Three properties across Metro Vancouver that were owned by a developer called AimForce Development Group are currently the subject of ongoing foreclosure proceedings, according to court filings in the Supreme Court of British Columbia obtained by STOREYS.
The three properties consist of 10227 King George Boulevard in Surrey, 541 Clarke Road in Coquitlam, and 3771 No. 3 Road and 3791 No. 3 Road in Richmond.
Foreclosure applications against the three properties were all initiated between February 29 and May 27 of this year — by both the first-ranking and second-ranking mortgage holder in two of the cases.
10227 King George Boulevard, Surrey
The most notable foreclosure is that of 10227 King George Boulevard in Surrey, located near the intersection of King George Boulevard and 102 Avenue, about one block east of the Expo Line Station's Surrey Central Station and three blocks north of King George Station.
The property is currently occupied by an open-air shopping centre — with tenants including RBC, Popeye's Supplements, and Bubble 88, among others — that is beneficially owned by AimForce Development Group through Aimforce Surrey Centre 1 Ltd.
For the site, AimForce was planning a 67-storey residential tower with 746 units that was set to be one of the tallest residential towers in British Columbia. The project has previously been associated with developer Westland Living, but Westland was only serving as the development manager of the project. In an email to STOREYS on July 15, Westland Living confirmed this and also stated that they have "concluded the management contract for the project on King George Blvd and is no longer serving as the development manager for this project."
The foreclosure proceeding for this property was initiated by Pacifica Mortgage Investment Corporation, which is managed by Capital West Mortgage Inc., on February 29, pertaining to a first-ranking mortgage agreement that was reached in December 2020 for the principal amount of $27,500,000, with interest accruing at a per diem rate of $14,382.06.
The 67-storey tower planned for 10227 King George Boulevard in Surrey.(Chris Dikeakos Architects, Aimforce Development Group)
On April 15, the Supreme Court granted the order nisi of foreclosure, which confirmed the outstanding debt at $29,307,137.42 as of April 15, with interest since then accruing at a daily rate of $14,814.12.
The order nisi also set the redemption date — the date by which the debtors can pay the outstanding amount to halt the foreclosure — at October 15, 2024. In foreclosure proceedings, redemption periods are usually set at six months by default. If the mortgage is not redeemed by the date, the lender will then often seek out a court order for conduct of sale that allows them to sell the property to recover their debt.
The second-ranking charge holder on 10227 King George Boulevard is Amber Mortgage Investment Corp, managed by Amber Financial, who initiated their own foreclosure against the property on April 18 with a claim that they were owed $16,114,178.89 as of April 18, with interest accruing at a daily rate of $7,984.25.
With both charges, the outstanding debt on 10227 King George Boulevard exceeds $45,000,000.
In an application to the court dated July 9 seeking conduct of sale, Amber said that it had received an appraisal of the property from Brady Fleguel of Ryan on June 27 that valued the property at $45,700,000 as of June 1 — significantly less than BC Assessment's valuation of $68,138,000. Amber stated that if the property is sold at the appraised price, it would result in Amber seeing a shortfall of over $3,800,000, following the various fees and the debt owed to Pacifica.
541 Clarke Road, Coquitlam
The second foreclosure proceeding was initiated on May 24 by Lanyard Investments Inc. as the general partner of LFC Swan23 Limited Partnership, along with City Mortgage Investment Corporation, against 541 Clarke Road, which AimForce Development Group beneficially owns through 1122016 BC Ltd.
The property, located right next to the Millennium Line SkyTrain's Burquitlam Station, is currently a pre-sale presentation centre that is being leased to Townline Homes for the 45-storey Band tower they are developing with QuadReal, according to the project website and court filings. According to a court filing submitted by Townline, they have been leasing the space since April 2018 and have extended their lease several times. The lease agreement is currently set to expire on August 31, 2024, but includes two six-month extension options.
Townline Homes also noted that their lease agreement predates the current mortgage.
The presentation centre that currently occupies 541 Clarke Road in Coquitlam.(Google Maps, July 2023)
The foreclosure is pertaining to a first-ranking mortgage agreement reached in December 2022 for the principal amount of $10,000,000, with interest accruing at a daily rate of $3,754.11. As of May 21, the outstanding debt is at $10,347,041.48, according to Lanyard.
