Sam Mizrahi

Sam Mizrahi (Persian: سام میزراهی or سام مزراحی‎) is a Canadian real estate developer who is active in Toronto.[1] Mizrahi is best known for being the developer of The One skyscraper at the intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets in Toronto. [2]

Sam Mizrahi
Born
Sam Mizrahi (Persian: سام میزراهی)

1971
Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian, Canadian, Israeli
OccupationReal estate developer
Years active2007–present
Known forReal estate development in Toronto and Ottawa; relationship with Mahmoud Reza Khavari
Notable work
The One

Prior to entering the real estate development business, Mizrahi founded Dove Cleaners in 1992. The company filed for restructuring in 2007[3] and became a successful business with over 100 franchises in Greater Toronto.[4]

Mizrahi is currently the president of a number of corporations, including Mizrahi Inc.[5] and Mizrahi Enterprises Inc.[6] In 2015, he was named the 45th most influential person of Toronto by Toronto Life.[7]

Mizrahi started development of his first condominium project, a 9-story building known as 133 Hazelton Residences, in Toronto in 2011.[8] Three years later, in 2014, he made headlines when he purchased land at the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Bloor Street for development of what he called "The One", the tallest residential building in Canada.[9][10][11][11][12][13]

Early life and career

Mizrahi was born in Tehran in 1971 to Jewish parents, Shamoil[14][15] and Ziba Mizrahi.[16][17] His father was a business owner who owned and operated shops in the famous market of Tehran.[17] The family immigrated to Canada in 1977, two years before the Iranian Revolution, when Mizrahi was six years old.[18]

In 1992, Mizrahi formed a dry cleaning company known as Dove Cleaners.[19] DoveCorp, as it came to be known in 2004, operated both in retail dry cleaning and commercial linen cleaning.[3] Mizrahi listed the company on the TSX Venture Exchange in 2005 and ran it until 2007, when it filed for restructuring.[3][20][21]

Mizrahi Developments

133 Hazelton (Toronto)

A 9-story building of 38 suites (36 according to court documents) at 195 Davenport Road and 131 Hazelton Avenue in Toronto.[8] The project was completed in March 2015.[22] HSBC financed the project at a total cost of $56 million, and revenue was $70 million ($14 million in profit), according to reports from AltusGroup, which monitored the project's progress for the bank.[23]

181 Davenport (Toronto)

A 12-story building of 68 suites at 145 and 185 Davenport Road.[24] The project was scheduled for completion at the end of 2016, but was delayed because of a construction union strike.

1451 Wellington (Ottawa)

A 12-story building at a landmarked intersection, approved after much design restructuring.[25] This project is scheduled to open its presentation center in the fall of 2016, and construction will begin in early 2017.

Forest Hill Jewish Centre (Toronto)

Mizrahi announced in 2014 that he would build the "biggest newly built synagogue in Toronto in the past 45 years",[26] to be named the Temmy Letner Forest Hill Jewish Centre.[27] The building is a replica of the Great Synagogue in Jasło, Poland, which was destroyed by the Nazis in World War II. A replica of the 11-meter-high Torah ark destroyed by the Nazis was built in Israel and shipped to Canada for the project.[28][29]

128 Hazelton (Toronto)

A proposed 9-story building of 21 suites, designed by AUDAX Architecture, across the street from 133 Hazelton.[30][31] It will be the first multi-story condominium project by AUDAX.[32]

The One (Toronto)

Proposed as an 80-story residential skyscraper with multi-level retail at the base, "The One" will be the tallest condominium tower in Canada, according to Mizrahi.[33] Mizrahi paid over $300 million for the land acquisition alone.[34] The total cost for the project is reported to be $1 billion.[35]

Mizrahi hired the London-based Foster and Partners as the design architect, and Core Architects as the local architect.[36] He travelled to London to design the building using an exoskeleton structure. The building's design and height have gone through multiple revisions; most recently, the expensive exoskeleton structure was removed from the tower and limited to the podium of the building.[37]

Apple is expected to be the anchor tenant of The One,[38] and the retail portion of the tower is scheduled to open in 2018.[39]

Khavari lawsuits

In June 2016, Bloomberg News reported that several court complaints had been filed involving Mizrahi, Khashayar Khavari, and Mahmoud Reza Khavari. According to the court documents, Khashayar Khavari, Mahmoud Reza Khavari's son, invested in two luxury condominiums belonging to Mizrahi. Khavari claimed that he was owed profits and sought damages of at least C$105 million ($81 million). He also sought stakes in other projects he claimed to have financed, including several buildings on Hazelton Avenue, a synagogue, and "The One", which will be Canada's tallest tower.[18]

The Khavaris claimed that they were owed 50 percent of the profit on these projects based on their original agreement with Mizrahi. Mizrahi acknowledged that he had received financing from the Khavaris for two projects, but denied that the family had any financial involvement in other projects, such as The One. He also filed a countersuit, seeking at least C$50 million for breach of contract, negligence, intimidation, conspiracy to cause economic harm, and defamation, among other grievances.[18]

According to court documents, the Khavaris contributed at least C$14.2 million to purchase the land for two properties, which would become 133 Hazelton Residences and the 68-unit 181 Davenport.[18] Khashayar Khavari alleged in his lawsuit that he had noticed questionable transactions and funds missing from certain accounts, and that when he demanded his equity stake in 2015, Mizrahi locked him and his brother-in-law out of the office and cut ties.

