Elevator Bay development stuck in limbo
Posted By JORDAN PRESS
Posted 1 year ago
The pier at Elevator Bay juts into Lake Ontario, a thin strip that only two years ago, held the promise of waterfront development.
Today it still sits empty.
The company overseeing the development points the finger at the property owner for the delay in development.
The property owner, whose land needs to be split into different lots to allow for development, points the finger at city hall, saying a backlog in the planning department is to blame.
The city says it has no such documents regarding the site and until it does, no development can take place.
Meanwhile, the former site of Kingston's last grain elevator, in the west end of Portsmouth, sits empty.
"What you're seeing ... is the visible part of trying to clean up a bit of a mess," said Bob Forrest, president of the Forrest Group, the company overseeing the development.
"It's not my land, it's not my money. It's not a nice situation."
In May 2007, the Forrest Group announced plans to build three apartment and condominium buildings on the pier. The first building was to be a nine-storey, 154-suite retirement residence run by Amica Mature Lifestyles Inc.; an associated apartment building that will have apartment-style or bachelor suites; and a condominium building at the edge of the pier.
Plans were unveiled at a public meeting. A Forrest Group spokesman said at the time that work would be completed by the summer of 2008 on the retirement residence. Work on the rest of the site would be completed by 2009.
However, work never began.
The process started on Sept. 13, 2007, when IBI Group, on behalf of Admirals Walk Residence Inc., the company created to develop Elevator Bay, submitted an application to create a subdivision on the pier, municipally known as 1102, 1106 and 1110 King St. W.
The planning committee approved the draft subdivision plans on April 17, 2008. However, detailed subdivision plans needed to be filed before the land could be split into three parcels and development could proceed.
Sandi Gordi, president of Elevator Bay Developments Inc., the owner of the property, said applications for the official subdivision plans have been filed and the parcel severance would take place by the fall. He said the application was filed by early this spring.
"The city has all the information. It's scheduled for September," he said in a telephone interview Monday.
"Maybe the City of Kingston is backlogged. I cannot speak to it. It's an administration issue from the city side, not from our side," Gordi said later in the interview.
Admirals Walk had sold some of the condominiums, but had to return money to buyers when the development was delayed. Gordi said the delay was partly due to "some discrepancies over measurements that have been finalized."
"That's the only thing," Gordi said. "That's why we had gone to market and because of the delays, we had returned to the depositors their money."
However, the city's planning department says it hasn't received any applications since the draft subdivision plan, said senior planner Jason Budd. He couldn't say when was the last time the city heard from the development group, citing confidentiality reasons.
Gordi could not be reached for comment Tuesday to respond to the discrepancy or to explain why Sandro Sordi is listed on land registry documents as the representative of Elevator Bay Development Inc. On Monday, Gordi did respond to a note on a planning committee agenda that said an application had not been submitted for the project.
"That information is incorrect. The application has been made."
Forrest said until the land is split into different parcels, the development can't proceed.
And until someone comes forward to be a financial partner in the deal, Forrest said, the development is stalled. No one is interested in partnering, he said, because bills have gone unpaid for two years.
When asked about the nonpayment, Gordi declined to comment.
"I have no idea what you're making reference to," he said.
In September 2007, Forrest, whose company has been the agent for Admirals Walk, sent out an e-mail to creditors telling them that Admirals Walk was going through "a complete reorganization of the partnership and financing" because "the present funding arrangement is not working satisfactorily."
It was the first in a series of e-mails on the project.
In October 2007, Forrest let creditors know some of them may receive no financial compensation for their work. He also wrote that Amica, the company set to run the retirement home, did not "want to become embroiled in Admirals Walk payment issues."
No one from Amica was available for an interview this week.
In August of last year, the Forrest Group was on the verge of purchasing the property from Gordi, but the deal fell through. Forrest said the sale was conditional on him getting a financing partner, but no one wanted to put their money into the deal and the purchase agreement was dropped.
Gordi said financing isn't a problem.
"It has nothing to do with finances," he said. "It has everything to do with the backlog that the city has been unable to process it. I'm not saying it's their fault, I'm just saying that they're backlogged."
By May of this year, companies owed money started filing liens against the site. In all, they total more than $980,000.
The property value, according to city hall tax records, is $2.25 million. Mortgages on the land total more than $3 million and are held, Gordi said, by Ontario Mortgages LLC.
John Orenstein, a Minneapolis- based lawyer representing Ontario Mortgages LLC, declined to comment when reached this week.
The Forrest Group is the single largest creditor that has filed liens against the property. According to land registry records, the Forrest Group filed its construction lien against the property on June 8, worth $648,892 over project management and "services relating to the improvement" of Elevator Bay.
On the same day the Forrest Group filed its lien, another company, We Merchandise Space Ltd., filed a lien for $278,206 for design services for a presentation centre, building and suite design, site plan drawings and other design services, according to land registry documents.
The Whig-Standardis also owed roughly $19,000. The newspaper has not filed a lien against the property.
"All those liens will be bonded off and put into court. They have no relevance," Gordi said. He said a meeting is being planned between him and the Forrest Group to remove its lien on the property.
Plans for the site have been on the books for more than 15 years for a 343 unit apartment complex and a marina.
The plans presented in 2007 haven't changed in two years, Gordi said, but won't come to fruition right away, if the project gains municipal approval. The condominiums, he said, would go to market in late spring 2010, at the earliest, and construction wouldn't begin until 70% of the units are sold.
"That all depends on how the market is and what the market will bear. Development will only be taking place if people buy the condos. If they do not buy the condos, it won't take place," Gordi said.
Later, he added: "You don't build a building on (speculation), similar to every other project in Kingston."
The Forrest Group also planned to build a geothermal energy plant to provide heating and cooling for the site and for the accompanying roads. Researchers at Queen's University were recruited to help.
"That's my dream," Forrest said. "I was hoping to make that happen and I'm still hoping to make it happen."
Gordi also said he wanted to see the project move ahead.
"We're looking forward to it too. Unfortunately, we had a setback, it got backlogged with the administration, but hopefully it's been resolved and hopefully we can move forward because Kingston is a beautiful city."
