81-unit Sofia project 85-per-cent complete
Glenda Luymes
Province
The developer of the Sofia, an 81-condo project at Sophia and East 11th in Vancouver, has pulled out of the project. Photograph by : Arlen Redekop — the Province
A Vancouver developer has pulled out of a Mount Pleasant condo project — leaving buyers wondering what will happen to their investments.
The Sophia on East 11th Avenue and Sophia Street went into receivership last Monday, according to CBC News. The 81-unit project was about 85-per-cent complete.
It’s not the first time the developer, the Eden Group, has pulled out of a project. In November, Eden cancelled two condo developments worth about $95 million before the buildings got off the ground. About 55 buyers had deposits refunded.
Company owner Bill Eden told media at the time that the civic workers’ strike had caused costly delays, while rising labour and material expenses were prohibitive.
Eden could not be reached for comment yesterday, causing speculation over the fate of the Sophia. Many of the units were sold about two years ago. A two-bedroom suite in the Sophia is listed on the contract assignment website www.buildingdigger.com for $599,900.
Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association CEO Peter Simpson said he was “concerned” to hear about the Sophia, but hadn’t been able to reach Eden to ask what had happened. “It’s very disconcerting for me, and I think for any developer out there. It reflects on everyone,” he said.
But Simpson said that while construction costs are causing challenges for developers, he doesn’t see a trend developing.
“Major developers would never dream of doing anything like this,” he said. “The major developers would just suck it up. Their reputation is at stake. They’d swallow their losses and finish the project. With a smaller developer, it can be more difficult.”
Simpson said there have been 78,000 housing starts in the Vancouver area in the last four years. “It’s a strong market. It’s only a very small number where things like this are happening,” he said.
Simpson recommends anyone pre-buying a home to take their contract to a real-estate lawyer to review it. By law, buyers have a seven-day right of refusal to back out of the contract. The law also requires developers who may have had problems in the past to disclose that information in the contract.
“This is a moot point for the people in this case,” he said. “This has to be a big worry to them right now.”
Simpson said the receiver could find another developer willing to finish the project and honour the existing contracts or ask buyers to pay more. “If there’s a debt it might be a difficult situation,” he said. “My hope is that, at the end of the day, the people will get their homes at the price they paid.” [email protected]