What was shaping up to be a striking church-to-condo conversion at 248 and 260 High Park Avenue is now facing an uncertain fate after a receivership order went into effect on Monday.On the southwest corner of High Park Avenue and Annette Street — right on the border between the neighbourhoods of High Park and The Junction — it’s hard to miss the High Park Alhambra Church.
Some important context: 260 High Park Limited Partnership is described in the court documents as a single-use real estate development company formed specifically for the High Park Alhambra Church project. Meanwhile, 2486357 Ontario Inc. appears to be the owner of 248 High Park Avenue specifically, and the address on file for that numbered company matches that of Medallion Capital Group.
Previous to that, there was a mortgage in favour of Fiera FP Real Estate Financing Inc. and Fiera FP Real Estate Financing Fund, L.P. in the principal amount of $14.3M. Interest on that debt was also postponed thanks to an agreement between Westmount and Fiera. But things have seemingly come to a halt. Meridian’s affidavit says that they have “lost confidence” in 260 High Park Limited's “ability to manage and complete” the project — in part, due to the extent of the “significant construction liens,” and in other part, due to project overruns.
Now that the receivership order is in effect over 260 High Park Limited — and by association, the lands at 248 and 260 High Park Avenue — it’s likely that the court-appointed monitor, Ernst & Young Inc., will arrange a sale of the property to help recoup funds. As for the fate of the condo project: it’s too soon to say if it will ever come to fruition.