Hi-Rise Capital Ltd.
A review of court documents related to the projects shows that while Mr. Neilas and the syndicated mortgage lender controlled by him – Hi-Rise Capital Ltd. – for years purchased land and bundled small investors into syndicated loans, starting in 2017 his lending business underwent a “freeze” and the funds for his stalled projects dried up.
On Feb. 18, 2014, a holding company controlled by Mr. Neilas registered a $40-million syndicated mortgage against the property. The syndicated mortgage was amended on July 10, 2015, to increase the authorized principal amount to $60-million. In 2017, the Adelaide Street Lofts proposal was revised to feature a 47-storey tower.
Because the terms of the deal would require substantial losses to the syndicate investors that Hi-Rise’s loan documents do not appear to have foreseen, it needed to obtain permission from the lenders. The deal preserves a 25-per-cent interest in the site for Mr. Neilas’s company and could see it receive $22.8-million if the project is finished. Lanterra’s projected profit on a finished building was $66-million.