As of Friday, September 20, the Ontario courts have approved purchase agreements, on five counts, in respect of a luxury condo project at 128 Hazelton Avenue in Yorkville and a multi-tower development slated for 180 Steeles Avenue West in Vaughan. Both projects come from Sam Mizrahi — the Toronto real estate developer whose name was splashed across headlines after being forced off The One skyscraper project earlier this year.
Friday’s approvals for the Yorkville and Vaughan developments come nearly four months after both projects were placed under receivership (on June 4) amid allegations from Constantine Enterprises that it had lost confidence in Mizrahi as a development partner.
The Hazelton Avenue project in Yorkville is a nine-storey, 20-unit luxury condo build that is fully occupied from a residential standpoint. It also includes a 1,993-sq.-ft retail space on the ground floor. Although the project is nearly complete, Constantine alleged in its initial affidavit from April that Mizrahi entities owed more than $47 million, and that work on the project had come to a “standstill” due to the lack of funding (the project is estimated to be around $50 million over-budget and more than five years behind schedule).
READ: Mizrahi’s Yorkville Condo Project In Receivership As Partner Alleges $47M Debt
The courts appointed KSV Advisory as monitor over the project, and that led to CBRE being brought on to broker the sale of the retail component — which was fully Mizrahi-owned at the time the receivership order was issued — as well as any unsold residential units within the condo. Per approval and vesting orders dated August 30 and September 20, the retail component has been assigned to Constantine (through a stalking horse agreement), as have units 201 and 204.
Per those same orders, purchase agreements have been approved for a “Level 1 unit” (to Hazy Holdings Inc.) and Unit 403 (to Murad Shibeli, and subsequently to Fawzia Ahmed Gashut).
Switching gears to the Steeles Avenue West project in Vaughan, it’s a four-tower development that’s currently awaiting rezoning and is set to bring up to 2,196 condo units to the area. The allegations from Constantine (from April) were that Mizrahi was owing over $28.9 million related to the project. After the receivership order was granted, KSV brought on CBRE to solicit a buyer. On September 20, the courts approved a purchase agreement that would see ownership of the project assigned to Constantine through a stalking horse bid, which dictated a purchase price of $8 million and will be settled through a credit bid.
READ: Mizrahi Project Near Yonge And Steeles Under Receivership Amid $29M Debt
Sam Mizrahi has been contacted for comment on these proceedings, at which time, he provided a Statement of Claim initiated against Constantine and its founders, Robert Hiscox and Edward Rogers, which was filed back in April. That document alleges that Mizrahi is not indebted to the defendants in respect of the Hazelton Avenue and Steeles Avenue West projects. It also makes assertions that there were no grounds for the receiverships in the first place and that Constantine entities were attempting to push him off the project by blocking the sale of certain units and making it impossible to reduce his debt.
“Predatory behaviour and not acting in good faith,” Mizrahi told STOREYS in an email when describing Constantine’s alleged actions leading up to the receivership proceedings.
Although the Mizrahi's Statement of Claim was referenced by the Ontario courts throughout those proceedings, a judge decided that it was “an entirely separate cause of action” that bore no weight on appointing a receiver. Constantine vehemently denies Mizrahi's claims.
As for the project Mizrahi is, arguably, best known for, The One, there’s still no word on whether or not there are any competitive bidders or prospective purchase agreements. We learned in late May that the project would be listed for sale, and that a minimum bid threshold was proposed to be set at $1.2 billion. The sales process was green-lit by the Ontario courts shortly after, with JLL selected to market and solicit offers, and a non-binding bid deadline slated for July 30.
