222 Spadina (Supportive Housing within former hotel space)

[Towered]

Lots of taxes owed to the city on this property, I wonder if the city should just seize the rest of the property?

Chinatown condo owes $10.5M in unpaid property taxes

The Spadina building has the second-largest unpaid property tax bill in the city — see a TorontoToday map for more of some of the biggest property tax arrears

www.torontotoday.ca

...and the consequences are?

 

[HousingNowTO]

...and the consequences are?

As the TORONTO TODAY article says - “Issues with collecting property taxes at 222 Spadina date back to the late 1990s, city officials reported. In a recently released document, it was revealed the complex has many abandoned units.”

Dealing with abandoned real estate in Ontario, or sites where the “current living owner” is unclear or nonexistent is very hard to manage on the City side — especially if it is Strata within a Condominium -vs- a stand-alone parcel of land.

Essentially, the bills keep stacking-up on paper until they are greater than the value of the property.

 

[neuhaus]

There’s a lot of vacant commercial and retail kiosk spaces at Chinatown Centre, that’s where the unpaid taxes are coming from.
The shopping centre doesn’t seem to be well maintained and fallen to a state of neglect, especially the lower level which gets very little retail traffic and feels very depressing and sketchy, similar to the Dragon Centre nearby. Someone needs to takeover this shopping centre and give it a well-needed revamp/rebrand.

 

[DSC]

As the TORONTO TODAY article says - “Issues with collecting property taxes at 222 Spadina date back to the late 1990s, city officials reported. In a recently released document, it was revealed the complex has many abandoned units.”

Dealing with abandoned real estate in Ontario, or sites where the “current living owner” is unclear or nonexistent is very hard to manage on the City side — especially if it is Strata within a Condominium -vs- a stand-alone parcel of land.

Essentially, the bills keep stacking-up on paper until they are greater than the value of the property.

If a condo owner does not pay their monthly fees the Condo Corporation can take out a lien and eventually sell the condo. Any city taxes owed would, presumably, be noted in the sale and become the responsibility of the new owner.

 

[AlbertC]

There’s a lot of vacant commercial and retail kiosk spaces at Chinatown Centre, that’s where the unpaid taxes are coming from.
The shopping centre doesn’t seem to be well maintained and fallen to a state of neglect, especially the lower level which gets very little retail traffic and feels very depressing and sketchy, similar to the Dragon Centre nearby. Someone needs to takeover this shopping centre and give it a well-needed revamp/rebrand.

Dragon City is faring slightly better as their location is more central at the main Spadina & Dundas intersection, have less units to fill, and get anchored by medical offices and a larger dim sum restaurant on the upper floors. But otherwise, both them and CTC are definitely way past their heyday. CTC specifically continues to decline substantially further. I've seen on social media where they've hosted a pop up indie arts and accessories market on certain weekends, but I feel like it's success is just lukewarm.

 

[rdaner]

This entire complex is just waiting to be redeveloped.

 

[Towered]

This entire complex is just waiting to be redeveloped.

Towers everywhere!!!!

 

[AnnetteMeetsJane]

The commercial spaces on the west side of Spadina from Dundas to Queen are struggling generally. Lots of very run down and empty units, a couple of psychoactive substance retailers and empty lots. It’s quite sad. The east side is in better shape for whatever reason.
There is a public meeting for the Chinatown study on the 5th which might be interesting.