Troubled development went into receivership in December, records show
West Vancouver's troubled Evelyn development is up for sale.
A Supreme Court order to place the property into receivership was made in December after the developer, Millennium Evelyn Properties Ltd., defaulted on a $72 million mortgage. Now creditors are awaiting its sale to collect their debts. That court decision had been sealed until earlier this week.
The Sentinel Hill development has been appraised at $100 million, but David Bowra, president of the Bowra Group, the newly appointed receiver for the property, said he's not sure how much it will actually sell for.
"I have no idea what it's worth; it's worth what someone will pay for it," said Bowra.
"I mean, it's a big chunk of real estate and it's a lot of money. There are probably a fairly limited number of people who could acquire a piece of property like that. And it's not just acquiring the property, it's developing it as well."
The City of Vancouver, which is owed money from Millennium Development Corp.'s Olympic Village project, is listed as one of the charge holders against Evelyn, but Bowra couldn't confirm whether or not the city will receive any money.
"I don't know if they're actually owed money or if their mortgage has been assigned, but . . . there are a lot of other people who would have to get paid ahead of them," he said.
As for the buyers who have pre-purchased 31 of Evelyn's 109 condominium units, their money is safe in a lawyers' trust, according to Bowra. And while they're free to get it back, most of them appear to want to see the project through, he 
"The vast majority . . . are still very interested in buying a unit in the development; I think the number I heard was 80 per cent," he said.
"I'd like to think in the next 30 to 60 days, we'll have some definitive news for them, one way or another."
The District of West Vancouver is also eager to see the long-awaited project get rolling.
"I think the receiver, his job will be to deal with the property very quickly, as quickly as possible. So that, I would say, bodes well for moving ahead," said Geri Boyle, manager of community planning for the municipality.
"The community worked hard to come up with an agreement working with a developer and I think they've been disappointed to see it sit as sort of a construction site for so long."
In response to Millennium's claims that municipal approvals took longer to achieve than anticipated and "land lenders lost patience with the long process," Boyle partially agreed.
"It was a complicated process, certainly getting through the zoning probably took longer than they anticipated," she said.
No building permits have been issued to date, but if a new developer were to buy the property they could proceed under the approved master plan.
Millennium Development Corp. is behind both the Evelyn Drive project and the Olympic Village development, which is also in receivership. The latter first ran into problems when its financial backer, Fortress Investment Group, pulled out in 2008 and was replaced by the City of Vancouver. The city has yet to recover its $740-million loan.
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