Former Cresford Developments president alleges ‘cash crisis’ at condo firm

SHANE DINGMAN REAL ESTATE REPORTER

The filing describes escalating construction costs for key inputs such as steel and concrete beginning in the fall of 2018. Ms. Athanasoulis said the Clover project was facing $50-million in extra costs, at the same time the Halo project faced overruns close to $45-million. The lawsuit cites a third-party review by cost consultants CB Ross that is said to show 33 Yorkville’s budget needed another $65-million. Some of those bills were paid, but others remained outstanding.
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Former Cresford Developments president alleges ‘cash crisis’ at condo firm

A 33-page wrongful dismissal complaint filed on Jan. 21 by Maria Athanasoulis alleges Cresford Developments is failing to pay contractors and incurring costly delays on its projects
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I've read the document with all the alegations from Maria. Looks damning but it is clearly one-sided. What's the other side of this story?
 
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Are workers onsite at all of the major projects in question? That should indicate one way or the other if something is imminent.
 
Clover and YSL seem to. Not sure about this or Halo. The lack of tracks in the fresh snow these last few photo updates would indicate no one is on site here.
 
Trucks were lined up on Cumberland and workers were on site this morning:

Feb 25, 2020

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bmiller said:
You would assume if things are as dire as that one report indicated, and contractors are not being paid, there wouldn't be anyone working on any of Cresford's newest projects.
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They'll just take a lien on the property, so they'll still eventually get paid. As long as the property still has value (that isn't senior in claim to them), the contractors don't care whether Cresford pays it, or a distressed sale of the property gets them paid. Granted, they'd rather be paid right away rather than in a forced property sale as that would take up time to receive the cash.
 
No one ever wonder why there is only one lien with such a small amount? The story I heard is the boss didn’t even know the money was not paid until the former VP was dismissed. One thing we all probably know is the former vp was going to get something from the deal, everyone one understand law know the information she included in the statement of claim is way too much for wrongful dismissal, so probably need some imagination to figure out what she is doing all these for and who she is doing these for.
 
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Just for who is interested in the ysl project, as far as I know, the lien is removed. But when a company plays monopoly, you can’t really get around it.
 
Rimsky44 said:
They'll just take a lien on the property, so they'll still eventually get paid. As long as the property still has value (that isn't senior in claim to them), the contractors don't care whether Cresford pays it, or a distressed sale of the property gets them paid. Granted, they'd rather be paid right away rather than in a forced property sale as that would take up time to receive the cash.
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I am in the construction business, i own and operate a construction company for the last 33 years and worked for someone else for 9 years, no way anyone that i know would slap a lien and then continue to work on the project, it takes a long time to get paid especially if project shuts down and goes through courts to get resolved.
 
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Cresford Developments lawsuit reveals tangled web of construction financing

Shane Dingman Real Estate Reporter
Published February 26, 2020

Ms. Athanasoulis alleges Otéra Capital Inc. - the real estate finance subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec - was intended to come on as one of the finance partners for a $623-million construction loan to build YSL. Otéra is already a partner on a $817-million construction loan made in 2018 for Cresford's 33 Yorkville project.

"Otéra is no longer involved in this specific project [YSL]," Amandine Michaud, director of communications and marketing for Otéra, said. "Otéra is aware of the lawsuit. We find allegations worrisome and we are closely monitoring the situation. However, out of respect for the judicial process, Otéra will not comment the alleged facts."
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www.theglobeandmail.com

Cresford Developments lawsuit reveals tangled web of construction financing

Cresford Developments president Daniel Casey and former Cresford executive Maria Athanasoulis have exchanged allegations about each other’s conduct and also about the nature of the business the two were engaged in together as recently as the fall of 2019
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