D
Darkstar416
Guest
Re: howard
Ahhh, my eyes played tricks.
Ahhh, my eyes played tricks.
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alklay
Senior Member
Harry Stinson's nightmare
TheStar.com - Columnist - Harry Stinson's nightmare
His patience expired, David Mirvish goes to court to get his millions back
August 08, 2007
Jennifer Wells
Business columnist
"Unfortunately, I have lost a great deal of money, and I have lost all confidence in Mr. Stinson as a person with whom to do business. Unfortunately, he is not competent to run the businesses operated by SHI and Club Corp."
–Affidavit of David Mirvish
David Mirvish is calling on his cell. The reception isn't great, but then, Mirvish would prefer to say little at this juncture.
At the end of last week, just as the city was downing tools for a summer's long weekend, Mirvish filed a notice of motion in Superior Court seeking to have Harry Stinson removed from the operations at 1 King West.
Seeking to have a receiver step in and supplant Stinson Hospitality Inc., which manages the hotel component at 1 King.
Seeking to have certain properties within the development, including the club facilities, turned over to K One Holding Inc., a.k.a. David Mirvish.
Seeking, not to put too fine a point on it, to see the end of Harry Stinson.
"I've been forced to ask for this motion not of my actions, but because of Harry's actions," Mirvish says.
"Harry has not lived up to his agreement."
At his office at 1 King, Stinson answers the phone with a deadening "Hullo."
How is he feeling? "Well," he says, "nightmare would be an appropriate word."
The agreement to which Mirvish refers, little of which has been on public view, was meant, in part, to steer the long overdue resolution of an $11.8 million debt owed by Stinson to Mirvish.
Stinson had purchased from Mirvish certain commercial spaces at 1 King, including the private club facilities and the subground parking spaces.
Stinson first defaulted on that debt in June 2006. Extensions were granted. Last March, Stinson filed for bankruptcy protection. In April, a confidential settlement was reached between the parties. As part of that agreement, an undisclosed sum was due to be paid by Stinson to Mirvish on July 31. That didn't happen.
That's the dry version.
The fuller tale recalls the long-ago loan of $125,000 made by David Mirvish to Harry Stinson, which seeded an unlikely alliance between the theatre impresario and the condominium developer, which grew into loans totalling hundreds of thousands and then millions of dollars, including the Mirvish-backed acquisition of the old Dominion Bank building at King and Yonge, the historic, and somewhat cursed, component of the condo hotel.
Through it all, David Mirvish has repeatedly said that he only ever wanted to see Harry Stinson succeed. Harry Stinson has repeatedly acknowledged David Mirvish's patience in awaiting his payback.
Up until mid-July, Harry Stinson thought he could call on David Mirvish's patience yet again. He says he was "knocking on every bloody door we could think of" in an attempt to tee up financing to buy Mirvish out. When that failed, he hoped to appease Mirvish by sending over three cheques, each for $70,000, dated the first of August, September and October.
The cheques were returned.
There are, as there always are in corporate divorces, stories behind the numbers. In an affidavit filed in late March, Mirvish refers to "a number of events" that caused him to lose confidence in Stinson's ability to continue as chief executive officer of SHI and Club Corp. He cites the sale of a 1 King condo for the sum of $2.4 million. The bulk of those funds, however, were not delivered to 1 King West Inc., but rather to Stinson Properties.
According to the affidavit, at a meeting in March 2005, "Mr. Stinson admitted culpability and assured us that this was the only instance of his misappropriation of funds due and owing to 1KWI."
Mirvish Enterprises ended up covering the purchase price, in exchange for a promissory note from Stinson personally for $2.2 million. As of March 12, no monies had been repaid on the note despite demands made.
In an interview yesterday Stinson would not discuss this matter, nor the affidavit's further assertion of the unauthorized use of residential units as hotel rooms, generating rental income for Stinson Hospitality. "I'd rather not," Stinson said when asked to comment. "They're really complicated."
Bob Verdun, president of the condominium corporation, says Stinson "used the money (from the condo sale) to complete the hotel. ... Mirvish wasn't paying for the infrastructure for the hotel. That's what Stinson used the money for."
Verdun is standing fast in his support of Stinson who, he says, "has been a magician." He's busily trying to rally condo owners to protest Mirvish's attempts to take control of the hotel rental management program. The authority for that, he insists, rests with the board. "It's absolutely devastating to suggest a receiver will do anybody any good," he says.
