Aurora Mills: a Starbucks plaza and one condo unit, at sealed prices

The Aurora Mills Business Park at 175 Melvin Robson Avenue in Aurora, Ontario was built in phases. The first includes a retail plaza leased to Starbucks Coffee Canada, Inc., a DQ Grill & Chill and Carbone Pizza, and two blocks holding 24 industrial condominium units, 20 of which were sold before the receivership. The second is approximately 11.35 acres of development land, per the Third Report of the Receiver, Sept. 8, 2026, para. 2. The registered owner, 2352107 Ontario Inc., holds the land as nominee for its beneficial owners.

On January 23, 2026, Justice Jana Steele appointed Albert Gelman Inc. receiver on the application of Windsor Private Capital Limited Partnership and Windsor II Limited Partnership. "The Debtor owes Windsor approx. $75 million," she wrote. It was in default, construction liens were registered, and Windsor would advance nothing more without a receivership, per the Endorsement of Steele J., Jan. 23, 2026, paras. 13–15. By the charges' agreed priority, the stack runs: a $110,000,000 National Bank of Canada charge, since assigned to Windsor II; Westmount Guarantee Services Inc. at $40,000,000; Windsor I at $25,000,000; and Olympia Trust Company and Belmont Mortgage Administration Limited at $16,000,000, per the Third Report of the Receiver, Sept. 8, 2026, para. 14. In January the receiver reported that Windsor "is expected to suffer a significant shortfall on its secured indebtedness" and that no distributions were expected for subordinate secured or unsecured creditors, per the First Supplement to the First Report of the Receiver, Jan. 31, 2026, paras. 28–30.

"A do-over on Groundhog Day"

The receivership started with a rebuke. Six days after the appointment, the receiver asked Justice F.L. Myers for vesting orders to close the pre-sold condo units. The appointment order allows the receiver to use Chaitons LLP, Windsor's lawyers, where there is no conflict, and it did. "That is not at all problematic absent conflict. But it does not diminish the court's need to rely upon its officer's business judgment," Justice Myers wrote. "The Receiver's First Report provides no rationale for the recommendation to approve the orders sought. It leaves the court effectively in the position of being asked to rubber stamp the applicants' wishes." He did not know who among the lien claimants sat at the Plimsoll line, or whether they had notice; he noted that "the Receiver's officer arrived on Zoom as the hearing was ending"; and he adjourned the motion to February 2 "as a do-over on Groundhog Day," per the Endorsement of Myers J., Jan. 29, 2026, paras. 1–3, 6–7. The receiver came back with a supplementary report explaining its business judgment, and on February 2 Justice Myers signed twelve vesting orders, while declining to deem any lien perfected that had not been perfected under the Construction Act: "The liens are creatures of statute," per the Endorsement of Myers J., Feb. 2, 2026, paras. 1–2.

On March 31, Justice Steele approved a sale process for the retail plaza and authorized interim distributions to Windsor II, over the objection of McQueen Maintenance Inc., a lien claimant, reducing the amount to the funds then available and noting the receiver's plan to set aside $250,000 against possible holdback obligations, per the Third Report of the Receiver, Sept. 8, 2026, paras. 5, 18.

The plaza

A pre-receivership sale of the plaza to 2753991 Ontario Inc. was to close on January 15, 2026. It did not, and the buyer later terminated. The receiver relisted it with Jones Lang LaSalle on April 17 at $4,590,000, a figure set above an appraisal that had been obtained in February. Over about seven weeks of marketing it drew twelve offers and expressions of interest by the May 21 bid deadline and six improved offers by June 4. The receiver chose Lucky Line Ltd. and accepted its agreement on July 2. The buyer has paid a $200,000 deposit; it takes the plaza with the three tenants' leases on an "as is, where is" basis; closing is seven business days after the vesting order, which the receiver expects by September 30, per the Third Report of the Receiver, Sept. 8, 2026, paras. 41–47.

The price is not in the public record. The report says only that it "exceeds the appraised value in the Retail Appraisal," and the receiver asks the court to seal the unredacted agreement, the appraisal and both rounds of offer summaries until the sale closes.

One unit of four

Four condo units were never pre-sold: Units 4, 5, 14 and 16. Colliers listed them in April at $1,698,125 each, or $475 a square foot, set with reference to a March appraisal, recent sales in the complex and competing listings in Aurora and Newmarket. Nine prospective purchasers or their agents inquired. One offer proposed to buy all four together; the receiver declined it in favour of a standalone deal for Unit 4 with 2810517 Ontario Inc., dated July 20, with a $100,000 deposit, a repair undertaking by the receiver after closing, and a price that also "exceeds the appraised value," per the Third Report of the Receiver, Sept. 8, 2026, paras. 32–39. The condo appraisal is to stay sealed until all the unsold units are sold.

The pre-sales themselves were struck mostly in 2022. The receiver reported in January that 16 of the 20 were signed that year, three in 2024 and one in 2025, and that the 2024 and 2025 sales averaged 16.7% and 4.5% less per square foot than the 2022 sales, per the First Supplement to the First Report of the Receiver, Jan. 31, 2026, para. 22.