The plans for the site — valued at $12,447,000 by BC Assessment — have not been previously reported by any publication, but a rezoning application for the site was submitted to the City of Coquitlam on January 18, 2024 with plans for a 21-storey mixed-tenure residential tower and a collection of townhouse units, according to the City's development application portal. The rezoning application, which is currently listed as active, was submitted by Chris Dikeakos Architects, who served as the architect for the aforementioned 67-storey tower in Surrey.
An order nisi for foreclosure has yet to be published by the Supreme Court.
3771 No. 3 Road and 3791 No. 3 Road, Richmond
On May 27, Lanyard Investments, as general partner of LFC3Road21 Limited Partnership, also initiated the third foreclosure proceeding against AimForce Development Group and a property that consists of 3771 and 3791 No. 3 Road in Richmond, which AimForce Development Group beneficially owns through 3771 No. 3 Road Inc.
The property is currently occupied by a used car dealership called Transparent Motorcars, the operating name of 1366562 BC Ltd., and is located directly across the street from the Yaohan Centre shopping mall. It does not appear AimForce had any redevelopment plans for the property.
The foreclosure is pertaining to a loan agreement reached in November 2021 for the principal amount of $10,899,468.00, with interest accruing at a daily rate of $3,553.52. As of May 23, the outstanding debt is at $11,556,900.40, according to Lanyard.
The used car dealership that currently occupies 3771 and 3791 No. 3 Road in Richmond.(Googe Maps, May 2024)
Similar to the Surrey foreclosure, Amber Financial holds a second-ranking mortgage on 3771 and 3791 No. 3 Road and initiated their own foreclosure against AimForce on June 7. According to court documents, Amber issued a notice of default to AimForce on May 9 regarding a mortgage agreement reached in June 2023 and the outstanding amount is $2,431,986.89 as of June 6, with interest accruing at a daily rate of $872.60.
Again, Amber Financial has applied for conduct of sale, saying that it received a $14,300,000 appraisal from Melanie Shi of Colliers as of June 15, which is slightly higher than the $13,890,000 appraisal Lanyard received from Alborz Namazi of Garnett Wilson Realty Advisors. Amber stated that if the property is sold for the higher amount of $14,300,000, it would see a shortfall of $370,038.43, after the various fees and debt owed to Lanyard.
BC Assessment values 3771 No. 3 Road at $8,242,600 and 3791 No. 3 Road at $3,709,300, for a total valuation of $11,951,900.
AimForce Development Group
With the five claims pertaining to the three properties, the total debt AimForce currently owes is approximately, and likely exceeds, $70M.
No corporate website is currently available for AimForce Development Group and there is little public information about the company. Their corporate office is located at 311-13091 Vanier Place in Richmond, according to court service list information and Google Maps images of the building.
AimForce Development Group's office at 13091 Vanier Place in Richmond.(Google Maps)
Little is also known about the directors of the company. In court documents pertaining to all of the aforementioned foreclosure proceedings, a man named Davidson Guo is referred to as a director of the various ownership entities and a guarantor of the loans.
Furthermore, in almost all of the claims, the creditor who initiated the foreclosure have stated that they have had difficulty servicing Guo and subsequently submitted applications to the Supreme Court to allow alternative service to him.
In its application pertaining to the Surrey foreclosure, Amber Financial noted that a court process server went to Guo's registered home address of 13805 27 Avenue — valued at $6,068,000 by BC Assessment — and instead met a woman who identified herself as Tracy and said that Davidson Guo had moved out of the property two years prior.
In its application in the Richmond foreclosure, Lanyard stated that "Davidson is clearly evading service" and evading service is "prejudicial to the petitioner, including by reason of causing undue delay and material additional costs."
In all three foreclosure cases, the Supreme Court allowed alternative service to Davidson Guo's legal representatives, Nerissa Yan and Nathan Muirhead of Yan Muirhead LLP.
STOREYS reached out to Yan on Saturday, July 13 seeking comment from Davidson Guo, but has not received a response by time of publication.
