A partly-finished townhouse project in Willoughby will be sold to a new developer for $35 million, considerably less than was owing to the project's creditors.

The sale was approved by a court order signed on July 10 in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.

The development, called The Willoughby, was a three-phase project in the 20300 block of 70A Avenue, originally being built by a division of Quarry Rock Developments, also known as QRD.

QRD Willoughby had planned to build the project in three phases, with a first phase of 34 units, 23 more units in phase two, and 30 units in phase three.

However, the company ran into financial issues in 2023 while building phase one.

Two buildings, including 10 units of housing, were completed, and more were underway when the company had difficulties that QRD, in court filings, said were caused by delays in development approvals, increased construction costs, and increasing costs of interest on construction loans.

Last fall, MCAP Financial, the largest creditor of the project, filed with the B.C. courts to have the project put into receivership. At the time, MCAP was owed $29.6 million. The next largest creditor and holder of a second mortgage, was Canadian Mortgage Servicing Corporation (CMSC) which was owed $7.55 million last fall.

Other creditors included Overland Capital, owed $10.5 million, and Wubs Investments, owed $4.5 million. The major contractor doing the actual construction, Steelcrest, filed a builders lien for $2.82 million last October.

When construction ground to a halt and payments were not forthcoming, MCAP applied to have the project put into receivership.

The matter was set to go before a judge on Tuesday, July 9 for a decision on whether or not to move forward with a sale.

MNP Ltd., the court-appointed receiver, marketed the site through the spring and will sell the entire project as-is to Redekop Ferrario Properties for $35.3 million.

That would still leave about $18 million in debt outstanding, and only senior creditors, starting with MCAP, will likely receive all or most of their  money back. 

QRD filed a response to the planned sale in court on July 4, however, saying that it has another possible buyer. They said the company was in talks with BC Builds, a provincial agency. In addition, QRD said they have a written agreement with the Foundation Residence Society (FRS), a non-profit organization, to buy the property for $64 million, which would "make all stakeholders whole."

The agreement was set to complete on Aug. 29 this year, QRD said in its most recent filing.

Augustino Duminuco, a director of FRS, confirmed that their group had been in talks with QRD. The society's goal is to build affordable homes for middle-income people, through partnerships with groups like BC Builds. He said he was sad to see the court sale ordered to another buyer. FRS was not directly involved in the court hearing directly, Duminuco said.

When Quarry Rock ran into financial difficulties last year, it was developing or owned a number of properties around the Lower Mainland and into the Okanagan. A number of those sites are in receivership or are the subject of legal action by creditors.

Quarry Rock owned the historic brick Federal Building at Douglas Crescent and 204 Street in downtown 91原创 City. That building has since been sold.

It also owned a site on the corner of Fraser Highway and Glover Road at the start of the one-way section of the highway, which had been planned for a 77-condo development. That site appears to also be for sale, according to online real estate listings.

Another major property adjacent to The Willoughby townhouse site is now also for sale via a court-ordered process. Located in the 7000 block of 204 Street, a three-building, six-storey, 254-unit Quarry Rock project dubbed The Graham was planned for the site, but construction had not begun. 

Across the street from The Graham, a site marketed as The Gordon and planned by Quarry Rock was also up for sale earlier this year. It would have hosted another condo project.

The 91原创 Advance Times contacted Quarry Rock for this story, but they declined to offer a comment by press deadlines.