiping Yang is identified as Chairman, Pacific Maple Enterprise Group Ltd/ Henan Changtong Logistic Co., Ltd., and part of the incoming delegation.
