The southern Ontario company that plunged Station Mall into receivership when it defaulted on an $18-million mortgage has racked up another hefty bill.
Publicly available records obtained by SooToday show SM International Holdings Ltd. owes the City of Sault Ste. Marie more than $3.6 million in unpaid property taxes.
The outstanding balance includes approximately $2.1 million in overdue taxes from 2024, and $1.5 million so far this year.
The grand total owing on the mall property is $3,649,092.64, according to tax certificates prepared by city hall. (A tax certificate is a public document that can be ordered for a fee.)
SEE: Station Mall in receivership after owner fails to pay $18M mortgage
The newly released figures shed more light on the financial struggles facing SM International, the Markham-based company that purchased Station Mall in the summer of 2022.
Most notably, the documents reveal that the owner fell behind on its property tax bills in mid-2024, around the same time it was scrambling to pay an $18-million mortgage that was due in full on June 30.
In court submissions filed before last month’s receivership order, SM International disclosed that the company had launched an appeal of the mall's annual property tax amount — which was set at $3,094,553.14 in 2024, according to the tax certificates.
Known as a “Request for Reconsideration,” the appeal was filed with MPAC, the organization that assesses property values in Ontario. A decision has yet to be rendered.
In the meantime, Station Mall's unpaid taxes continue to climb.
Tom Vair, the city’s chief administrative officer, said there are various legal means to recoup unpaid property taxes, making it “highly unlikely” that the city will not eventually recover this money. But he noted that “an overdue balance of this size is not a regular encounter for the city.”
“It is a concern when any property falls behind on taxes and the Municipal Act/City have well-defined processes to deal with these properties,” he wrote in an email to SooToday.
SEE: Station Mall's $18M mortgage is due today — will it be paid?
Any property owner in the Sault who fails to pay taxes is charged a 1.25-per-cent penalty on the first of every month. After two years, the city has the power to register a Tax Arrears Certificate on the title, paving the way for an eventual tax sale.
Once that certificate is registered, the owner has 365 days to pay the total balance. If that doesn’t happen, the city can list the property for tax sale purposes.
As for the mall, the situation is on track to be remedied much quicker than that — to the city’s benefit.
As SooToday first reported last month, Station Mall was placed in court-ordered receivership after SM International failed to meet a 90-day deadline to pay the outstanding $18-million mortgage. The lender that launched the court action is Algoma Central Properties Inc., a subsidiary of Algoma Central Corporation, the company that built the mall in the early 1970s and owned the property for the next five decades before selling it to SM International.
The court-appointed receiver is B. Riley Farber Inc., an international business advisory firm with offices in Los Angeles and Toronto. Simply put, the receiver now has full control of the city’s largest mall, with legal authority to change the locks, manage the books and list the property for sale — which is Algoma Central’s preference, according to the company’s court filings.
If the mall is eventually sold as part of the receivership process, the outstanding property taxes would need to be paid before any deal could close.
“With a property sale, the outstanding tax amount would need to be resolved within the closing process of the property,” Vair said.
Is a real estate listing imminent? The answer isn’t clear. Lawyers for Algoma Central Corporation have declined to comment, and lawyers representing SM International and the newly appointed receiver have not responded to repeated queries from SooToday.
On Jan. 30 — eight days after a judge signed the receivership order — SooToday did receive an emailed news release from The StratonHunter Group, which acted as the mall’s hospitality advisor under SM International.
“Despite the receivership, Station Mall assures the public and its patrons that it continues to operate seamlessly,” the news release states. “The appointment of a receiver has not impacted the day-to-day operations of the mall, which remains dedicated to delivering an exceptional shopping and entertainment experience.”
Robert Carter, listed as the media contact in the news release, did not respond to an interview request from SooToday.