The One building at Yonge and Bloor is ready to be put up for sale after the massive tower was put into receivership and lead developer Sam Mizrahi was ousted from the project in February.
The proposed 91-storey skyscraper, said to be the tallest residential tower in Canada, has faced plenty of economic challenges since construction started in 2017. The mixed-use residential and commercial building had its deadline pushed back multiple times, and Apple began a court battle with Mizrahi Developments to exit the development after agreeing to open a new 15,000-square-foot flagship store on the ground floor of the building, succeeding in pulling out of the deal after The One was placed into receivership.
Now, according to court documents filed on May 28 with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the court-appointed receiver, Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc., is planning to list the tower for sale. The receiver provided an update on the proceedings to date, as well as a summary of the key terms of the proposed sale and investment solicitation process (SISP) for the building.
“Now is the appropriate time to market the Project to solicit any and all potential forms of value maximizing transactions or investments that may be available in the market and acceptable to the Receiver and the Senior Secured Lenders for the sale of the Project at this time,” Alvarez and Marsal states in their report.
The court documents state that the receiver and their partners “have been working to design a SISP that will efficiently and effectively canvass the market for any and all potential forms of value maximizing transactions or investments that may be available” for the sale of The One, such as selling the project or selling units and the commercial component at a later date once the project is fully completed.
They add that they are seeking the Court’s approval of the proposed SISP, which they believe will solicit interest in the acquisition or investment in the project. Through one sale or investment or, more likely, multiple, the building could be sold for a colossal $1.2 billion at minimum.
Part of the receiver’s plans include a reconfiguration of the upper floors of The One, which would add another 88 units to the supertall tower. Levels 62 and 76 will be modified from a four-unit layout to a six-unit layout; levels 63 to 75 will be modified from a four-unit layout to a ten-unit layout; and levels 79 to 81 will be modified from a two-unit layout to a four-unit layout.
“The changes described above will increase the total unit count of the project from 415 Units (including one unit comprised of two units combined) to 503 units,” the report states.
The Receiver is seeking the court’s approval of the SISP; the court will hear the application on Thursday, June 6.
