Moonlight Sonata: a restart plan, a suspended permit and ten $10,000 deposits

The master building permit for Moonlight Sonata, BLD23-00239, covers the sub-permits for all 13 buildings in the Burnaby project, and it was suspended on September 10, 2025. The excavation permit expired on September 1, 2025. Symphony Homes (Wayburne) Ltd.'s membership in a 2-5-10 home warranty insurance program for the project expired on November 19, 2025, and on June 26, 2026 the insurer delivered a notice terminating all home warranty policies issued under it. The monitor, AlixPartners Restructuring, Inc., understands that construction "cannot legally continue" until both permits are back in good standing. BC Housing has confirmed that an active general contractor builder licence is needed before construction restarts on the full scope; the one issued to Symphony Wayburne expired on July 31, 2025, as reported here on September 11, and warranty insurance is a precondition for reinstating or renewing that licence and the master permit, per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Sept. 29, 2026, s. 3.1, paras. 2–4; s. 3.2, paras. 1, 3.

On October 5, before Justice Fitzpatrick, AlixPartners will ask the court to approve a CCDC 5A construction management contract with Townline Construction Inc. and a development management agreement with Townline Developments Inc.; to raise the limit on borrowing from KingSett Mortgage Corporation, the interim lender, from $1,000,000 to $7,500,000; to cut the administration charge by $50,000 and remove the petitioners' counsel from it; and to extend the stay, due to expire on October 9, to December 18, per its Notice of Application, Sept. 29, 2026, p. 1; Part 1, para. 1; Part 2, para. 10. The monitor told Townline on August 20 that it had been selected; the two agreements, dated September 28 and 29, have since been entered into and take effect only with the court's approval, per the Fourth Report, s. 1.1, para. 1(c)–(d); s. 4.0, para. 6; s. 4.1, para. 10.

Rental blocks join the restart

When the monitor reported on September 4, only Phase 1A, the 51 for-sale townhomes, was under development; construction had not begun on the 40 rental townhomes of Phase 1B, per the Third Report of the Monitor, Sept. 4, 2026, s. 2.0, para. 4. The Fourth Report says that since the enhanced powers were granted, the monitor has learned that the City of Burnaby holds a registered covenant against the project requiring the debtors to complete Phase 1B before occupancies for Phase 1A are secured. Discussions with the city remain active on whether Phase 1B must be built for that purpose and, if so, whether the city will accept design changes. Meanwhile the monitor intends to restart Phase 1A and start Phase 1B: the work in place on Phase 1A is at risk of deterioration, and "as it stands, Phase 1A occupancies cannot be secured without its completion," per the Fourth Report, s. 2.1, para. 5; s. 4.0, paras. 3–4; s. 5.1, paras. 1, 3(c).

Twenty-six of the 51 Phase 1A units are under sale agreements that let a buyer rescind if the unit is not finished by May 31, 2027, a date the vendor may extend by up to 120 days. In an application response dated September 10, the petitioners said consultants, inspectors and some construction work had been on site since the fourth quarter of 2025; the monitor understands that the activity "was limited in scope, as the Project has had no source of construction funding since Q4 2025." Townline has been on site since early September under a site preservation agreement, resecuring the fencing and clearing the parkade, but construction has not recommenced, per the Fourth Report, s. 2.1, paras. 2–4; s. 3.0, para. 3.

What the four proposals offered

The monitor's summary of the four proposals it received by August 12 is an appendix to the report. Symphony Homes Limited, the project's construction manager before the filing and listed as Symphony, proposed construction management only; the other three proposed to act as construction and development manager. For Phase 1A, Townline proposed a construction management fee of 3.00% of construction cost, WesGroup 4.50% of the cost of the work, Trillium 2.25% of the final approved budget and Symphony 3.0% of an assumed $16 million of remaining hard cost. The other three would re-tender the existing trades, WesGroup with one exception; Symphony would retain them where viable. Their estimates of the hard cost of Phase 1B ran from $5,197,932 in Symphony's proposal to $12,349,998 in Townline's, per the Fourth Report, s. 4.1, paras. 1, 7; App. "B".

The monitor chose Townline after consulting KingSett, citing its more than 45 years of residential building in British Columbia, its experience completing partly built projects "abandoned by previous contractors" and its relationships in Burnaby. Townline's fees and staffing costs, "although not the lowest from the proposals received," are at market rates, the report says, and a manager's competence and its handling of schedule, trades and permitting "each have a material impact on the overall project pro forma, in many cases exceeding any difference in the management fees proposed," per the Fourth Report, s. 4.1, paras. 8–9.

Townline's terms

The construction contract would pay Townline Construction a fixed $85,000 for the site preservation work, 3% of construction cost for Phase 1 (and for Phase 2, if the owner elects to build it), time-based rates for certain services, and expenses plus a 3% administrative fee. It adds a cost-savings incentive, 10% of any amount by which Phase 1's certified construction-related costs fall below $26 million, a threshold reduced by $272.26 for every square foot of floor area taken out of scope. Townline Construction would earn a $200,000 bonus if all presold units are ready for occupancy by May 31, 2027, or $2,500 for each that is, and a further $50,000 if Phase 1's final occupancy date is no later than August 31, 2027 ($100,000 if the $200,000 was not earned). The target for Phase 1 is 10 to 12 months, per the Fourth Report, s. 4.2, para. 1(e)–(h); App. "C", Supplementary Conditions, Art. A-5, paras. 5.10–5.11.

Phase 1B work would begin only on the monitor's written notice, which lets it "retain flexibility with respect to Phase 1B in the event that it determines that it is no longer required." The contract also states that Townline Construction is licensed as a "general contractor" under the Homeowner Protection Act and that "such license shall be made available for the performance of the Work and the Project," per the Fourth Report, s. 4.2, para. 1(d); App. "C", Supplementary Conditions, Art. A-5, para. 5.6. Townline Developments would be paid $40,000 a month for six months and $28,500 a month after that until the Phase 1 sale units close, with an incentive of up to $250,000 for "Project-accretive" measures the owner requests; any "Major Decision," from trade contracts and phasing to the pro forma and financing, needs the owner's written approval, per the Fourth Report, s. 4.3, para. 1(c)–(d).

$7.5 million to December 18

The construction budget is not finished. BTY Group, the project's quantity surveyor, is working on one, but Townline is still reviewing the work in place, the trade contracts have not been retendered and the Phase 1B question is open. In the meantime the monitor wants work to restart because the outside date "is fast approaching" and existing work "may start to deteriorate if the site remains inactive," per the Fourth Report, s. 5.1, paras. 2–4.

The forecast the monitor prepared for October 5 to December 20 includes no sale proceeds and $6,951,000 of disbursements: $4,890,000 of construction hard costs, $893,000 of soft costs, $235,000 of other project operating costs, a $110,000 contingency, $750,000 of professional fees and $73,000 of interim lender fees. Opening cash of $104,000 and $7,000,000 of new advances leave $153,000 at the end. About $486,000 had been advanced by September 29, per the Fourth Report, s. 5.2, paras. 2, 4; App. "E", note 2. The interim facility was issued with only Phase 1A construction in mind, and KingSett has consented to the new borrowings paying for Phase 1B work in the interim. Once the budget is final the monitor intends to return for further financing and a further stay extension, per the Fourth Report, s. 5.1, paras. 5–6.