Weeeee LOL my family is getting a little press in Edmonton these days.
edmontonjournal.com
edmontonjournal.com
edmontonjournal.com
edmontonjournal.com
Monday the first court upheld Jude's sale. Province appealed, Wednesday the Master set aside the sale, and called for sealed bids to be opened today....3 bids received today, but not opened....what a mess...
LOL brother Bobby acts for CWB so the longer it drags on, he bills more...but Jude's big commission is in danger.
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$1.8M for the house on hill
Ontario woman buys house in city's largest-ever deal
Gordon Kent, Legal Affairs Writer
The Edmonton Journal
The sale of this house, like its former resident and the home itself, is like no others in Edmonton.
Entrepreneur Peter Pocklington's luxurious mansion in Old Glenora is getting a new owner after an Ontario woman agreed to pay $1.8 million in perhaps the city's largest-ever residential real estate deal.
Cathryn Fodor, married with a family, plans to move into the 21/2-storey mansion once the transaction is finalized Feb. 19, her lawyer Lawrence Lyman said Friday.
The home, at 65 St. George's Crescent, is surrounded by a two-metre-high brick wall overlooking the North Saskatchewan River valley.
"It's a beautiful house," Lyman said. "It's probably got the best view in the city.
"She likes the area, she likes the view, she likes the privacy."
All parties consented to the transaction Dec. 22, four days before Canadian Western Bank was poised to foreclose on the property, court records show.
The deal for the house, which had a listing price of $2.9 million, needed court approval because the province and Revenue Canada have filed $7.3 million in caveats against it.
This includes a $7.2-million caveat by the province resulting from its dispute with Pocklington over Gainers Inc., his former Edmonton meat-packing company.
But there might still be a hitch in the deal.
Judy Bishop, Fodor's realtor, said another prospective purchaser is going to court next week in hopes of overturning the sale order.
She wouldn't give the name of the other person, saying only that the matter should be resolved by Wednesday.
Fodor first visited the house in the second week of December.
"The views alone would be worth the price of admission," Bishop said.
"The house itself is very nice. It's not a house you would build today. It has a humongous living room. I think my clients would probably want to make a few changes to suit their family needs."
The 86-year-old, Tudor-style mansion boasts a seven-metre tall crystal chandelier hanging over a spiral staircase, an outdoor swimming pool, a large wine cellar and a suite for the groundskeeper in the garage.
The transaction is the city's largest residential housing sale since the Edmonton Real Estate Board began computerizing records in 1984, said board spokesperson Geri Myers.
It easily eclipses the previous $1-million record set last July, she said.
But there won't be much left over for the government.
Court documents show $1.3 million will go to pay costs and two mortgages held by the Canadian Western Bank.
As well, the city receives up to $287,000 for selling adjoining land and an "encroachment fee" for the use of city property, along with $21,000 in back taxes and penalties.
The rest of the money will be held by the court, once $62,000 in real-estate fees and GST are subtracted.
Pocklington and wife Eva moved to Toronto in November. The former owner of the Edmonton Oilers put the 6,000-square-foot, three-bedroom house up for sale last fall.
A Dec. 14 real-estate appraisal report included in the court file gave the home a fair-market value of $2 million, although the appraiser said the occupants wouldn't let him do an interior inspection.
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Price war declared over Puck's place
Was: $1,800,000 Now: $2,000,000
Charles Rusnell, Journal Staff Writer
The Edmonton Journal
Journal Stock / (Price war declared over Puck's place)
It seems entrepreneur Peter Pocklington, who kept legions of lawyers employed during his years in Alberta, can't even sell his house without a legal battle.
Pocklington moved to Toronto late last year after his Alberta empire crumbled under crushing debt. The last local vestige of his fortune, his luxurious mansion in Edmonton's Old Glenora neighbourhood, was sold last month for $1.8 million to Cathryn Fodor, an Ontario woman who plans to move her family west.
All parties consented to the transaction Dec. 22, four days before Canadian Western bank was to foreclose on the property, on which it was owed about $1.3 million. The deal required court approval because the province and Revenue Canada have filed caveats totalling $7.3 million.
But the province, which had agreed to the deal, is now seeking to overturn the court-ordered sale because a mystery buyer, represented by Edmonton lawyer Jake Chadi, has come forward with $2-million in cash.
"They have $2 million on deposit at a bank so they're serious," said lawyer Stephen Livingstone who is representing the province. "They are not tire kickers, that is for sure."
The province is owed $7.2 million resulting from its dispute with Pocklington over Gainers Inc., his former meat-packing plant, and wants the extra $200,000 the new deal offers.
Livingstone went before a provincial judge Monday in an attempt to have the sale order set aside. The judge refused and the matter will now be decided by a Court of Queen's Bench judge on Wednesday.
The province's attempt to back away from the original deal angered Fodor's real-estate lawyer.
"The order (of sale) was granted by the courts, so I can't see how they could possibly set it aside just because there has been a higher offer," Lawrence Lyman said. "Where would it end? If they set this order aside and ordered the sale to this other person, what if another person came forward with a higher offer?"
Bob Bishop, the bank's lawyer, said as far as his client is concerned, the house has been sold.
"Is the house sold? Absolutely it is a done deal," he said. "The only problem is the province and Mr. Livingstone. As far as everyone was concerned, this was a done deal and that is what the court told him this morning."
Livingstone, however, does not believe the deal, which was to be finalized by Feb. 19, was closed. "Closed in a legal sense means money paid and transfer of title."
Pocklington, who moved with his wife, Eva, to Toronto in November, offered "no comment," but did confirm that Fodor is from Edmonton and is married to a city doctor.
Realtor Larry Hahn, who has been acting for Pocklington, said "Fodor" was the woman's maiden name, put on the document for the purpose of anonymity.
The former owner of the Edmonton Oilers, Pocklington put the 2 1/2 storey, 6,000-sq.-foot, three-bedroom house on the city's river valley up for sale last fall.
It was listed for $2.9 million. The 86-year-old Tudor-style mansion boasts a seven-metre tall crystal chandelier, an outdoor swimming pool and a large wine cellar.
THE PUCK PALACE
- 65 St. George's
Crescent
- Neighbourhood:
Old Glenora
- Style: 2 1/2 storey
- Floor space:
6,000 sq.ft.
- Bedrooms:
Three
- Bathrooms:
Five
- Parking: Double
detached garage
- Property Taxes:
$15,000 |
