Real Estate

Pre construction Condo Delayed.. What are my options ?

  • Last Updated:
  • May 24th, 2018 3:17 pm
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Oct 9, 2008
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cdndeal wrote: Just curious. What's the purchase price, maintenance fee and rental rate they are guaranteeing you?
Not to be a jerk but I don't feel comfortable posting the exact maint fee + rental rate as it's a public board. I did however pay around $170k purchase price.
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Jeenyus1 wrote: Not to be a jerk but I don't feel comfortable posting the exact maint fee + rental rate as it's a public board. I did however pay around $170k purchase price.
No problem. Just make sure you have a healthy maintenance fund, handy with the paint roller and factor in a full reno when you are looking to sell.
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Dec 6, 2006
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Used to live in Kingston. With that location, I'm gona guess the condo will become 90%+ student rentals eh?
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Because after that bottle of Vodka gets down it can get a little wild in there and your walls might take a beating.
Minimum 3 nights a week
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Dec 27, 2005
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Toronto, ON
Jeenyus1 wrote: I own a unit on this project (also building 1). My recommendation is that unless you're strapped for the cash you'd be an absolute sucker if you pulled your money out of this investment at this time due to the rising RE + inflation. The interest accrued since the deposits were made to make you whole if you pulled out isn't even 1% (I inquired with the builder).

The 3-year guaranteed leaseback agreement on this unit will be something I am more interested in and I'll be pursuing through my lawyer when the time comes as there have been significant delays associated with this project, thus the guaranteed leaseback amount the time the building is actually completed will not be in-line with the market's rents due to continued inflation past the occupancy date.

For me personally, this is a good situation as I've locked in 2014 RE pricing on the unit and the longer it takes, the more valuable the investment becomes while I get to defer closing costs. I also don't think there's anything nefarious going on with the builder as some people have suggested, as far as I know this will likely go to the OMB, I really hope you had your lawyer cap all of the closing costs though.
Apparently the condo will be ready in July 2018
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paf wrote: Apparently the condo will be ready in July 2018
Hi,

I have not received any communications updating timeline. How did you hear that this was going to be ready in July 2018? As far as I was aware the developers were still waiting to move forward with the OMB.
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Dec 27, 2005
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Jeenyus1 wrote: Hi,

I have not received any communications updating timeline. How did you hear that this was going to be ready in July 2018? As far as I was aware the developers were still waiting to move forward with the OMB.
I didn't either so I emailed them and received the below in PDF :
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paf wrote: I didn't either so I emailed them and received the below in PDF :
Whoever you're communicating with is confused. This is a totally different development located at 1900 Simcoe St North in Oshawa which just incidentally is also called University Suites.

The project we're invested in is located at 495 Princess St, Kingston and it's still just an empty lot until OMB gets off their rears.
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Dec 27, 2005
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Jeenyus1 wrote: Whoever you're communicating with is confused. This is a totally different development located at 1900 Simcoe St North in Oshawa which just incidentally is also called University Suites.

The project we're invested in is located at 495 Princess St, Kingston and it's still just an empty lot until OMB gets off their rears.

YEs! i was wondering why the address looks different!

Thanks for catching that ! will email them back!
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FYI the omb just approved this

The post above about NIMBY holding this up was correct. It was appealed by another developer who builds student buldings in the area (the one from the massive fire a few years back) , and one of the queens profs who doesnt live anywhere near it, but are fighting EVERY development proposed in kingston

"Apparently the condo will be ready in July 2018:

more like starts being built by then

The lease guarantee not worth much considering Kingston has the lowest vacancy rate in canada. No problem renting anything
If you aren't willing to take small losses, then you will take big losses. This is my guarantee. -
Mark Minervini
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zoro69 wrote: FYI the omb just approved this

The post above about NIMBY holding this up was correct. It was appealed by another developer who builds student buldings in the area (the one from the massive fire a few years back) , and one of the queens profs who doesnt live anywhere near it, but are fighting EVERY development proposed in kingston

"Apparently the condo will be ready in July 2018:

more like starts being built by then

The lease guarantee not worth much considering Kingston has the lowest vacancy rate in canada. No problem renting anything
Thank you very much for the update!

