A B.C. Supreme Court justice has approved the sale of an eight-building 114-unit condominium complex near Ron Andrews recreation centre in Seymour for more than $51 million.
The decision handed down by Justice Lisa Warren paves the way for the sale of Seymour Estates, a residential condo complex that sits on more than six acres of land, to Anthem Properties.
The deal, struck after years of legal wrangling, is set to close next month, on Jan. 16.
The court-ordered sale of the condo complex will satisfy the majority of owners, who fought in court to sell the entire property as a group. For others, it could eventually force them off the North Shore if they can’t find similar affordable housing.
The court case highlights dilemmas faced when one group of owners in an aging housing complex wants to sell, but others don’t – or don’t agree on how to go about that.
In the case of Seymour Estates, those issues were further complicated by an unusual ownership structure popular in the 1970s that has since been banned by the province.
The issue reached a crisis point in recent years because the 40-year-old wood frame complex requires substantial repairs, some of which have been put off while the owners have been locked into the court battle, according to court documents. Some owners voiced concerns about not being able to pay for the cost of the repairs if the sale did not go through. Individual units in the complex have been difficult to sell while the court case continued, the judge noted.
Others told the judge they would face hardship if the sale was approved. “In particular, some will not be able to purchase comparable homes in the community,” the judge noted.
But the judge added the offer “exceeds the appraised value and there is no evidence before me that suggests a materially higher price is a realistic prospect.”
The judge noted the sale price is 50 per cent higher than the property’s assessed value of $32 million.
An appraiser set the redevelopment value of the land at $50.7 million.
“While the sale will cause hardship for some owners, other owners will face hardship if the sale does not proceed,” wrote Warren.
According to court documents, an original offer to buy the property as a whole dates back almost six years, when Darwin Properties approached condo owners, first in 2011 and again in 2013.
But a deal stalled when not all owners agreed to sell to the development company. A group representing the majority of owners then sought to have a sale of the complex approved by the courts.
In January 2014 a B.C. Supreme Court justice granted that and gave the owners’ council for the complex authority to conduct the sale. Shortly after that, Darwin offered to buy the entire complex for $45.44 million – in an offer only valid for a week, according to court documents. The council representing the owners rejected that because of the short time frame given and a price that was less than what the council thought the property was worth.
After a second round of bidding and negotiations, council accepted an offer of $46.5 million from Polygon Pacific Homes, according to court documents. That offer came with a $1.25-million non-refundable deposit. But that offer also collapsed in January 2016.
A third offer from Anthem – originally made for $46.6 million and later increased to $51 million – is the deal most recently approved by the courts.
Under the terms of that offer, current owners have the right to buy back into the building at a discount and can rent their units back from the developer at discounted rates for 18 months after the deal closes. Condo owners had until this Friday to notify lawyers if they wanted to rent their units.
Not everyone is happy with the decision to approve the sale, the judge acknowledged.
“This is clearly a divided community … no matter what order I grant, some owners will consider themselves winners and others will consider themselves losers. There is no solution that is going to satisfy everyone,” she wrote.
A related court case between Darwin, the development company that originally wanted to buy the complex, and a number of property owners who accepted Darwin’s offers to buy those units, is still before the courts.
District of North Vancouver spokeswoman Stephanie Smiley said there are currently no active planning applications before the municipality connected to the property.
