A new case from the Ontario Superior Court provides another
example of the risks associated with purchasing contaminated sites.
In a failed real estate transaction, the potential purchasers were
left with substantial costs but did not own the properties they had
intended to buy.
In 1828445 Ontario Ltd. v.
Guerra, experienced corporate real estate
developers began the process of purchasing three adjacent
properties, intending to redevelop them as a high rise. They knew
that at least one of the properties was contaminated based on the
environmental investigation of a nearby property they already
owned.
Before the end of the conditional period for the offer to
purchase the new properties, their consultant warned them that: the
soil was "heavily impacted"; groundwater contamination
exceeded Table 3 standards; the contamination might have spread to
other neighbouring properties; and there was a risk of liability.
The estimated cost of remediation was $1.35 M.
