It continues to be a tough time for builders and developers in the Toronto area, and this is evidenced by an uptick in unfinished development sites hitting the market as of late as stakeholders — including mortgagees — do what they can to recoup costs.
Joining the proverbial club is a site just north of Warden Avenue and Danforth Road in Scarborough, which has just hit the market under a power of sale. And the 3.4-acre property is going for a pretty penny: according to a listing that went live at the end of last week, the site can be snapped up for $16,995,000.
The listing also points out that the site at 250 Danforth Road is “shovel-ready.” It appears that Caishen Capital Group secured zoning approvals back in May 2022 to bring a 10-storey, mixed-use building, three blocks of stacked townhouses, and 21 regular townhouses to the site. The project was expected to contain 21 freehold housing units, and would have additionally resulted in the extension of Dairy Drive and Bamblett Drive thanks to a new 16.5-m public street.
Colliers
But backtracking a bit: the site in question appears to have something of a troubled past. Before Caishen got involved, it was due to be developed by Forme Developments. However, in 2019, just four years after first proposing a mid-rise and townhouse development for the property, Forme filed for creditor protection and the lot was sold off to fledgling developer Caishen shortly thereafter. Evidentially, Caishen opted to keep the nature of the proposed development more or less the same.
Given that the property is now being offloaded under a power of sale, it stands to reason that there’s blood in the water over at Caishen. For some context: a power of sale is a remedy employed by lenders when a borrower fails to uphold the terms of their mortgage. Although defaulting on mortgage payments is the typical driver of a power of sale, this outcome can also be initiated by the lender if the borrower has breached any covenants of their loan.
In any case, one developer’s misfortune stands to be another’s opportunity.
The sale of the property is being handled by Colliers, and they’re calling this “an exceptional residential land opportunity strategically positioned in a thriving sector of Scarborough.” This is based on the site’s location between Scarborough's Oakridge and Birchmount neighbourhoods, which the commercial real estate firm notes is easily accessible by transit and profuse in parks, schools, and community centres.