I found the proceeding from the OMB:
http://www.omb.gov.on.ca/e-decisions/pl ... 8-2017.pdf

ORDER

[128] The Board orders that the appeals are dismissed and Amendment No. 33 to the
Official Plan of the City of Kingston is approved; and,

[129] The appeals against By-law No. 2015-62 are dismissed; and,

[130] The appeals against By-law No. 2015-63 are dismissed allowed in part; and,

[131] By-law No. 2015-63 is amended in the manner set out in Exhibit 5, and as
approved.

------

You're absolutely right about the appellants. I had no idea this was all related to - Jason Patry Enterprises, Kingston professor, Susanne Cliff-Jungling and whoever 2457970 Ontario Inc is...

All I would like to say to these folks is thank you for allowing me to invest my downpayment in 2014 while allowing me to to hold my closing costs longer than anticipated and letting me put it to work while being able to realize likely 2019/2020 (occupancy) in your failed attempt to hold up developments + 3 year leaseback agreement which will further raise the ROI on my property with continued inflation. Your service has been greatly appreciated!
Newbie
Dec 19, 2017
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Does anyone know about any expected dates related to this project yet? Have they said if building 2 will be built at the same time as building 1 or if there will be any delay between the construction of these?
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Feb 27, 2011
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I bought a 2-bedroom corner unit in Building 1 (north) when it was first launched in 2014.
I received a message from my agent that even though the buildings finally received approval from the OMB, the developer has until May 1st of this year to have the permits in place or they have the right to cancel the project. Being an architect, getting the many permits to proceed with the construction will take a lot of time and often riddled with delays, so it's unlikely this is going to happen in this time frame.

My agent who I know well and has sold a lot of units to his other clients and was working with the developer in sales originally advised to hold on to their purchases last July when the developer announced the delay and the option to opt out as the property values has gone up and the 3-year lease back is a very good incentive, but now he also has his doubts whether this project will move forward and recently advised to opt out now instead of waiting until May for your deposits to be automatically returned.

The developer will most likely sell the site to another developer according to my agent. They don't want to seen as reselling to the original buyers at a higher price and would rather move on to another project, he added.

I'm very mad at the two NIMBYs and the bitter developer down the street who unfairly threw this building under the bus -- I hope their development will be cursed with bad karma.
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neuhaus wrote: I bought a 2-bedroom corner unit in Building 1 (north) when it was first launched in 2014.
I received a message from my agent that even though the buildings finally received approval from the OMB, the developer has until May 1st of this year to have the permits in place or they have the right to cancel the project. Being an architect, getting the many permits to proceed with the construction will take a lot of time and often riddled with delays, so it's unlikely this is going to happen in this time frame.

My agent who I know well and has sold a lot of units to his other clients and was working with the developer in sales originally advised to hold on to their purchases last July when the developer announced the delay and the option to opt out as the property values has gone up and the 3-year lease back is a very good incentive, but now he also has his doubts whether this project will move forward and recently advised to opt out now instead of waiting until May for your deposits to be automatically returned.

The developer will most likely sell the site to another developer according to my agent. They don't want to seen as reselling to the original buyers at a higher price and would rather move on to another project, he added.

I'm very mad at the two NIMBYs and the bitter developer down the street who unfairly threw this building under the bus -- I hope their development will be cursed with bad karma.
Hello,

That is concerning to hear the least - my agent also a few months ago sent out a canned email to "pull out" rather than wait but I thought it was just to generate another sale for them.. I hope for both of our sakes this doesn't get canned.

