Today is Jan. 16 — deadline day in the ongoing legal dispute over Station Mall’s overdue mortgage.
Will the southern Ontario company that owns Sault Ste. Marie's largest shopping centre pay its $18-million debt by today’s court-imposed due date? Or will a judge be asked to intervene, kickstarting receivership proceedings?
As of this morning, the answer isn’t clear. Lawyers on both sides of the case have not replied to requests for comment from SooToday, and nothing new has been filed in the court record. According to land registry documents, the outstanding mortgage remains unpaid — as it has for months.
SEE: Station Mall owner defaults on $18M mortgage, sparking court battle over plaza’s future
As SooToday first reported, the $18-million dispute is between Algoma Central Corporation, which built Station Mall in the 1970s and owned it for five decades, and SM International Holdings Ltd., a Markham-based company that bought the property in June 2022.
The purchase price was $30 million: $12 million in cash and $18 million in what is known as a “vendor take-back mortgage” (VTB). According to the terms of the mortgage, the full amount was to be repaid to Algoma Central 24 months after the sale.
But when that due date came and went last summer, no payment arrived. That prompted Algoma Central to commence legal action in Ontario Superior Court, requesting that a judge appoint a receiver “to take control over Station Mall and to market it for sale.”
SM International fought back, asking a judge for extra time. In a sworn affidavit, SM president Yeung Mou said he had “made arrangements to have family money” from China sent to Canada after a previous attempt at new financing fell through.
In October, Justice Peter Osborne agreed to a 90-day grace period — with a Jan. 16 deadline to pay up.
That day has arrived. SooToday will keep you posted on any updates.