District REIT: a day after EY, a receiver for 245 Logan Avenue

On October 29, 2026, Justice Jana Steele of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) appointed BDO Canada Limited receiver and manager of 245 Logan Avenue, a multi-unit tenanted residential building in Toronto, on the motion of Peakhill Capital Inc., which its affiant swore is the only secured creditor registered on the building's title. The appointment reaches the property of 245 Logan District Inc., the registered owner, and the property of District REIT Limited Partnership only in respect of the building, per the Appointment Order, Oct. 29, 2026, para. 2 and the Peakhill affidavit, Sept. 28, 2026, paras. 4, 8, 13. The day before, in a separate file, the same judge had appointed Ernst & Young Inc. receiver over buildings in Toronto, London, Brantford and Saint John on the application of CMLS Financial Ltd., with District REIT Limited Partnership among the beneficial owners that order reaches, per the Receivership Order (CL-26-00000428-0000), Oct. 28, 2026, p. 1 and para. 2. That appointment was reported here on October 30.

Peakhill's motion came before the court on October 14. The borrowers asked for a short adjournment, the endorsement records, "to allow them to complete a re-financing deal that would impact this Mortgaged Property and the broader REIT." They pointed to "a real alternative to the receivership in progress" and asked "for a couple more weeks to finalize." Peakhill opposed, pointing among other things to a loan that went into default in November 2025, a demand made in January 2026 and a debt still unpaid; the rents it was attorning, it said, "do not cover the ongoing expenses." The judge wrote: "After hearing the submissions from the parties, I determined that the Borrowers would have a final opportunity to complete their refinancing and pay out Peakhill. However, the adjournment would be brief." The motion was put over to 10 a.m. on October 29, for one hour, per the Endorsement of Justice Steele, Oct. 14, 2026, paras. 3–6. The order bears that date, records that the motion was heard by judicial conference via Zoom, and takes effect from 12:01 a.m. that day, per the Appointment Order, Oct. 29, 2026, p. 1 and para. 36. No endorsement or reasons from October 29 are in the record.

Counsel for other creditors attended on October 14 as well, among them counsel for CMLS Financial Ltd., Gennaro Investments Limited, DUCA Financial Services Credit Union Ltd., Lucky Four Investments Inc. and Timbercreek Mortgage Servicing Inc., per the Endorsement of Justice Steele, Oct. 14, 2026, pp. 1–2. All five appear on Peakhill's service list under the label "Secured creditor under PPSA," CMLS and Timbercreek as the care-of addresses for Computershare Trust Company of Canada. A search under the Personal Property Security Act as at September 23 disclosed 39 registration families against one or both borrowers, Peakhill's among them, per the Motion Record, Vol. 1, Service List, pp. 001–002; Peakhill affidavit, Sept. 28, 2026, para. 15.

A six-month bridge, then an insured mortgage

According to Peakhill's notice of motion, 245 Logan District Inc. holds legal title "in its capacity as bare trustee/agent for District REIT Limited Partnership," the beneficial owner. The partnership's general partner, District REIT GP Inc., and District Property Trust, an Ontario trust, guaranteed the loan, per the Notice of Motion, Sept. 30, 2026, paras. 8–11. The transfer of the building to 245 Logan District Inc. and the charge that secures the loan were registered on the same day, October 31, 2023, the charge for $8,175,000 in favour of TSX Trust Company, per the Peakhill affidavit, Ex. "6" (parcel register), p. 134.

Peakhill's commitment letter of July 26, 2023 offered $6,540,000, interest only, on a term that read: "A demand facility payable at any time upon demand by the Lender and payable in full no later than six (6) months from the Interest Adjustment Date." The rate floated at RBC prime plus 3.00%, with a floor of 9.95%, and the proceeds, with $2,700,000 of the borrower's equity, were to buy the building. A clause headed "CMHC REFINANCE" read: "Peakhill Capital will submit an application to CMHC to refinance the Property under a CMHC-insured first mortgage." An amendment of September 19, 2023 lengthened the term to twelve months and set the rate at prime plus 2.25%, with a 9.45% floor, per the Peakhill affidavit, Ex. "7" (commitment letter, July 26, 2023, and amendment, Sept. 19, 2023), pp. 137–138, 149–150.

The insured loan followed in June 2024. A commitment letter of June 3 approved "your application for a CMHC-insured mortgage loan," conditional on CMHC issuing a certificate of insurance, with a 600-month amortization, a maturity of December 1, 2029 and a rate of 80 basis points plus hedge costs over the bid-side yield of the five-year Canada Mortgage Bond. An amendment of June 19 set the gross loan amount at $8,765,570.64: a net loan of $8,544,535.00, a CMHC insurance premium of $217,885.64 and a $3,150.00 application fee. On June 21 the charge passed from TSX Trust Company to Computershare Trust Company of Canada, as custodian or nominee for Peakhill, and a mortgage amending agreement made that day between Computershare, the borrowers and the guarantors provided that the existing loan "shall be modified, not refinanced," per the Peakhill affidavit, para. 10(a), Ex. "6", p. 134, and Ex. "7" (commitment letter, June 3, 2024; amendment, June 19, 2024; mortgage amending agreement, June 21, 2024), pp. 156, 172, 178.

Peakhill's affidavit says that under the July 2023 commitment as amended, Peakhill agreed to lend the borrowers $10,956,963.30, and that the loan was advanced to finance, among other things, the acquisition of the building, per the Peakhill affidavit, Sept. 28, 2026, para. 9. That is the figure the June 21, 2024 amending agreement substituted for both the commitment letter's "Amount" and the principal amount under the charge; the 2024 commitment had required the mortgage to be registered at 125% of the loan amount, per the Peakhill affidavit, Ex. "7", pp. 159, 181. Peakhill's demand letter of January 21, 2026 states the loan as $8,765,570.64, the gross amount in the June 19 amendment, per the Peakhill affidavit, Ex. "14" (demand letter, Jan. 21, 2026), p. 162.

Demand, attornment and a notice of sale

The borrowers have failed to make monthly interest payments since November 2025, the affidavit says. On January 21, 2026, Peakhill's lawyers sent them and the guarantors a demand, with notices of intention to enforce security under section 244 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), per the Peakhill affidavit, Sept. 28, 2026, paras. 16–17. The demand counted the payments missed from November 2025 to January 2026, put the debt at $8,761,588.53 plus per diem interest of $1,034.05, legal costs and other protective disbursements, and set a deadline of 5 p.m. on February 2, per the Peakhill affidavit, Ex. "14" (demand letter, Jan. 21, 2026), pp. 162–163.

On February 20 Peakhill told the tenants to pay their rent to Richmond Advisory Services Inc. (RAS), per the Peakhill affidavit, Ex. "18" (notice of attornment, Feb. 20, 2026), pp. 186–187. The same day the charge and the assignment of rents were transferred from Computershare to Peakhill itself, a step the affidavit ties to "the enforcement of the Loan and the Security," per the Peakhill affidavit, Sept. 28, 2026, paras. 10, 12, 19. A notice of sale dated February 27 put the amount required for discharge on February 26 at $8,860,140.21, including $33,497.80 of outstanding taxes, with interest at 4.344% a year, and said that unless the sums were paid by April 6, 2026, Peakhill would sell under the mortgage, per the Peakhill affidavit, Ex. "16" (notice of sale, Feb. 27, 2026), pp. 171–172. Peakhill began this proceeding by statement of claim on May 5, and the defendants delivered a statement of defence on July 23, according to its Notice of Motion, Sept. 30, 2026, para. 24.