There are at least four legal claims amounting to over $9 million against the owner of a large No. 3 Road development that has ground to a halt.
Currently, the Atmosphere project, planned as a residential/office/retail development complex across from Lansdowne Shopping Centre, is being surrounded by a fence, ordered by the city, after the building permits expired on the project.
The owner of the project is Alderbridge Way Limited Partnership and the project manager is South Street.
GBL Architects Inc. is asking for a lien of about $452,000 on the property and a contractor, Metro-Can Construction, is asking for a lien of more than $8 million.
GBL alleges it wasn’t paid for work and in August 2020 applied to the court for a lien on the property.
In its civil suit, GBL is asking that the property be sold if the payment isn’t made so they can claim their lien as well as interest and costs.
In its claim, Metro-Can Construction Ltd., alleges they are owed about $8.67 million out of a total bill of more than $15 million.
Furthermore, Rush Contracting Group has applied for a lien on the property as well, as a subcontractor of Metro-Can Construction, claiming $4.2 million of the $8.67 million Metro-Can alleges it’s owed.
Yet another subcontractor, Keller is making a claim against the owner and Metro-Can, but Alderbridge Way has responded to that claim saying they have no relationship with Keller, rather their contractor was Metro-Can. (Alderbridge Way hasn’t responded to the three other suits.)
Metro-Can was contracted to excavate the site and do on-site and off-site civil work at Atmosphere.
A lawyer representing Rush Contractors Group and Metro-Can, Chris Moore, said discussions are underway on refinancing the project.
The building permits for the mixed residential/commercial/office complex expired in September after there was no construction activity for more than six months.
According to the city, other developers have expressed interest in buying the land.
The development includes an office tower and six residential towers with 824 units of housing, of which 112 will be market rentals and 38 will be affordable rental units.
None of these allegations have been proven in court.
A request from the Richmond News to South Street, the project manager on the development, was not answered.
The News was contacted by a man who had bought pre-sales but hasn't heard about any updates on the stalled project.
Fencing ordered by the city
The City of Richmond has ordered the Atmosphere property owner put up an eight-foot-high perimeter fence around the now-stalled project.
Currently, what appears to be a temporary fence is being put around the property.
However, the city said a more permanent one, anchored into the concrete sidewalk, will be constructed to prevent climbing.
James Cooper, director of building approvals with the city, told council’s planning committee that the city was concerned about “climbing hazards” at the site and they’ve ordered a solid-surfaced “engineered” structure to be built.
