Just over 90 creditors are owed a total of $13.25 million in connection with the Spirit Bay residential project on First Nations land in East Sooke, according to an updated statement from the receiver in the case.
The largest creditor is Beecher Bay (Sc’ianew) First Nation at $8.556 million, followed by Scala Development Consultants Ltd. at $2.374 million, according to a list prepared for the Supreme Court of B.C. in Victoria.
Other creditors include the Receiver General for Canada, an architect, a propane supplier, an office-equipment firm, engineers, a printing company, law firms and individuals.
Scala had asked the court in September for a receiver to be appointed in order to collect on an earlier court judgment of about $1.86 million for construction work.
The company built many of the brightly coloured waterfront homes on reserve land at Spirit Bay, in a project aimed at generating jobs and increasing the tax base for the band. When the development was announced in 2013, the plan was for 500 to 800 homes.
A portion of the nation’s land was made available through Spirit Bay Developments, which then sold sub-leases to the public.
Only about 50 homes have been built and none since 2020, according to court documents.
Receiver Grant Thornton was appointed to oversee and manage Spirit Bay Developments Limited Partnership and related companies TSD General Partners and Beecher Bay GP Ltd.
Beecher Bay First Nation is a limited partner of Spirit Bay Developments and sole shareholder of Beecher Bay GP Ltd. It is also the only shareholder in Spirit Bay’s other limited partnership, a numbered company owning TSD General Partners.
The Dec. 4 receiver’s report lists 22 unassigned sub-leases on Marina Crescent, Hilltop Crescent, Marina Drive, Sunset Point and Spirit Bay Road.
Since being appointed, the receiver has worked on recovering records to identify possible creditors, the updated report said.
The receiver says it has not been able to establish a value for the 22 sub-leases or other assets of the debtor, citing limited available information.
The receiver plans to determine the most suitable action to bring in funds for the creditors, the report said.
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
