A skyscraper that was meant to become the tallest building in Canada is now gunning for another, far less esteemed title: Toronto’s most cursed construction project.
Progress on The One at the corner of Yonge and Bloor has been plagued by all sorts of problems, among the most prominent, a receivership order, the forcible removal of its developer for an alleged billion-plus in debts, and now, a potential lawsuit from a neighbour.
Listed for sale in May, the future of the mixed-use tower — and those who bought homes within it — is uncertain, though the tower continues to rise taller as construction continues.
Meanwhile, the legal case against its creator’s eponymous company, Mizrahi Developments, has pushed on, with the threat of this new lawsuit adding more fuel to the dumpster fire that the One has unfortunately become since it first broke ground in 2017.
Experts don’t have good outlook for troubled 91-storey megatower project in Toronto https://t.co/cDD3QhQVOf
— blogTO (@blogTO) June 28, 2024
While creditors accused the enterpriser in October of overpaying himself, “improperly charging” for labour and materials, and even falsifying invoices for orders that were never made and work that was never completed, the owners of a neighbouring property have far different concerns.
The owner of a lot adjacent to The One at 1 Bloor West — named as one Mappro Realty Inc. — is taking those in charge of the project to task over a concrete pump that they say has “interfered (and continues to interfere) with the enjoyment of their property.”
The complaint was the centre of a new motion by the development’s court-appointed receiver, Alvarez & Marsal Canada, first reported on by real estate news publication Storeys.
A&M informs creditors that “Mappro alleges, among other things, that the receiver is liable to it for ‘wilful misconduct’ because the Debtors continued using the concrete pump and staging area after the receiver was appointed.”
It goes on to explain that “construction of the project requires an enormous volume of concrete” that “required a concrete pump close to the project so that this concrete could be supplied,” and that “the receiver cannot fulfill its core mandate of continuing the construction of the project without use of the concrete pump.”
Currently, the multi-year street occupation permit that the City issued for the staging area where the concrete pump sits — which takes up a 5m x 17m portion of the roadway in question — is still valid until February 2026 following multiple extensions.
The complainant has clearly taken issue with the pump for some time given that the doc says they “unsuccessfully opposed the debtors’ permit application, and has unsuccessfully opposed each renewal of the permit.”
The receivers write that those involved have also done their best to reduce the noise associated with the pump, which was a requirement of the March 2023 permit renewal.
Still, Mappro is seeking an injunction for crews to get rid of the concrete pump and staging area next to their property, and also $3 million in damages, originally set out in September 2022 action that was eventually stayed — but which Mappro is now gearing up to resume.
Here’s what’s happening with the troubled megatower rising on Toronto’s skylinehttps://t.co/rk2qfwSK2Y
— blogTO (@blogTO) September 19, 2024
This is just the latest in the string of hiccups, snafus and worse that The One has experienced, pushing its completion date later and later than originally planned.
Though it hasn’t been underway for as long, nor delayed enough as, say, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, The One is now in the ranks of the troubled transit route for being one of the most problematic, drawn-out major build in the city’s recent history.
