Developer's debt woes escalate as more Metro Vancouver projects face insolvency

Promoted as a place designed to be "the centre of your world," Thind Properties advertised the multi-million-dollar Eclipse condo tower in Burnaby, B.C., as a place where owners "would never have to leave home" to find balance.

This week, the embattled developer's own lack of financial equilibrium led a B.C. Supreme Court judge to place two companies incorporated to build the Eclipse and three other towers into creditor protection — the latest Thind projects to face insolvency over mortgage debt.

The order came after a lawsuit was filed against Beta View Homes and Lumina Eclipse Limited Partnership by Kingsett Mortgage Corporation — the same company which forced three other massive Lower Mainland Thind projects into receivership in the last months of 2024.

'Lost all faith' in developer

According to the court documents, Thind Properties president Daljit Thind is a director of Beta View and all legal correspondence for both companies is directed to him.

Being put into creditor protection involves the appointment of a monitor to oversee the finances of the companies incorporated to build Eclipse and the three "Lumina" towers, also in Burnaby, so they can restructure their affairs while creditors are held at bay.

By contrast, the receivership of the other Thind projects effectively puts a financial company in charge of those projects with a view to selling their assets.

Kingsett claims the Eclipse is 95 per cent complete, but that construction has stalled because of financial shortfalls, leaving the 34-storey tower's 335 units unoccupied. Presales account for 224 of the units.

In court documents, Daniel Pollack, the executive director of loan and portfolio management for Kingsett, claims the developers owe $190 million and are accruing interest at a rate of nearly $54,000 a day.

Pollack says Kingsett has "lost all faith in [the developer's] ability to complete their current construction projects and deliver upon the presale agreements to the presale purchasers." 

"Kingsett has lost all faith in the [developer's] ability to manage their business, affairs and assets," Pollack says in an affidavit.

According to the court documents, the City of Burnaby has suspended building permits in connection with the Eclipse.

"This has halted construction on the project and has put the collateral at risk," claims Pollack.

Judgments filed by tax agency

Thind Properties' financial troubles first entered the public domain in late November when a judge placed the company's signature District Northwest project into receivership amid a flurry of claims from contractors and financiers.

Billed as "Surrey's new growth centre," District Northwest's two towers have yet to be built, but Thind claims 90 per cent of the 1,023 units have been sold. The developer defaulted on an $80 million mortgage.

Within weeks, Kingsett asked the court to place two more Thind developments into receivership — Burnaby's completed Highline condo tower and Richmond's stalled Minoru Square project.

Adding in the Eclipse and Lumina projects brings Thind's combined mortgage debt load with Kingsett to nearly half a billion dollars.

In documents related to the Highline, Kingsett accused the developer of misappropriating $7.5 million in GST following the sales of units in the Burnaby building.

"Rather than remitting these funds to the Canada Revenue Agency, the Highline borrower absconded with these funds and used the funds for internal obligations, which it would not disclose," the court documents read.

Pollack's affidavit in the latest case claims that the mortgage company learned in mid-December that the Canada Revenue Agency has also registered a judgment worth nearly $12 million against the Eclipse and Lumina properties.

"The CRA  judgment was obtained over a year and a half prior to the CRA judgment being registered on title," Pollack writes.

"At no point prior to the CRA judgment's registration did the [developers] make Kingsett aware of the CRA judgment."

Pollack claims the mortgage company would not have lent money and engaged in business with the developers "had it known of the CRA judgment."

Other financial lawsuits

Thind did not respond to the petition to put the Eclipse and Lumina projects into creditor protection.

In court proceedings related to the District Northwest project, Daljit Thind claimed that buyers of pre-sales in that project would not be out of pocket.

"Despite the delay to the start of construction, I do not believe the deposits for the pre-sold units are at risk as they were sold at a price that is below current market value," Thind wrote.

Beyond the battle over financing, a series of lawsuits related to the Highline has been filed in recent months by workers, contractors and a real estate agent claiming commission for consulting on a deal to sell $47.2 million worth of units in the building to a hotel company.

Other claimants include a company seeking nearly $1.7 million for the installation of steel stud and drywall systems at the Highline, a firm claiming nearly $600,000 for electrical work, and a glazier allegedly owed nearly half a million dollars.

Last October, a provincial court judge issued a $14,500 default judgment against the developers of the Eclipse and Lumina buildings following a small claims lawsuit filed by a broadcaster hired to produce radio advertisements marketing the projects in 2022.

The developers never responded to the claim.