Lawrence Towers: a 1993 parking promise and the one unconditional offer

The Fuller Landau Group Inc., receiver of a vacant development site at 1088 Progress Avenue in Scarborough, will ask the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on November 9 to approve the site's sale and to vest it in the buyer free of the $10 million mortgage of Caisse Desjardins Ontario Credit Union Inc., on whose application the receiver was appointed in February. The vesting order sought would leave on title the registered notices of a parking arrangement that goes back to 1993, when the owner of the day agreed with the City of Scarborough and the Chinese Cultural Centre, across the street, that the owner of the land would provide the centre with a certain allocation of parking spaces, per the First and Final Report, Nov. 2, 2026, paras. 2, 8 and the Motion Record, Nov. 2, 2026, Tab 1, p. 6, and Tab 1A, pp. 27, 29.

The four brokers who competed for the listing were, the receiver notes, "unanimous in their assessment that the CCC Agreements had a material adverse effect on the value of the Real Property." The four offers that arrived by the September 10 bid date were all subject to extensive due diligence conditions, including conditions with respect to those agreements. Asked to resubmit on an unconditional basis, one bidder did; one revoked its offer, "advising they could not transact on a firm basis in light of the CCC Agreements"; one sent back its original conditional offer; and one neither resubmitted nor confirmed whether its first offer was still open. The unconditional offer came from Shelborne Capital Real Estate Inc. Its price "is not being disclosed publicly," and the receiver asks the court to seal the unredacted agreement, with three other confidential appendices, pending completion of the sale or further order, per the First and Final Report, Nov. 2, 2026, paras. 3(e), 16, 26–30, 47.

A licence "for the sole purpose of parking"

The receiver became aware of the obligation shortly after its appointment on February 19, 2026, as an encumbrance on title referring to a notice of lease between the City of Toronto and Aspen Ridge Homes (Markham Gardens) Inc. In 1993, its report says, C.M.S. Investments Inc., then the owner, entered into an agreement with the Corporation of the City of Scarborough, now the City of Toronto, and the Chinese Cultural Centre to construct the Scarborough Community Complex, and that tri-party agreement stipulates, among other things, that the owner of the land would provide parking spaces to the centre. On January 26, 1999, Aspen Ridge, by then the owner, entered into a lease granting the City and the centre a licence to use a designated portion of the land "for the sole purpose of parking." In April 2005, with the parking area not yet completed, the three agreed that the lease remained in full force and effect, and on May 25, 2005 the City registered that agreement, with the lease appended, on title, where it remained when the receiver reported on November 2. The report calls the three documents the CCC Agreements, per the First and Final Report, Nov. 2, 2026, para. 8.

The receiver discussed the agreements with counsel, with Desjardins and its counsel, and with counsel to the centre; the body of the report does not set out the centre's position. When the receiver sought broker proposals, some brokers raised concerns about the parking requirements, and certain brokers "did not seem to appreciate the full potential impact of the CCC Agreements," the receiver says, and asked it and its real estate counsel to review the agreements and share their findings. After a review by the receiver's counsel and Desjardins' counsel, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, the receiver told the brokers that, in its counsel's view, "any obligations arising under the CCC Agreements would be the responsibility of a prospective purchaser," and gave them the chance to revise their proposals in light of it, per the First and Final Report, Nov. 2, 2026, paras. 9(l)–(m), 15–16.

A site financed for Ten88 Condos

The land is 0.918 acres at the southwest corner of Sheppard Avenue East and Progress Avenue, vacant land held for development with a sales centre on site. It is registered to 2591672 Ontario Ltd., which has its registered office in Mississauga, is the general partner of Lawrence Towers LP, an Ontario limited partnership, and holds bare title for the partnership, per the First and Final Report, Nov. 2, 2026, paras. 5–6 and the Desjardins affidavit, Jan. 22, 2026, para. 10. The general partner took title under a court vesting order registered on March 11, 2022, the parcel register in Desjardins' application record shows, and Desjardins' offer of financing of June 8, 2023 describes the lands as "acquired for total consideration of $14,000,000," per the Desjardins affidavit, Jan. 22, 2026, para. 3, Ex. "E", p. 11, and Ex. "A", s. 5.

The receiver understands that, on an application made before the debtors acquired the land, the site received site plan approval, subject to minor variances, for a high-density development that was to be "the third phase in a multi-phase development," per the First and Final Report, Nov. 2, 2026, para. 7. The listing broker's brochure describes approvals for two towers of 13 and 18 storeys with 309 residential units, and calls the site Phase 2 of a development whose first phase, 105 stacked townhouses, stands immediately to the south, per the First and Final Report, Nov. 2, 2026, App. "D", pp. 5, 13. The 2023 financing offer described a 272-unit mixed-use residential condominium "to be known as Ten88 Condos," per the Desjardins affidavit, Jan. 22, 2026, Ex. "A", s. 4.

Desjardins advanced $8,500,000 on or about July 27, 2023: $7,500,000 to refinance an existing land loan and $1,000,000 for soft development costs, interest only, for a 12-month term. It took a $10,000,000 collateral charge on the land, general security agreements from both debtors and a joint and several guarantee from the general partner, an Alberta company and one of the general partner's directors. The loan initially matured on or about July 27, 2024. Desjardins says it allowed the borrower "certain leeway to find a purchaser or refinance the Loan" while interest was still being paid, and that in or around June 2025 the borrower stopped making interest payments. Demand letters and notices of intention to enforce security went out between July and October 2025, and the affidavit, sworn January 22, 2026, says that over three months had passed with no communication from the borrower or its general partner. The debt stood at $8,891,458.35 on January 21, 2026, interest included, per the Desjardins affidavit, Jan. 22, 2026, paras. 5, 7, 12–14, 17, 21, 23–24.

Justice Jana Steele appointed Fuller Landau as receiver on February 19, 2026, under s. 243(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and s. 101 of the Courts of Justice Act, per the Appointment Order, Feb. 19, 2026, para. 2. The endorsement records that the applicant knew of no opposition, that the debtors' principals had been served, and that "The Debtors have moved, and their new location is unknown." Justice Steele noted the City's notices of violation about the deteriorating condition of the land and the property taxes owing, and wrote: "Although the lands are vacant lands (they are the site of a proposed high-rise mixed use residential condominium development), given the total lack of responsiveness of the Debtors a receiver is appropriate," per the Endorsement of Justice Steele, Feb. 19, 2026, paras. 3–4, 12 (App. "A" to the First and Final Report). Desjardins' affidavit had put the outstanding property taxes at $118,946.16 on January 19, 2026, and the City's letter attached to it lists notices to comply about long grass and waste, issued June 4, 2025, per the Desjardins affidavit, Jan. 22, 2026, para. 25 and Ex. "Q".