Financer demands $191M due to stalled project

Maria Rantanen

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, con- struction 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 includes the original $143 million loan they gave Atmosphere plus 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 Creditors and lien hold-