Embattled Lower Mainland developer facing new headaches over debt-ridden projects
CBC
Promoted as a place designed to be "the centre of your world," Thind Properties advertised Burnaby's multi-million-dollar Eclipse condo tower as a place where owners "would never have to leave home" to find balance.
This week, the embattled developer's own lack of financial equilibrium led a B.C. Supreme Court judge to place two companies incorporated to build the Eclipse and three other towers into creditor protection — the latest Thind projects to face insolvency over mortgage debt.
The order came after a lawsuit was filed against Beta View Homes and Lumina Eclipse Limited Partnership by Kingsett Mortgage Corporation — the same company which forced three other massive Lower Mainland Thind projects into receivership in the last months of 2024.
According to the court documents, Thind Properties president Daljit Thind is a director of Beta View and all legal correspondence for both companies is directed to him.
Being put into creditor protection involves the appointment of a monitor to oversee the finances of the companies incorporated to build the Eclipse and the three other "Lumina" towers so they can restructure their affairs while creditors are held at bay.
By contrast, the receivership of the other Thind projects effectively puts a financial company in charge of those projects with a view to selling their assets.
Kingsett claims the Eclipse is 95 per cent complete, but that construction has stalled because of financial shortfalls, leaving the 34-storey tower's 335 units unoccupied. Presales account for 224 of the units.
In court documents, Daniel Pollack, the executive director of loan and portfolio management for Kingsett, claims the developers owe $190 million and are accruing interest at a rate of nearly $54,000 a day.
Pollack says Kingsett has "lost all faith in [the developer's] ability to complete their current construction projects and deliver upon the presale agreements to the presale purchasers."
"Kingsett has lost all faith in the [developer's] ability to manage their business, affairs and assets," Pollack says in an affidavit.
According to the court documents, the City of Burnaby has suspended building permits in connection with the Eclipse.
"This has halted construction on the project and has put the collateral at risk," claims Pollack.
Thind Properties' financial troubles first entered the public domain in late November when a judge placed the company's signature District Northwest project into receivership amid a flurry of claims from contractors and financiers.
Billed as "Surrey's new growth centre," District Northwest's two towers have yet to be built, but Thind claims 90 per cent of the 1,023 units have been sold. The developer defaulted on an $80 million mortgage.
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