Shanty Bay Esso: twenty-one months and three prices

By the time Tandia Financial Credit Union sent someone to look, there was nothing to look at. The gas station at 1371 Highway 11 North in Shanty Bay — eight pumps and a convenience store in the Township of Oro-Medonte, north of Barrie — had stopped trading in September 2024. "The operations of the Borrower appeared to be abandoned for some time," the lender's vice-president of commercial swore, and the insurance policy over the premises "has lapsed and was not renewed by the Debtor," per the Affidavit of Dawood Khan, sworn Nov. 28, 2024, para. 21.

What the lender said it found

Tandia had lent under a commitment letter of April 13, 2023, amended in July 2024, secured by a general security agreement and a $1,900,000 charge registered in May 2023. Payments stopped in June 2024; by September 17 the arrears were $45,829.53; the demand and s. 244(1) notice went out on October 15, 2024, by which point $1,888,443.25 of principal and interest was owing, per the Notice of Application, Nov. 21, 2024, para. 2(k)–(m).

Two other things had happened without the lender's knowledge. The business had been rebranded from Ultramar to Esso, which the credit agreement did not permit without consent. And a $400,000 charge in favour of Freight Connections Inc. had been registered against the property in July 2023 — "granted and registered on title to the Real Property without the written consent, or knowledge, of the Lender," per the Affidavit of Dawood Khan, sworn Nov. 28, 2024, paras. 5, 16.

Tandia appointed BDO Canada Limited as its own private receiver on November 15, 2024, to secure the site and get the insurance back on, per the Notice and Statement of the Receiver, Dec. 9, 2024, para. 3. Three weeks later it asked the court for a real one.

Justice Penny appointed BDO on December 4, 2024. His endorsement is short and it explains the urgency in the terms that matter for this kind of asset: "There are good reasons for the appointment of a court officer in the circumstances of this case. They include the fact that because the property was operated as a gas station, there are potential environmental concerns which will have to be addressed." He also recorded something the record never returns to: "The evidence discloses that Mr. Nawrozada has engaged in similar behaviour in connection at least two previous gas station insolvencies," per the Endorsement of Penny J., Dec. 4, 2024, paras. 6, 9. Noorallah Nawrozada is the company's sole director and officer.

The listing that came down twice

The receiver did not reopen the station. It canvassed four commercial realtors on December 11, 2024 and engaged CBRE Limited with the lender's concurrence.

The listing went live on March 31, 2025 at $3,990,000. On May 16 it came down to $2,999,999. On September 2 it came down again to $2,350,000, and the listing was extended to the end of the year. Across that period the receiver received seven offers. A related party of the buyer who eventually bought the site was among the offerors, "albeit its offer was not the highest and best at that time," per the First Report of the Receiver, Aug. 26, 2026, paras. 15–20.

On October 15, 2025 the receiver accepted a conditional offer from a different party. It was amended three times. The offeror never waived its conditions, and when the deadline passed on April 30, 2026 the agreement became null and void and the deposit went back, per the First Report of the Receiver, Aug. 26, 2026, para. 21. The receiver's interim statement two weeks earlier still described that deal as live and the receiver as "working with the offeror to clear conditions," and answered the obvious question about timing in one sentence: "At this time it is unknown when the receivership will be concluded as it depends on achieving a court-approved sale of the Property," per the Interim Statement of the Receiver, Apr. 15, 2026, s. 4.