Toronto One Bloor West | 308.6m | 85s | Tridel | Foster + Partners

Oh god…here we go again.

Lots of people on here making claims with “trustworthy sources”.
Whoops.

 
Not that there is ever a great time for one, BUT...
image
 
Welp, some have been talking about this for years. They were just too early. Who will take it on? I hope it gets built. Imagine this thing stays as is for like 10 years?
 
Via Globe and Mail -

The One, a luxury condo development in Toronto co-owned by real-estate developer Sam Mizrahi and road paving magnate Jenny Coco, is in receivership after its senior lender asked an Ontario judge to put a third party in control of the project.

Under development since 2015, The One was designed as an 85-storey condominium, hotel and retail tower, and it was marketed as Canada’s tallest commercial condo building. However, the project is years behind schedule, owes $1.6-billion to its lenders, and has faced a growing number of lawsuits. Existing litigation includes a dispute between Mr. Mizrahi and Ms. Coco over the project.

In its receivership application, KEB Hana Bank, a commercial bank based in South Korea, said The One’s senior lenders are not prepared to advance additional funds without the appointment of an outside group to manage the project and oversee its development.

Late Wednesday, Justice Peter J. Osborne of the Ontario Superior Court approved the request, and Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc. has now taken over.

KEB Hana Bank alleges Mr. Mizrahi and Ms. Coco have failed to repay The One’s lenders as laid out in the credit agreement, and added there have been “repeated defaults” over the course of the project.

China-East Resources Import & Export Co., or CERIECO, a state-owned Chinese enterprise and one the project’s first lenders, has already sued Mr. Mizrahi and Ms. Coco, alleging default on its contractor’s loan that got The One’s development up and running.

KEB Hana Bank also expressed concerns about the project’s delays in its receivership request. “Construction of the entire project was expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2022, but as of Oct. 4, 2023 concrete columns and walls have only been poured up to the 40th floor,” the lender wrote.

Technology giant Apple Inc. has also sued Mr. Mizrahi because of these delays. Apple originally intended on putting its flagship Toronto store in The One’s ground floor, but in early 2022 the company sued, saying it was “profoundly disappointed” with Mizrahi because the building was nowhere near completion.

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Since that lawsuit was filed, there have been no public updates on Apple’s litigation. But in the receivership allegation KEB Hana Bank said it understands that The One recently lost its anchor retail tenant and that to date no other tenant has leased the space.
 
Hilarious that people ignored the warnings for years. We’ve been saying this would happen forever. It was obvious to anybody with a pulse.

I get that you guys like tall buildings but come on…
...it must be quite painful for you that this thing is still getting built. Something that's also been said...like forever now. And was also obvious to anybody with a pulse. /shrug.
 
I love how everybody is going after the developer and not talking about the fact that COVID put most projects on hold for at least a year. Some things are out of developers control. Give them grief when they deserve it, but in this case delays were inevitable
All due respect, Covid was certainly a factor, but there were millions in government handouts to offset these delays. Furthermore, we have just experienced the strongest real estate price appreciation in history over the past few years, so even unsold units had significantly increased in value. Lastly, the developer was successful in its quest for more floors, which would improve the Proforma of this project.
This grief is deserved and the failure is due to poor management, hubris and inexperience.
 
Hilarious that people ignored the warnings for years. We’ve been saying this would happen forever. It was obvious to anybody with a pulse.

I get that you guys like tall buildings but come on…

(Most) posters here were not unaware of the financial challenges associated with this project.

What was said, broadly of previous posts about that was that they were getting repetitive and being posted for their own sake when they were not 'news'; and that the financial side of the project, arguably belongs more in the real estate thread.

That said, as noted by others, construction continues in receivership for the foreseeable future.

I love how everybody is going after the developer and not talking about the fact that COVID put most projects on hold for at least a year. Some things are out of developers control. Give them grief when they deserve it, but in this case delays were inevitable

I don't think generalizations are overly helpful here. This project had very challenging financing from quite early on. That is on those who arranged it and accepted it. Yes Covid played some role at the fringes of things, but there was much going on here that was not related to Covid.
 
I love how everybody is going after the developer and not talking about the fact that COVID put most projects on hold for at least a year. Some things are out of developers control. Give them grief when they deserve it, but in this case delays were inevitable
Right. The Covid delay caused this bright, shiny and sparkling clean project to lose $600 million. Right.
 

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