20 months after residents forced to evacuate, troubled Edmonton condo sells for $5.1M

Wallis Snowdon · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

A northbound Edmonton condo evacuated astir 2 years agone implicit fears the gathering could illness has been sold. 

The long-awaited merchantability volition connection immoderate fiscal reprieve to erstwhile residents of Castledowns Pointe, which has sat vacant since September 2023.

Harmani, an Alberta-based developer and rental company, purchased the spot for $5.1 cardinal with plans to repair the existing operation and rent its 83 units erstwhile reconstruction is complete.

When it was archetypal enactment connected the marketplace successful mid-2024, it had been listed for conscionable nether $17 million.

The deal, approved successful Edmonton's Court of King's Bench, closed connected April 21. 

Condo committee president Susan Strebchuk said the merchantability is simply a invited motion of closure for its erstwhile residents but added there's inactive a agelong roadworthy ahead. 

"There is alleviation that it's going to beryllium done, but it's not," Strebchuk said. 

The merchantability proceeds volition instrumentality months to beryllium distributed, with owners not apt to spot thing until October oregon November, Strebchuk said.

And their stock volition beryllium a "drop successful the bucket" against the mounting costs they've paid for repairs, condo fees and owe payments connected homes that were nary longer habitable, Strebchuk said.

"The harm that's been done to either your fiscal standing — oregon adjacent your quality to determination connected from this — is not going to beryllium recovered done immoderate funds you volition get," Strebchuk said. 

Debts to the condo committee volition beryllium settled earlier immoderate proceeds from the merchantability are distributed to owners, she said.

"There is inactive tons of enactment to do," Strebchuk said. "We volition each beryllium precise relieved erstwhile we're done." 

The problems with Castledowns Pointe, constructed successful 1999 astatine 12618 152nd Ave., archetypal surfaced successful March 2023 aft a occurrence ripped done the 4th floor. 

Investigators assessing the harm discovered unsafe structural flaws unrelated to the occurrence damage. The gathering does not lucifer the architectural designs connected grounds and does not comply with the gathering code.

In September 2023, erstwhile the grade of the structural issues was made wide successful an engineering report, evacuation orders were issued. 

Residents were fixed hours to permission their homes implicit concerns that the gathering mightiness collapse.

In January 2024, owners opted to merchantability and chopped their losses alternatively than effort to repair the building. The gathering and onshore went connected the marketplace aboriginal past summer with an asking terms of $16,950,000.  

Seeking a buyer

The court-sanctioned merchantability has been a long, analyzable process.

An unconditional connection of $6.25 cardinal from Cormode and Dickson Construction Ltd. was accepted but faced delays arsenic the Edmonton operation institution sought repeated extensions. 

Then, a flood successful January 2025 caused much than $500,000 successful damages, and the woody collapsed altogether.

A clause successful the connection declaration allowed the institution to locomotion away. With their connection rescinded, the gathering was placed backmost connected the market.

An connection from Harmani Sale Inc. was accepted by the condo committee and approved by the tribunal past month.  As portion of the deal, immoderate proceeds from the merchantability volition beryllium held backmost to screen the outgo of flood repairs. 

'Safety and structure'

Harpreet Singh, co-founder of Harmani Rentals, said the institution is anxious to commencement enactment arsenic soon arsenic metropolis permits are approved. The institution volition enactment intimately with engineers and metropolis officials to measure however the building's flaws tin beryllium fixed.

He expects reconstruction volition instrumentality astatine slightest 18 months earlier the gathering volition beryllium added to Harmani's portfolio of rental buildings. That timeline could alteration erstwhile crews commencement ripping retired walls and investigating hidden parts of the structure. 

"There are definite areas of the gathering that we privation investigated to marque definite the structural solution that we're readying with our engineers, and with the City of Edmonton, works," Singh said. 

"The cardinal is information and operation first and past we volition spell from there." 

A erstwhile appraisal estimated it would cost more than $7 cardinal to enactment up the existing structure.

The Harmani group of companies has antecedently taken connected other problematic properties, including foreclosed buildings and sites shuttered owed to wellness violations, helium said. 

Even with the added outgo and complication, they're anxious to "revive the property," Singh said, adding there volition beryllium "no shortcuts" connected information and the institution volition beryllium transparent with the nationalist and aboriginal tenants.

If the structural issues are deemed excessively terrible to repair, they volition demolish and rebuild, Singh said.

"This is simply a high-profile situation. There are structural issues and there's information concerns. Those request to beryllium addressed," helium said. 

"As a developer, we request to marque definite that everybody is harmless successful the building, that the gathering is safe. And if it isn't, we're going to sound it down." 

Once merchantability proceeds are distributed, the condo committee volition dissolve. Strebchuk said determination are nary plans to prosecute a suit for the fiscal losses suffered by owners.

As Strebchuk reflects connected the nonaccomplishment of her home, determination is simply a pang of choler and disbelief. 

Strebchuk said Alberta needs to amended support condo owners, guarantee inspectors are much tightly regulated, and that builders liable for structural flaws tin beryllium held liable.

She said the lawsuit should person brought astir alteration but, instead, she feels owners person been forgotten. 

"We each privation that this ne'er happens to anybody else," she said. "But, done each of this, we haven't seen thing that has changed that would support owners.

"And that's a small spot of a bitter pill for america to swallow."