Controversy surrounding the building at 335 Yonge St. has abounded since one of its walls collapsed last spring. Following a recent fire that gutted the former Empress Hotel, the area owners are so far quiet on the future of the site.
The provincial government has addresses in Thornhill and Richmond Hill on record for the directors of the numbered corporation that currently owns the property. All of them share the last name Lalani.
When the wall collapsed, the city ordered the owners to bring in an engineer to resolve safety issues and assess the structural soundness of the building. After partial demolition, the city received a final report from the owners’ engineer. The city issued a further unsafe condition order and the owners’ engineer then advised that repair was not an option and instead proposed demolition.
On July 2, 2010, the owners applied for a permit to do so. Then, on July 7, 2010, city council announced its plans to designate the property as a cultural heritage site. As a result, city council’s consent would be required to tear down the building. The property at 335 Yonge St. was officially designated as having cultural heritage significance in late August.
After this change, the owners did not apply for a heritage demolition permit. Last month, the owners were scheduled to meet with the City of Toronto’s building division following a further unsafe condition order that called on the owners to shore up the building.
But then the fire occurred.
The blaze broke out in the wee hours of the morning. Police have since released a video still of a person of interest seen fleeing from Gould Street.
Det. Debbie Harris, from 51 Division of Toronto Police Service, said investigation into the fire is ongoing.
“I can confirm it’s an arson,” she said.
But the precise cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
The Lalani Group Inc., the numbered corporation that currently owns 335 Yonge St. (2160943 Ontario Ltd.), and Noori Lalani are also facing a civil suit.
The statement of claim alleges that a company named Quantum Murray LP is owed nearly $70,000 for the emergency support and cleanup it provided at 335 Yonge St. when the wall fell last spring.
The plaintiff claims that Noori Lalani signed the contract as a representative of the Lalani Group. But, the claim continues, the company was not registered with the government any more.
Quantum Murray LP continues to assert that, as such, Noori Lalani is personally liable. As well, it names the numbered corporation that currently owns the property and, therefore, the claim suggests, benefitted from the services. Provincial government records identify Noori Lalani as the president of 2160943 Ontario Ltd.
A lawyer representing the defendants has filed papers indicating their intention to defend themselves in court.
Kristyn Wong-Tam, the local Toronto councillor, called a meeting late last month to discuss the future of the site.
“That’s a significant parcel of land that now needs a permanent use and a future design,” she said.
Wong-Tam invited city staff, local business owners, including the building’s owners, and neighbours, among others.
“I want us to re-envision what that portion of Yonge Street would look like, especially as the pressure to develop now intensifies,” she said.
In advance of the meeting, Wong-Tam said that the building’s owners indicated to her that they would be attending.
Calls to the company’s directors, at their homes and offices, went unreturned at press time, as did calls to their lawyers.