386 Symington | 60.56m | 17s | Tricon | Graziani + Corazza

[AlbertC]

Developer cancels Junction condo project, saying it was ‘unable to obtain financing’

By Tess KalinowskiReal Estate Reporter
Tues., Feb. 4, 2020

Buyers in a Junction condo-townhouse development are now awaiting the return of their deposits after Limen Developments Ltd. sent letters Monday saying the project has been cancelled.

The agreements of purchase and sale were conditional on Limen “obtaining and accepting financing for the construction,” said the letter naming president Antonio Lima.

“Unfortunately, despite using all of our commercial reasonable efforts, we were unable to obtain financing from three separate institutions,” it said, adding that company lawyers will arrange for the return of all deposits.

Developer cancels Junction condo project, saying it was ‘unable to obtain financing’

Limen Developments sent cancellation letters to buyers of the project on Symington Avenue on Monday.

www.thestar.com

 

[TheKingEast]

That area is really hot now. Resale 1 bedroom Fuse Condos are selling in the Mid 500K compared to Low 400K Last year. It's going to be tough to use that deposit to buy anything really.

Yup. Must be so disappointing

 

[AMol]

Yup. Must be so disappointing

Yuppp. On the hunt again. Any good projects in Toronto???

 

[TheKingEast]

Yuppp. On the hunt again. Any good projects in Toronto???

Good projects? Yes. But prices are just too high IMO...out of reach for me.

 

[Berlin]

Prices have certainly jumped but if you are looking for something in the same area I would suggest, Reunion Condos (Starting around 600K), Stockyards District or Dufferin and Dupont Galleria project. Mind you those will take a few years to get going if you don't mind waiting, but like I said the prices are much higher than units in the East Junction condo project I assume.

 

[cyber]

Purchasers....do your RESEARCH before you buy!

^^^ THIS ^^^

I looked into this project when it was selling pre-construction, and the location and more of mid-rise feel were certainly attractive. However, the price (~20-30% less per square foot than comparable projects or resale) was a little too attractive, and looked up the company for more info. Not only was it their first development, but also as a contractor they seem to have been doing more renovations/upgrades and didn't even have a single proper design-build project (residential or commercial/institutional) in their portfolio.

Literally ticked off all the boxes for 'most likely to get cancelled': developer doesn't know exactly what to do and how long/expensive the process itself will be, how to fully price a project (including buffers for timeline delays and cost overruns), doesn't have the balance sheet and other successful projects that can enable the company to 'eat the loss' to preserve reputation if actual costs exceed banks' willingness to lend, AND at the time of pre-sale the re-zoning application (which included a lot of wishful thinking on additional density/units) was not approved.

 

[AlbertC]

Limen's sales centre and construction trailers still remain on site, even months after the cancellation. I reckon they can be reused by whoever purchases the site in the future.

 

[JohnnyRaylander]

Someone canvassed our house yesterday with updated drawings for this site. Limen was still listed as the developer.

 

[AlbertC]

Interesting. If the original purchase agreements are cancelled, curious to see if Limen are giving this a second go but with current price levels.

 

[pand75]

Have there been any new developments since the meeting? Been pretty quiet since.

 

[AlbertC]

New design is by TACT. Latest version of supporting docs posted on Nov 10, 2020:

Development Applications

City Planning COA Application Information Center

app.toronto.ca

 

[AlbertC]

Redesigned East Junction Condos Advancing Through Planning Process | UrbanToronto

Plans for East Junction Condos on Symington Avenue in Toronto's West End continue to move forward, despite Limen Developments having cancelled the first version of the project. A community consultation was held this past November, updated drawings by TACT Architecture having been submitted to...

urbantoronto.ca

 

[xy3]

Big improvement over the original design. Not a masterpiece, but a solid addition

 

[ferusian]

Site Plan Approval application submitted:

Development Applications

Updated project description:

Proposal for a 17-storey mixed-use development having a residential gross floor area of 31,235.0 square metres. A total fo 375 residential dwelling units are proposed.

 

[AlbertC]

Further design revisions from the latest resubmission:

386 Symington | UrbanToronto

386 Symington, Toronto by 1, Graziani + Corazza Architects

urbantoronto.ca