All presale purchase agreements pertaining to The Buckingham by Vandyk Properties have been terminated, according to documents filed in the Ontario Superior Court, as the court-ordered sales process now extends into a second year.
The Buckingham was planned for the 2.11-acre site at 23 Buckingham Street in Etobicoke, located steps away from the Mimico GO Station, and was one of several projects by Vandyk Properties that was placed under receivership in late-2023 and early-2024.
For the site, Vandyk Properties had proposed three towers between 12 and 37 storeys above a shared four-storey commercial podium that would deliver a total of 749 condos, 50,052 sq. ft of office space, and 20,085 sq. ft of retail space.
The 23 Buckingham Street property is held by Vandyk Properties under Vandyk-The Buckingham North – Grand Central Limited, which was the subject of the receivership that was initiated by MCAP Financial Corporation pertaining to a first-ranking mortgage the two sides entered into in August 2020 for the principal amount of $37,500,000.
As of November 29, 2023, MCAP was owed $38,442,267.69, according to MCAP Financial's application, which was dated December 8, 2023 and was approved by the Ontario Superior Court on January 18, 2024.
No Acceptable Bids For The Project
After the receivership order came into effect, the court then approved the sales process on March 8 and 23 Buckingham Street was listed for sale by Matt Picken, Bryce Gibson, and Tyler Randa of JLL Canada.
In the sales brochure for the property, JLL Canada notes that the site had already undergone preliminary excavation, but that the project could be reconfigured.
"Given the current supply-demand imbalance and the ability to immediately begin construction, an incoming purchaser may opt to construct purpose-built rental product to take advantage of a significant influx in demand," said JLL. "There is also flexibility to reconfigure the existing development plans to create a brand new design concept for a residential condominium development by customizing unit mix, layout and underground parking."
The 23 Buckingham Street site located near the Mimico GO Station. / JLL Canada
According to a report by the court-appointed Receiver published last month, the brokers marketed the property to over 2,000 prospective purchasers, 40 of whom signed confidentiality agreements. However, ultimately only six parties submitted a letter of intent by the bid deadline of May 7.
The Receiver says it consulted MCAP on the bids and they determined that "none of the bids were acceptable, taking into account, among other things, the value of comparable properties and the anticipated recoveries for applicable stakeholders that may result from such transactions."
Notably, none of the six bids included the assumption of the existing presale purchase agreements. According to the Receiver, 686 of 748 units had been pre-sold by the time the receivership order came into effect in January 2024.
Presale Purchase Agreements Terminated
In its sales brochure, JLL also noted that "The existing development is fully sold to date, and an incoming developer will have the option to maintain or collapse the existing sales contracts at its discretion." (Although not confirmed by STOREYS, the "fully sold" description seems to suggest that more units were sold after the project was placed under receivership.)
No buyer has come forth and the property remains listed for sale, but the court has now allowed the Receiver to terminate all of the existing purchase agreements, in an effort to allow purchasers out of the agreements and to get their deposits back sooner.
According to the Receiver, the deposits collected total to approximately $71 million, all of which was spent by Vandyk, but is fully-insured by Tarion Warranty Corporation. The original purchase agreements (some of which were held under Vandyk-The Buckingham South – Grand Central Limited) had outside completion dates of 2028 and 2029 and the Receiver says, essentially, that the project has no chance of being completed by then.
"Given the uncertainty surrounding when a potential transaction for the Project will materialize, coupled with the Receiver's view that the ultimate termination of the Unit APSs in the future is near certain for the reasons set forth above, this relief is necessary in order to avoid a significant delay in getting deposit refunds to Home Buyers, the majority of whom entered into the Unit APSs in 2021," the Receiver said.
The court order is likely a relief to the presale purchasers, who would have otherwise had their deposits tied up for several more years, or perhaps even been asked to pay more for their units, as has been seen in other insolvency cases. JLL will now continue to market the property.
Grand Central Mimico
The Buckingham is just one of several projects surrounding the Mimico GO Station that was being developed by Vandyk Properties, which was founded by John Vandyk, who served as the guarantor on most of the company's loans.
Towards the southwest, along the GO tracks, Vandyk Properties also owns 39 Newcastle Street under 2495065 Ontario Inc., which was placed under receivership on December 12, 2023 at the request of Otera Capital, the financing arm of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CPDQ) — the pension fund behind real estate company Ivanhoé Cambridge — before the brand was folded into CPDQ in January 2025. Otera was owed $72,945,844.99 as of October 23, 2023, the property was listed for sale by CBRE, and has yet to be sold.
Additionally, Vandyk Properties also owns 327 Royal York Road, an adjacent site to the west, under 2402871 Ontario Inc., which was placed under receivership — along with four other properties — on November 14, 2023 at the request of Toronto-based KingSett Capital. KingSett was owed $45,341,273.97 as of September 25, 2023, the property was listed for sale by Scotiabank, and also has yet to be sold.
327 Royal York Road, 39 Newcastle Street, and 23 Buckingham Street, which make up Grand Central Mimico. / Kohn Partnership Architects Inc.
These two sites, along with the Buckingham site, together make up what Vandyk had named Grand Central Mimico, a transit-oriented community that would ultimately consist of nine towers with over 1.85 million sq. ft of condos, commercial space, and a park. As part of the project, Vandyk was also set to redevelop the existing Mimico GO Station, but Metrolinx terminated the contract shortly after Vandyk's various insolvencies became public.
Furthermore, Vandyk also owns 48, 50, and 52 Newcastle Street, a 0.37-acre site north of 39 Newcastle Street and west of 23 Buckingham Street that is not part of the Grand Central Mimico project. That property is held under under 1000318652 Ontario Inc. and was placed under receivership on January 18, 2024 at the request of Fiera FP Real Estate Financing Fund LP, also known as Fiera Real Estate, the real estate arm of Montreal-based Fiera Capital. Fiera was owed $9,667,811.63 as of October 31, 2023, the property was listed for sale by Colliers, and again has yet to be sold.
Over a full year has now passed since all of the Grand Central Mimico properties were placed under receivership. The properties have been fenced off, as they have been for several years, and it may continue to be that way for some time even if the properties are sold (considering market conditions). With so many properties tied to Vandyk, the future of this area is now essentially frozen. The train has left the station and it's unclear when the next one will come.
