Ontario may have been locked down, but a company connected to the province’s top politician was busy at work. In December 2020, CoStar reported a company connected to Premier Doug Ford sold 85 Vulcan St., an industrial property in West Toronto. The deal didn’t gain any media attention outside of the commercial real estate platform, but did manage to attract investors. The property was flipped to another entity just a few months later.
Ontario Premier’s Company Quietly Sold A Property In 2020
The West Toronto property was sold for $6.75 million at the end of 2020, according to Co-Star. The registry lists an entity by the name of Doug Ford Holdings as the seller of the 23k sqft property located on 1.69 acres. Doug Ford Holdings lists its contact address at Deco Labels, the Premier’s family company. The Premier is currently listed as the “Chief Officer or Manager” in provincial corporate documents.
Company Sold For A Premium Compared To Comps
For those who have already forgotten, the end of 2020 was a very slow trading period. Only three industrial properties were sold in the last quarter of 2020, and the buyer paid a nice premium in contrast to the other two. If the valuation is based on the building’s industrial space, the property was sold for $284/psf—62% and 138% respectively higher than the other two properties. If looking at redevelopment and factoring just land value, they paid about $4m/acre. That would be 13% and 58% higher than the other two properties.
While the buyer paid a premium, they had perfect timing. Less than a year later, the property was transferred to another entity at a significantly higher value.
Buyer Flips Property To Another Entity A Year Later
The provincial land registry shows the property was transferred to a company called Glencairn Distributing at the end of November 2020. Just 9 months later it’s transferred to an entity called Hartsmoor Investments for $7.99 million, securing a loan of $9 million from the Federally-backed BDC.
In August 2023, RBC placed a charge of $10 million on the property, indicating significant appreciation.
Greater Toronto real estate prices have surged over the past few years but this is an exceptional jump. RBC holds debt against the property that is 48% greater than the sale value in 2020. For context, the price of a typical home over that period climbed 30% in the region.
There must be big plans for the property. It’s just not clear what those plans are at this moment.