Mark Russo is one condo owner who sheds no tears for Harry Stinson. But he doesn't shed any tears for David Mirvish either. Together with family members, Russo owns five units at 1 King. He has lived through the broken promises of guaranteed investment returns, and the ongoing battle over the taxation of units used as hotel suites. "We love this building, we want it to succeed," Russo says. "But we've been thrown like pawns onto the battlefield."
Russo would like to see a forensic audit of the whole operation.
In the meantime, Stinson supporters and Stinson detractors will undoubtedly gather to hear David Mirvish's court motion, scheduled for Friday. Harry Stinson himself will be there for what could be his last stand.
____________________________________________________
What a sad sad mess (but a mess that could have been seen a mile away). I really really hope that the Star stops quoting this man and stops calling him a condo king and sees him for what he is: a failed salesman with a failed hotel/condo concept.
TheStar.com - Columnist - Harry Stinson's nightmare
His patience expired, David Mirvish goes to court to get his millions back
August 08, 2007
Jennifer Wells
Business columnist
"Unfortunately, I have lost a great deal of money, and I have lost all confidence in Mr. Stinson as a person with whom to do business. Unfortunately, he is not competent to run the businesses operated by SHI and Club Corp."
–Affidavit of David Mirvish
David Mirvish is calling on his cell. The reception isn't great, but then, Mirvish would prefer to say little at this juncture.
At the end of last week, just as the city was downing tools for a summer's long weekend, Mirvish filed a notice of motion in Superior Court seeking to have Harry Stinson removed from the operations at 1 King West.
Seeking to have a receiver step in and supplant Stinson Hospitality Inc., which manages the hotel component at 1 King.
Seeking to have certain properties within the development, including the club facilities, turned over to K One Holding Inc., a.k.a. David Mirvish.
Seeking, not to put too fine a point on it, to see the end of Harry Stinson.
"I've been forced to ask for this motion not of my actions, but because of Harry's actions," Mirvish says.
"Harry has not lived up to his agreement."
At his office at 1 King, Stinson answers the phone with a deadening "Hullo."
How is he feeling? "Well," he says, "nightmare would be an appropriate word."
The agreement to which Mirvish refers, little of which has been on public view, was meant, in part, to steer the long overdue resolution of an $11.8 million debt owed by Stinson to Mirvish.
Stinson had purchased from Mirvish certain commercial spaces at 1 King, including the private club facilities and the subground parking spaces.
Stinson first defaulted on that debt in June 2006. Extensions were granted. Last March, Stinson filed for bankruptcy protection. In April, a confidential settlement was reached between the parties. As part of that agreement, an undisclosed sum was due to be paid by Stinson to Mirvish on July 31. That didn't happen.
That's the dry version.
The fuller tale recalls the long-ago loan of $125,000 made by David Mirvish to Harry Stinson, which seeded an unlikely alliance between the theatre impresario and the condominium developer, which grew into loans totalling hundreds of thousands and then millions of dollars, including the Mirvish-backed acquisition of the old Dominion Bank building at King and Yonge, the historic, and somewhat cursed, component of the condo hotel.
Through it all, David Mirvish has repeatedly said that he only ever wanted to see Harry Stinson succeed. Harry Stinson has repeatedly acknowledged David Mirvish's patience in awaiting his payback.
Up until mid-July, Harry Stinson thought he could call on David Mirvish's patience yet again. He says he was "knocking on every bloody door we could think of" in an attempt to tee up financing to buy Mirvish out. When that failed, he hoped to appease Mirvish by sending over three cheques, each for $70,000, dated the first of August, September and October.
The cheques were returned.
There are, as there always are in corporate divorces, stories behind the numbers. In an affidavit filed in late March, Mirvish refers to "a number of events" that caused him to lose confidence in Stinson's ability to continue as chief executive officer of SHI and Club Corp. He cites the sale of a 1 King condo for the sum of $2.4 million. The bulk of those funds, however, were not delivered to 1 King West Inc., but rather to Stinson Properties.
According to the affidavit, at a meeting in March 2005, "Mr. Stinson admitted culpability and assured us that this was the only instance of his misappropriation of funds due and owing to 1KWI."
Mirvish Enterprises ended up covering the purchase price, in exchange for a promissory note from Stinson personally for $2.2 million. As of March 12, no monies had been repaid on the note despite demands made.
In an interview yesterday Stinson would not discuss this matter, nor the affidavit's further assertion of the unauthorized use of residential units as hotel rooms, generating rental income for Stinson Hospitality. "I'd rather not," Stinson said when asked to comment. "They're really complicated."
