The One - Mizrahi Developments - (Real Estate) -

[Urbia-Suburbia]

Bridging Finance owner Jenny Coco used investor funds to backstop her luxury condo project with Sam Mizrahi, lawsuit alleges

Court filings allege that Jenny Coco and Sam Mizrahi turned to China-East Resources Import & Export Co., or CERIECO, a state-owned Chinese enterprise, for funding

www.theglobeandmail.com

New article today detailing alleged machinations behind the financing of The One and a lawsuit around it

Wow. What a mess...

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

Wow. What a mess...

As long as it doesn't further interfere with the rest of this project...

 

[FiveSigma]

"In default" means Mizrahi has not been making interest payments.

Not a great sign for the financial soundness of the project.

Depending on the terms, a lender could push this project into bankruptcy to negotiate more favorable repayment terms.
I don't think they'll do it as Mizrahi can 'mail the keys' to the lender and say 'you finish it', which most lenders don't want.
At this point they are hostages to this project completing when it does.

When all is said and done I wouldn't be surprised if Mizrahi's equity in the project is wiped out with all these (unfortunate) delays.

 

[DSC]

As long as it doesn't further interfere with the rest of this project...

Of course the apparent fraud with the financing will have a (negative) effect on this project.

 

[dodgeram]

So let’s play a game ... in a perfect world where Mizrahi folds and we have a different real estate developer finish this project (and/or be the property manager in the future) who should it be?

I don’t work for Mizrahi or their lenders but undoubtedly this project is distressed and unprofitable and likely unappealing for most of the larger/reputable firms to be interested in, especially with financing costs going up.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

I don’t work for Mizrahi or their lenders but undoubtedly this project is distressed and unprofitable and likely unappealing for most of the larger/reputable firms to be interested in, especially with financing costs going up.

It maybe distressed, but I doubt it will be unprofitable. I suspect many players here are likely banking on the latter...so I wouldn't be surprised if this thing keeps going in one shape or form or another.

 

[AdamS]

So much rampant speculation in this thread.

 

[DSC]

So much rampant speculation in this thread.

Well, there is lots to speculate about.

 

[Bjays92]

Well, there is lots to speculate about.

And no matter how you cut it, it doesn't look good.

That's not to say this project in of itself is doom and gloom, but Mizrahi will have almost certainly soured a lot of ties with a lot of people over this.

Even in the best case scenarios I highly doubt anyone will want to work with him again or that we'll see any projects from him in the future.

 

[AdamS]

And no matter how you cut it, it doesn't look good.

That's not to say this project in of itself is doom and gloom, but Mizrahi will have almost certainly soured a lot of ties with a lot of people over this.

Even in the best case scenarios I highly doubt anyone will want to work with him again or that we'll see any projects from him in the future.

He shouldn't get a pass for all the delays and negative noise coming from this project however, multiple union strikes, safety compliance shutdowns and covid shutdowns cannot be blamed entirely on one guy.
He's proven to get through some seriously challenging obstacles.

There are plenty of guys that would've thrown in the towel and bailed long time ago.

 

[vinny_the_hack]

He shouldn't get a pass for all the delays and negative noise coming from this project however, multiple union strikes, safety compliance shutdowns and covid shutdowns cannot be blamed entirely on one guy.
He's proven to get through some seriously challenging obstacles.

There are plenty of guys that would've thrown in the towel and bailed long time ago.

I respectfully disagree. You don't even get to start a project like this without having a fierce fighting spirit. However, sometimes that same spirit, and unwillingness to give up, and cut losses, leads to a disastrous eventuality. I'm not saying that is the case, here, but it may very well be.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

So much rampant speculation in this thread.

When there's not a whole lot of tangible actuals to go on here as this is still in the alleged category, speculation is all we have currently. As long as we understand that could be wrong in the speculating, I'm not sure why this would be an issue.

...my personal hope though is that these allegations are proven to be false, so we can least get on with this project that is long overdue, uninterrupted. Outside of that, Mizrahi et al, should be giving account of any "creative" financing for this project, regardless of how we feel about it, IMO.

 

[Bjays92]

When there's not a whole lot of tangible actuals to go on here as this is still in the alleged category, speculation is all we have currently. As long as we understand that could be wrong in the speculating, I'm not sure why this would be an issue.

...my personal hope though is that these allegations are proven to be false, so we can least get on with this project that is long overdue, uninterrupted. Outside of that, Mizrahi et al, should be giving account of any "creative" financing for this project, regardless of how we feel about it, IMO.

Maybe the allegations aren't as bad as they appear, but given there is an apparent trend here, I find it highly unlikely they are false.

There are multiple ongoing suits, that doesn't happen if you're hands are clean.

 

[andrewjm3d]

So many people here are willing to crap all over this developer with little to no knowledge of what's going on behind the scenes. This project is a highend and complex build in a challenging location going up at the same time we've been going through a pandemic and now global economic slowdown. Anybody who thought this tower would rise at a typical pace is a little out of touch with the reality of what's involved with a project of this scale.

 

[vinny_the_hack]

So many people here are willing to crap all over this developer with little to no knowledge of what's going on behind the scenes. This project is a highend and complex build in a challenging location going up at the same time we've been going through a pandemic and now global economic slowdown. Anybody who thought this tower would rise at a typical pace is a little out of touch with the reality of what's involved with a project of this scale.

So many people here are willing to exonerate this developer with all the knowledge of what's going on out in the open. This project has been plagued with poor planning of permit acquisitions, financing scandals, etc.

How am I doing as a devil's advocate?

Seriously, I am not taking sides. I am neutral. However, to expect people here not to comment on the myriad delays, and other bad news while anxiously waiting to see this building rise, is unrealistic.