A north Edmonton condo building that’s been empty since September 2023 because of serious structural problems has now been sold.
But, the individual condo owners say they will still be short tens of thousands of dollars after the sale.
In March 2023, a fire damaged part of the Castledowns Pointe condo building (12618 152 Ave.) in the Baranow neighbourhood in the Castle Downs area.
Engineers from Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. (RJC) were hired to inspect part of the property damaged by a fire on March 12, 2023.
During their review in May of that year, the structural engineers from RJC discovered the actual construction of the fire-damaged portion of the building was not the same as the engineered drawings on file, “and that the as-built conditions were under-designed to carry the structural load of the building,” according to a Sept. 1, 2023 letter to residents.
In September of that year, everyone living in the building was forced to evacuate, after an engineering report said the building could fail.
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“Our engineer advised us at some point a floor could’ve collapsed and people would’ve died,” said Susan Strebchuk, the condo board chair for Castledowns Pointe.
The building has been fenced off and partially covered by a tarp for almost two years now.
No one’s been allowed back, including Lisa Brown, who owns one of the building’s 83 units.
“I mean, it’s just a complete disaster,” Brown said.
Now, condo owners say there’s hope they could get some money back soon.
In April, Harmani Rentals bought the property for $5.1 million. They plan to turn it into rental units.
“Because there was a flood, fire and structural, those three combinations make it a little more challenging and it might just be better to knock it down. We’re still trying to identify that,” Harmani Rentals’ co-founder Harpreet Singh said.
The condo board said owners should see money from the sale by October, two years after they were evacuated.
What they will get isn’t expected to cover their investment.
“We have a number of owners who still have mortgages they have to pay out, so this is going to seem like pennies on the dollar,” Strebchuk said.
Brown is in that category. She figures in a best-case scenario, she’s still short tens of thousands of dollars.
“At the end of the day, I’ll still owe $93,000, which I definitely don’t have so I will have to go into bankruptcy,” Brown said.
It’s a situation Brown hopes she can eventually put behind her, now that the building is sold.
“The losses financially for everyone are just something you can never, ever, ever imagine,” Brown said.
“Just start to collect everything and brush yourself and start moving forward again. Or trying to, anyway.”
— With files from Karen Bartko, Global News
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