The last communication I received was the following email from my agent, this letter was from the developer on January 2nd, 2018:

UNIVERSITY SUITES CONDOMINIUM UPDATE

Attention: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

We would like to update you concerning the status of the University Suites condominium developments. An amended decision from the Ontario Municipal Board was recently received regarding the projects. The decision was generally positive, but included a new specific provision for the required parking. With this information we can now move forward with applications for the remaining required approvals for the project.

Based on the steps still required to obtain building permits we are unable to advise you as to when commencement of construction will begin. With this further delay it is possible that an
occupancy date will not occur for 3 or more years. We appreciate that this is very disappointing news and we share your frustration. Given the potential for this continued delay, as a courtesy to all purchasers, we are extending the right to cancel your contracts and return your deposits in full for the next 30 days. Please direct requests to vendor@universitysuites.com. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We extend our sincere apologies for the continued delay.

Sincerely,

PRK Developments
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Jeenyus1 wrote: Hello,

That is concerning to hear the least - my agent also a few months ago sent out a canned email to "pull out" rather than wait but I thought it was just to generate another sale for them.. I hope for both of our sakes this doesn't get canned.

The last communication I received was the following email from my agent, this letter was from the developer on January 2nd, 2018:

UNIVERSITY SUITES CONDOMINIUM UPDATE

Attention: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

We would like to update you concerning the status of the University Suites condominium developments. An amended decision from the Ontario Municipal Board was recently received regarding the projects. The decision was generally positive, but included a new specific provision for the required parking. With this information we can now move forward with applications for the remaining required approvals for the project.

Based on the steps still required to obtain building permits we are unable to advise you as to when commencement of construction will begin. With this further delay it is possible that an
occupancy date will not occur for 3 or more years. We appreciate that this is very disappointing news and we share your frustration. Given the potential for this continued delay, as a courtesy to all purchasers, we are extending the right to cancel your contracts and return your deposits in full for the next 30 days. Please direct requests to vendor@universitysuites.com. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We extend our sincere apologies for the continued delay.

Sincerely,

PRK Developments
What are you planning to do ?
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Jun 26, 2005
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Messerschmitt wrote: Most likely they are fast to give you the money back since you probably paid a lot less 3 years ago than what they could charge now for the same apartment. I even wonder if they delay it on purpose, to get as many pre-buyers to withdraw and then re-sell the units at today's market prices.
100% correct. This is why they are happy to give you a refund. They can turn around and sell it for a higher price.

OP: so you have all your options already. There is a clause in your sales & agreement that says, they are allowed to delay ONLY if its due to something beyond their control, and they must notify you by x number of days.

So if you decide to keep it, you can get some $$ compensation if they broke either of the 2 above criteria for delaying. But trust me, their lawyers for sure make darn sure they followed the Agreement.

I had a condo like this before, delayed 3 times. They purposely put the statement "Due to reasons beyond our control....blah blah blah"
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paf wrote: What are you planning to do ?
At this point nothing, I'm not taking back the deposit. Legally speaking - I think we're SOL if they decide to cancel...
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Dec 27, 2005
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Jeenyus1 wrote: At this point nothing, I'm not taking back the deposit. Legally speaking - I think we're SOL if they decide to cancel...
Same keeping mine in there
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paf wrote: Same keeping mine in there
Best of luck, hang in there, just be prepared for more delays and you won't be so disappointed.

Like if I told you "the Last Jedi" sucked big time... then you'll come out of the theatre happy
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Feb 27, 2011
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Toronto
I'm not sure what to do and asked my real estate lawyer for his advice.
Waiting 4 more months to see what happens whether or not they can obtain their permits would likely be my option.
I'm seeing if I could collect on the Tarion Delayed Occupancy compensation -- I bought another condo back in 2010 and that was cancelled which I was able to collect on the maximum compensation of $7,500 ($150/day). I know this amount is not much given how long I have been waiting and how much property values has increased, but anything is better than nothing.

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