Bob Verdun, president of the condominium corporation, says Stinson "used the money (from the condo sale) to complete the hotel. ... Mirvish wasn't paying for the infrastructure for the hotel. That's what Stinson used the money for."
Verdun is standing fast in his support of Stinson who, he says, "has been a magician." He's busily trying to rally condo owners to protest Mirvish's attempts to take control of the hotel rental management program. The authority for that, he insists, rests with the board. "It's absolutely devastating to suggest a receiver will do anybody any good," he says.
Mark Russo is one condo owner who sheds no tears for Harry Stinson. But he doesn't shed any tears for David Mirvish either. Together with family members, Russo owns five units at 1 King. He has lived through the broken promises of guaranteed investment returns, and the ongoing battle over the taxation of units used as hotel suites. "We love this building, we want it to succeed," Russo says. "But we've been thrown like pawns onto the battlefield."
Russo would like to see a forensic audit of the whole operation.
In the meantime, Stinson supporters and Stinson detractors will undoubtedly gather to hear David Mirvish's court motion, scheduled for Friday. Harry Stinson himself will be there for what could be his last stand.
____________________________________________________
What a sad sad mess (but a mess that could have been seen a mile away). I really really hope that the Star stops quoting this man and stops calling him a condo king and sees him for what he is: a failed salesman with a failed hotel/condo concept.
ganjavih
Senior Member
I've been as critical as anyone of Harry, but I have to hand it to him, he had the balls to try to do something different, something people in this conservative town rarely have the imagination for. His competence is questionable, he's arrogant, and he undoubtedly bit off more than he could chew, but at least he had some guts.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
If he'd stuck to wearing silly hats and blowing up balloons for kiddies, and eschewed trying to create a built legacy of tall buildings resembling deodorant sticks, none of this would have happened and it wouldn't have ended in tears for so many people.
AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
Or maybe they had the intelligence and experience to know that his business model was doomed to failure, as in fact it has been.
cassius
Active Member
Last week, or perhaps the week before, I received a package with regards to Stinson's creditors (of which I'm one) and the process that it's going through right now to get the owings out. So if the land does close for $30m and he owes Mirvish $11.8m, I wonder how much he owes the rest of us.
AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
That would depend on many things - how much of a mortgage there is, how many liens are filed against it, how many secured creditors rank ahead of you. I wouldn't spend a lot of time dreaming of 100 cents on the dollar. You ought to consult a lawyer in order to protect your rights.
Prometheus The Supremo
►Member №41+⅜◄
the monarchy is abolished and the king is in big trouble. yikes! the republican's are coming and they want the crown jewels!
CityGurl
New Member
and so it ends
poor guy, despite his ways i feel sorry for him because he had dreams, big ones.....
i just hope this does not send the old man to an early grave, STAND TALL oh Stinson, the show aint over till the FAT LADY sings....
poor guy, despite his ways i feel sorry for him because he had dreams, big ones.....
i just hope this does not send the old man to an early grave, STAND TALL oh Stinson, the show aint over till the FAT LADY sings....
urbandreamer
recession proof
H Stinson: need a job?
I've got one! You will be out of poverty within 6 months or you owe me half
I've got one! You will be out of poverty within 6 months or you owe me half
H
Hydrogen
Guest
Maybe Stinson made a positive impression on Trump? There could always be a concierge opening available.
AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
I think his skills are more suited to be a salesman at the new Roundhouse Leons....
yyzer
Senior Member
lol, AP, that is just COLD....
I wish him well, but I believe his troubles are only just beginning...
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I'm of the same mind. The 1KW tower has some problems but overall I like it. Building above and breathing life into the beautiful old Dominion Bank was a bold and difficult job but Harry had the vision, the passion and the determination to get it done. He lived this project and I respect that. Mirvish is doing what he has to do; that's business. The building will survive, at this point I hope the owners/investors of the building can get the business sorted satisfactorily in this mess.
Jitterbugg
New Member
You have to admire Harry's ambition, but there was always somthing cheesy and amateurish about his projects.
I was at one time thinking about buying a small unit at King West but it looked like he designed and did copywriting for all his advertisments himself - that scared me a bit.
For a project of that scale there is just no excuse for that.
I was at one time thinking about buying a small unit at King West but it looked like he designed and did copywriting for all his advertisments himself - that scared me a bit.
For a project of that scale there is just no excuse for that.