1,100 Vaughan condo investors shocked as project cancelled
'I was really looking forward to moving in... to living with dignity.'

YorkRegion.com
April 9, 2018
Tim Kelly

The cancellation of a three-building sold-out condo project at Highway 7 near Jane Street in Vaughan has left some 1,100 investors “high and dry” with only their deposits to show for it.

The developer stunned investors with a letter late last week telling them that, “as financing arrangements on satisfactory terms to the project vendor cannot be obtained it will force the project vendor to now cancel all agreements of purchase and sale.”

That has real-world consequences for people like Carla Gravina, 49, Meenu Sikand, 54 and her mother, Amrit Kaur, 82, and Euain Browne, 29, who all had planned to live in the buildings but now don’t have an alternative in place.

Gravina is bitterly disappointed that her plans for a move-in for 2019 to her $300,000 condo is now off and won’t become reality.

She’s suspicious of the developer’s motives in cancelling the project.

“It’s vague, it’s oops, sorry, we didn’t get any financing,” said Gravina, formerly of Vaughan, who now lives in Tottenham.

She said she paid a deposit of $45,000, or 15 per cent down, and was prepared to move in once the building opened for occupancy.

Gravina worries the developer may re-open the condo development to a new round of investors who will pay more for higher priced condos when they go back on the market.

Sikand, who lives in Vaughan, is wheelchair-bound and was excited about the chance to live in a wheelchair-accessible unit beginning next year, doesn’t think the developer should be “able to leave people high and dry.”

She lives in a home with an 18-year-old elevator she had installed, but that was down for three days last week.

“I was stuck for three days last week because no elevator technician could come to fix the elevator. I was really looking forward to moving into this condo, to living with dignity,” said Sikand, who also purchased a unit for her 82-year-old mother.

The chair of the Vaughan Accessibility Advisory committee, Sikand has pushed hard to make sure buildings are accessible in the city and hoped to live in one herself. Now those dreams are dashed.

Browne, who lives in Mississauga and works in Toronto, was eagerly anticipating moving in next year. He works in downtown Toronto and said subway access and price were ideal for him.

He doesn’t feel the developer has offered a good reason to cancel the condo project.

“It sounds like a scam. I believe the builder was in a comfortable position to proceed with the project, but due to the pricing and the increased value of the area, it looks like they’re trying to cancel the project and collect more money,” he said.

Indeed, when Cosmos offered the condos for sale, real estate values in Vaughan suggested prices in the range of $540 per square foot, according to Urbanation. That has risen recently to $700 per square foot.

He said he got an ad a month ago for a one-bedroom unit in one of the proposed buildings that originally was priced at $288,000 that is now being sold for $410,000. Another two-bedroom unit has ballooned from $409,000 to $610,000, he said,

Browne said that if the developer does go back to the market and open it up to a new round of investors, he plans to join with the original investors and launch a lawsuit.

“I thought I was getting ahead and going in two years early. I’m now getting my initial deposit back and the market’s gone up 30-40 per cent and I’m now kicked out of it,” he said.

Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua, who has long promoted the area as a prime place to live, work and play, especially with its location adjacent to the Vaughan subway station and in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, didn’t hide his dissatisfaction at the news.

“I was very disappointed to learn that the Cosmos Condominium project was cancelled. I am not at all impressed about what has transpired,” said Bevilacqua.

“While the developer cites financing challenges as the reason, I am much more concerned about the hundreds of people that have purchased a condo where they could live, experience and enjoy life in our community. Although this is strictly a commercial agreement between the buyer and the seller, I would have preferred the spirit of the agreement with the buyer be honoured,” he said, indicating the City of Vaughan was taken by surprise at the news.

Ward 1 Vaughan Coun. Marilyn Iafrate, who is running for the Liberals in King-Vaughan in the upcoming provincial election, wants council to look into the issue.

“Several weeks ago, I had heard rumours (about Cosmos condos). I really think someone should be investigating them and confirming that whatever financial issues they had are valid and if they’re not and it’s just a matter of trying to tap into the higher market, they shouldn’t be allowed to.

“If that’s what they’re doing … someone should be questioning their ability to continue building in Ontario,” Iafrate said.

She asked that council look at the item in closed session this week.

A call and message for comment left with Liberty Developments was not returned.