There are growing calls for stronger homebuyer protections in the wake of a second major condo cancellation at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, this time affecting buyers of 1,633 units in the sold-out Icona buildings that were launched between January and March last year. The project by the Gupta Group at Highway 7 and Edgeley Blvd. was supposed to include the tallest condo in Vaughan at 55 storeys. But this week, the developer sent cancellation letters dated Sept. 14, citing “circumstances beyond our control that make the project unfinanceable.”Gupta Group did not respond immediately to a call and email to its offices Wednesday afternoon from the Toronto Star. A communications representative for the company emailed a statement saying the purchasers’ deposits had been returned “after years of hard work (and) considerable financial investment.”“We have refunded purchaser deposits in full and without delay,” the statement said.But that did little to appease angry, disappointed buyers in the project, who told the Star they had only recently paid the last instalments on their deposits.“It’s not fair,” said Patricia DeBartolo, who invested in a $530,000, three-bedroom condo for her daughters to live in while attending school and starting their careers in Toronto.“If (the Gupta Group) can’t get the financing or they want to turn around and sell it for more money we can’t stop them. But it’s not correct that they’ve had our money for a year, an interest-free loan to use it as they want,” she said.The Bradford woman, who works in Vaughan, said she bought a condo in February 2017, in part because it made financial sense to own it given high Toronto rents and the Icona’s proximity to a new TTC station.“At that time it was perfect. Now you’d never get that and I certainly wouldn’t go and spend $700,000 for a condo, which is what they’re going for a ...
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