Below are some of the facts associated with the challenges presented to us by our landlord - SR&R Bay Ridges Ltd ( Dave Friedman / Steven Warsh / Richard Borchiver / Rose Corporation ), as they transform their plaza investment into the San Francisco By The Bay community. In May of 2000, Millennium City Veterinary Hospital began operation in Pickering. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were borrowed and invested specifically at the Bay Ridges (BR) Plaza site, based on a lease term of ten years and the right to a five year renewal / the right to stay at this location for 15 years. In July of 2005, SR&R Bay Ridges Ltd purchased the BR Plaza for the sole purpose of redevelopment;
To seemingly imply that the tenants of the BR Plaza had a hopeless business future prior to the SR&R purchase, Steven Warsh claimed in a sworn affidavit, that Bay Ridges was a "struggling neighbourhood plaza". However, in the five years prior to SR&R's takeover, vacancy rates were very low, and the number of tenants that moved on was equalled by the number of new tenants that started up;
To seemingly further paint the picture of imminent doom for the BR Plaza tenants, Steven Warsh claimed in a sworn affidavit, that "many complaints were received by the City of Pickering from residents in the neighbourhood and others that the Bay Ridges Plaza was seriously rundown and in a decaying physical state". However, a Freedom of Information Act request to the City of Pickering revealed that the City received NO (zero) such complaints (written or oral) from the year 2000 to beyond the SR&R takeover date, in absolute contradiction to Warsh's sworn statement. This statement by Warsh was presented by SR&R to the Ontario Superior Court as the truth;
Steve Warsh also swore in an affidavit that one of four attributes that helped SR&R recognize the redevelopment potential of the Bay Ridges Plaza was "the lack of support by the neighbourhood and others for the tenants in the Bay Ridges Plaza". This statement was made after Warsh was present at a public meeting on the redevelopment, in which over 90% of the (more that 25) residents who spoke, spoke either in favour of the tenants, or against the proposed development, or both; SR&R continues to charge MCVH for TMI (taxes, maintenance and insurance), despite the fact that anyone who has seen the plaza in the past year knows that maintenance is one service that does not readily come to mind. In fact, we have asked numerous times, in writing, for a single on-site garbage can to be provided, but the Landlord has not complied;
SR&R replaced the BR Plaza’s main sign (the only sign identifying the plaza's existence), with advertising for their own San Francisco By The Bay development, despite the fact that there were numerous BR Plaza tenants still conducting business at the plaza, and attempting to keep themselves afloat, in the face of SR&R's actions;
SR&R, through their builder, Chestnut Hill Homes, provided substandard leaseholds to former tenants that agreed to relocate into the adjacent plaza, including uneven flooring, lack of air conditioning, leaking hot water tanks, lack of running water, etc;
As was done to the BR plaza, SR&R used the main sign for the adjacent plaza for their own purposes, leaving additional tenants to do business without the benefit of a plaza sign.
As a result of SR&R's actions, drinking water at MCVH was deemed non-potable. However, despite numerous written requests for their support in resolving this problem, which lasted more than 10 months, no assistance was provided by SR&R. MCVH has had to have drinking water delivered to their site on an ongoing basis. SR&R has made no offer to pay for this expense.
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