Receivership proceedings over a development site on Dundas West that culminated in an appointment order in March have continued to move along, with the Ontario courts approving the sale and investment solicitation process (SISP) just last month. This was the final step before the property at 5507-5509 Dundas Street West in Etobicoke could be publicly listed for sale.
The site — while nearly vacant, save for an unoccupied single-storey commercial building — officially hit the market less than 24 hours ago, and has zoning approvals in place to to permit a 22-storey, 242,187-sq.-ft mixed-use building with up to 265 residential rental units.
According to a May 10 report from the receiver — BDO Canada — the SISP commenced on May 16, 2024, and that was followed by the distribution of teaser and bid letters on May 20 and an advertisement with The Globe and Mail on May 23.
That about brings us up to date. Moving forward, both a June 28 bid deadline and July 5 auction date have been set, per BDO’s report. A closing date is expected “on or before July 29, 2024.”
Notably, a May 24 order states that the courts have approved a stalking horse sale agreement for the property at $9M. According to BDO, this means that “prospective bids must exceed the stalking horse offer by a minimum of $100,000 in order to be considered for acceptance by the receiver.”
Avison Young/Turner Fleischer Architects
The Receivership
The receivership proceedings were initiated last summer by Centurion Mortgage Capital Corporation against Dundas Shorncliffe Limited Partnership and Dundas Shorncliffe Ltd. (the debtors), which are the shell companies linked to the 5507-5509 Dundas Street West site. It appears those companies were opened by Toronto-based Contessa Developments, who have readily touted the Dundas West project on their website.
Centurion alleged at the time that the debtors were owing some $17.5M related to the site, and as such, requested the courts appoint a receiver over the companies on August 4, 2023.
That request was not immediately obliged. In the months that followed, a receivership order was “held in abeyance” to allow the debtors the opportunity to refinance or sell the property, according to a statement of the receiver that was prepared more recently by public accounting, tax and advisory firm, BDO. The debtors were ultimately unable to secure a sale.
On March 26, 2024, a sworn affidavit of the Assistant Vice President of Mortgage Investments and Joint Ventures for Centurion Bob Vavaroutsos put the final nail in the coffin for the Dundas West site. In the affidavit, Vavaroutsos confirmed that the debtors had not repaid the $17.5M owing to Centurion by that time, effectively putting BDO's receivership order into effect on April 14.
The court documents also show that, in addition to the $17.5M owing to Centurion, the debtors also owed $5.43M to Pesciolino Holdings Inc. and $1.574M to Mapleview Pear Tree Inc. for a total debt load of $24.504M as of April 2, 2024.
