China-based real estate developer China Aoyuan Group (HKEX: 3883) has completed a series of sales that have amounted to a near-full exit from the Canadian market, STOREYS has learned.
Across the past three years, China Aoyuan Group — operating as Aoyuan International and Aoyuan Canada, among other names — has sold its stake in two projects in British Columbia and two projects in Ontario, with three of the four transactions having not been previously reported.
Those three transactions were pertaining to the last three projects listed on Aoyuan International's website, which was online as recently as December 2024, but has since been taken offline.
The Grove
The first of the four was reported nearly three full years ago and was pertaining to a project called The Grove that was at one point also known as Alpha Gardens.
Planned as a multi-phased master-planned community, The Grove was being planned for an 8.34-acre site comprised of 4500-4554 Dawson Street, 2223-2375 Alpha Avenue, and 2350-2430 Willingdon Avenue in the Brentwood neighbourhood of Burnaby.
However, in January 2022, Bloomberg reported that Aoyuan was selling the property to Anthem Properties, a prominent Vancouver-based developer, for $215 million, in what ended up being the biggest transaction of the year in BC. In March 2022, Anthem announced that they had made the acquisition alongside Toronto-based KingSett Capital.
Anthem and KingSett, which have an extensive history of working together, have since rebranded the project as South Yards, and the project is set to include 2,105 condos, 120 market rental units, 342 affordable rental units, and 60,000 sq. ft of commercial space across five high-rise towers and three mid-rise buildings.
One Central
The 44-storey One Central at 13350 Central Avenue in Surrey. / Chris Dikeakos Architects
Following that sale, many wondered what would happen with Aoyuan's 44-storey One Central project that was being developed at 13350 Central Avenue in Surrey, along 133A Street and a few blocks west of Surrey Central Station.
The project website now lists Macdonald Communities Limited and Strand 133A Surrey Project Limited Partnership — also known as Macdonald Development Corporation and Strand — as the developers of the project, although both companies do not list the project on their respective corporate websites.
The sale has gone unreported, but was disclosed by Aoyuan's China-based parent company in May 2023. In the disclosure, Aoyuan states that they had agreed to sell the One Central project to Macdonald Communities Limited for $50,300,004 (CAD) via a sale of the shares in 133A Street Projects Ltd., Aoyuan Parking and Storage (BC) Ltd., and Aoyuan 133ASurrey GP Ltd. Aoyuan noted that they would suffer a $20,226,000 loss on the sale, but that the sale price represented a 6% premium on the appraised value of $47,450,000.
The sale disclosure does not name Strand Development, suggesting that they were brought on later by Macdonald Development Corporation. According to a BC corporate registry notice, the entities involved in the transaction were then renamed to replace "Aoyuan" with "Macdonald and Strand" in September 2023.
The One Central project consists of 553 condos and was completed in 2023.
120 Peter Street
In Ontario, Aoyuan acquired 357-359 Richmond Street W and 120-128 Peter Street from Carlyle Communities for $72,071,311, according to a Q1 2021 report published by commercial real estate brokerage Avison Young.
For the site, which includes a heritage property known as John Holdford House, Aoyuan was planning a 39-storey tower with 374 residential units.
However, according to Colliers Executive Vice President Jeremiah Shamess, the site was sold in early-2024 for $40 million, which represents a significant drop-off from the original acquisition price.
Details about the transaction appear to be unavailable, but the new owner-developer seems to be Kingdom Developments, according to its corporate website and the website of BDP Quadrangle, the architect of the project.
M2M Condos
The M2M Condos presentation centre at 5915 Yonge Street, with Phase One in the background, in July 2023. / Google Maps
The biggest and most recent of the sales was pertaining to the M2M Condos project at the southeast corner of Yonge Street and Cummer Avenue in the North York area of Toronto. Aoyuan acquired the site — 5799-5915 Yonge Street, 45 & 53 Cummer Avenue, and 46-47 Averill Crescent — in 2018 from Silvercore Inc. for a reported $201 million.
The 8.6-acre site was formerly occupied by the Newtonbrook Plaza shopping centre and is in the process of being redeveloped into five towers over 30 storeys with a total of over 1,000 units that would be constructed in three phases. The first and second phase each consist of two high-rise mixed-use towers, while the third would consist of one final building.
However, in May 2024, China Aoyuan Group disclosed that it had entered into an agreement to sell its stake in Phase One of the M2M Condos project to Winnet Capital Ltd. for $68,000,070, via a sale of shares in the associated entities. The Phase One properties are owned under 2591260 Ontario Inc. and beneficially owned by 5799 Yonge Street Limited Partnership.
In its disclosure, Aoyuan states that the net proceeds from the sale, after deductions, was approximately $66.5 million and would result in the the company taking an estimated loss of $17.9 million. Phase One appears to have now been completed, but the status and ownership of the second and third phase is unclear.
Winnet Capital Ltd. does not appear to have a corporate website, but Aoyuan's disclosure and a signed copy of the sales agreement state that the company is led by Shiya Li and based in Markham, Ontario. STOREYS reached out to Li on January 20, but has not received a response.
China Aoyuan Group
According to its corporate website, China Aoyuan Group was founded by Guo Zi Wen in 1996 and is headquartered in Guangzhou, China.
"Since established in 1996, Aoyuan has developed into an enterprise group with asset of over RMB100 billion extending the businesses into property development, commercial operation, urban redevelopment, general wellness and medical beauty, cultural tourism and technology," the company says. "Aoyuan recorded property contracted sales of RMB121 billion in 2021, while being included in 'Fortune China 500' for five consecutive years since 2017."
In December 2023, China Aoyuan Group filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the United States, but that likely came as no surprise to those who were paying attention.
After expanding the company to Australia, Aoyuan sold 49% of its Australia operations in 2022 for what was a reported $170 million loss. In its May 2023 disclosure of the One Central sale, Aoyuan said it was facing "liquidity issues" as a result of a market downtown in China that saw their contracted sales total drop by 83.3% from 2021 to 2022.
"The Group has been affected by the negative real estate market in the PRC, the relevant national macro-control policies and the difficulty in accessing typical financing channels since 2021," Aoyuan said. "Consequently, the Group is currently in need of additional capital to meet its financial obligations and cope with its liquidity issues. The financial condition of the Group is further worsened by the slowing down of the Group's business, which is attributable to the continued market downturn and the dampening of purchasers' confidence in the PRC property market in the recent years."
"Due to liquidity issues of the Group, it is of the Group's best interest to exit from the market of British Columbia of Canada," the company added. "The Disposal would provide quick relief to the Group from the on-going funding of the Project to completion and generate liquidity for the broader financial needs of the Group."
In its May 2024 disclosure of the M2M Condos sale, after completing its $7.3 billion (USD) debt restructuring in the US in March 2024, China Aoyuan indicated that it was still facing liquidity issues.
"Due to liquidity issues of the Group, it is in the interest of the Group to reduce the investment commitment required in respect of property development in Ontario of Canada," the company said. "The Disposal would provide quick relief to the Group from the on-going funding of the M2M Project Phase 1 to completion and generate liquidity for the broader financial needs of the Group."
More recently, according to the South China Morning Post, Aoyuan Founder Guo Zi Wen sold 16.38% of the company to UAE-based Multi Gold Group in September, while also trimming his interest in the company to 13.3% and making Multi Gold Group the single largest shareholder in the company. Director and owner of Multi Gold Group Mohamed Obaid Ghulam Badakkan Alobeidli is now identified on China Aoyuan Group's website as Chairman of the Board.
