An 87-unit townhouse project in Langley that owes creditors more than $39.9 million is in receivership, according to court documents.
The project, known as The Willoughby and located in the 20300 block of 70A Avenue on the Willoughby Slope, was put into receivership on Nov. 8, 2023. It was being built by Quarry Rock Developments (QRD).
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joel Groves made the order under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. When a development project is placed in receivership, a receiver appointed by the courts will try to complete or sell the project to get money back for creditors who haven’t been paid.
MNP Ltd., the receiver, filed documents listing five creditors, including four mortgage holders on the project.
The creditors include MCAP financial corporation, allegedly owed $29.6 million, Canadian Mortgage Servicing Corporation, claiming $7.5 million, and Steelcrest Construction, which has a builders lien on the development for more than $2.8 million.
Two other creditors were listed as holding mortgages on the project but their estimated claims are listed as “unknown” in the receivership filing.
Phase one of the project is partly built, with a few townhouses finished, and others in various stages of completion.
Right now, MNP is winterizing the project to protect the partially-built townhouses from the weather.
“Our next steps are to assess the project as to whether to complete the construction of the existing homes or to sell it as is,” said Mario Mainella, a senior vice president with MNP.
Once they have that information, they will make recommendations to the court, likely in the late January or early February, Mainella said.
The Langley Advance Times reached out to QRD for comment, but the developer’s office was closed through the holidays.
QRD appears to be facing a separate creditor’s court action over another nearby property, a 1.2 acre lot in the 7000 block of 204 Street.
Lender Canadian Western Trust Company filed a petition with the B.C. courts on Dec. 6 over a $6 million loan to another QRD holding company, attempting to foreclose on the property.
QRD’s lawyers files a response on Dec. 13 saying that the total developed value of that site, and two adjacent properties, will be $230 million.
“The Petition Respondents [Quarry Rock] have enough equity in the subject property to pay off the Petitioner’s mortgage,” the response says.
None of the claims in the documents filed have been tested in court.
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