The financer of a condo project under creditor protection, on No. 3 Road and Alderbridge Way, is asking the courts to make the owners pay back $191 million.
Atmosphere was supposed to be an 824-unit condo development with retails shops, office and underground parking.
After demolition and excavation of the site, construction ground to a halt in 2020. Building permits expired a year later.
The Atmosphere property is owned by a numbered company, but the lawsuit claims its beneficial owner is Alderbridge Way Limited Partnership.
The property is described in court documents as “an excavated and shored hole in the ground.”
The $191 million Romspen Investment Corp. is demanding the original loan they gave to Atmosphere of $143 million as well as interest, which is accruing at about $1.6 million every month.
They are also asking the court to order Alderbridge Way to sell the property.
Romspen claims, in its civil suit filed in BC Supreme Court in February, Alderbridge Way has breached its contract and defaulted on its obligations.
According to Alderbridge Way’s creditor protection filings, in April 2022, the company owed a total of $385 million to various creditors.
This includes $76 million owed to J.V. Drivers Investments and $94 million to Global Education City (Richmond).
In its lawsuit, Romspen claims it gave Alderbridge Way Ltd. a loan of $143.6 million in early 2019.
Last April, Alderbridge Way was granted creditor protection to restructure its business. This has been extended to June 2.
Creditors and lien holders are listed in Alderbridge Way’s creditor protection documents, including $1.6 million owed to the City of Richmond.
Other creditors listed are real estate companies, the architect and Metro-Can Construction, which is owed almost $8.7 million as well as Rush Contractors, which is owed $4.2 million.
None of the defendants have filed a response to Romspen’s lawsuit.