Khavari then filed the initial lawsuit and hired Pricewaterhouse Coopers, which claimed in a report filed in court that Mizrahi had withdrawn money from project accounts and used it to pay for an executive jet, tuition for one of his children, and a C$1.9 million custom-designed cottage.[18] In court filings, Mizrahi denied having used project money for improper purposes.

In July 2016, The Globe and Mail reported that the relationship between the Khavaris and Mizrahi dated back to 2008, when Mahmoud Reza Khavari's two sons, Khashayar and Ardavan, both in their 20s, met with Mizrahi and invested $14.2 million in his real estate projects. Mizrahi claimed that after the 2011 Iranian embezzlement scandal, he had very little contact with the Khavaris, but the brothers claimed that they remained involved in Mizrahi's businesses and contributed funding to numerous projects. Mizrahi further claimed that in 2015, the Khavaris fabricated a story about Ardavan having financial problems in Dubai and asked Mizrahi for $14 million.

The lawsuits are pending in Ontario.[18] On March 24, 2016, the court dismissed a motion on the part of the Khavaris to have Mizrahi return shares of five corporations held by Mizrahi, ruling "Khash has transferred all of his rights of ownership in the Shares to MEI [Mizrahi]. What remains under the Trust Agreement is essentially no more than a contractual obligation on the part of MEI to re-transfer the Shares at a future point in time".[40] Most recently, on August 17, 2016, the judge presiding over the legal dispute dismissed the motion for an inspector to be assigned to investigate Mizrahi's finances, writing "... I am further of the view that, in all of the circumstances, it would not be appropriate to appoint an inspector."[41]

Personal life

Mizrahi is married to Micki Mizrahi.[42] They have two children, a son named Ethan and a daughter named Eden.[43]

He is an active supporter of Israel and a member of the UJA, and has managed and participated in the annual Walk With Israel parade in Toronto.[44] He is also on the board of directors of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.[45]

See also

References
  1. "Mizrahi Developments". mizrahidevelopments.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  2. Pagliaro, Jennifer (September 12, 2016). "How Toronto's latest mega tower got the green light". The Star. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  3. "Stock tanks as Toronto dry cleaner seeks court protection". www.cbc.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  4. "Toronto Dry Cleaners | Environmentally Friendly Cleaning | Dove Cleaners". dovecleaners.com. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  5. "Ontario Home Builders' Association". ohba.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  6. "Federal Corporation Information - 235560-4".
  7. http://torontolife.com/real-estate/toronto-50-most-influential-2015-sam-mizrahi/
  8. "133 Hazelton | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  9. "Mizrahi Developments buys Stollerys at Yonge and Bloor | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  10. "Sam Mizrahi - One Bloor Street West, the One-Billion Dollar Building". Dolce Vita luxury magazine. 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  11. "Mink Mile makeover takes Yonge and Bloor from low-rise to luxe". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  12. "Canada's Future Tallest Building Gets Even Taller". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  13. "80-storey tower planned for Stollerys site at Yonge and Bloor | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  14. https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/cc/CorporationsCanada/fdrlCrpDtls.html?corpId=2355604
  15. http://www.companiesofcanada.com/company/235560-4/s-mizrahi-enterprises-inc
  16. http://sunnybrook.ca/foundation/content/?page=donorspotlight&pg=2
  17. "Sam Mizrahi Toronto, Luxury Design Builder". 2011-09-16. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
  18. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-17/an-iranian-fugitive-toronto-property-mogul-and-a-deal-gone-awry
  19. "DoveCorp Enterprises Inc. Profile". www.sedar.com. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  20. "DoveCorp files for court supervision | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  21. "DoveCorp Enterprises Inc. Obtains Court Order to Initiate Restructuring". Wired Market. July 12, 2007.
  22. Ontario Court File Number CV-15-11187-00CL
  23. Ontario Court File Number CV-15-11177-00CL - Motion for Appointment of Inspector
  24. "181 Davenport | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  25. "Ottawa Sun". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  26. "Mizrahi build biggest new synagogue in decades". YongeStreet. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  27. "Jaslo". Jaslo. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  28. http://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/forest-hill-shul-gets-ready-move-new-building
  29. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/makeover-toronto-jewish-centre-replicates-synagogue-ruined-by-nazis/article26231852/
  30. "AUDAX". Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  31. "128 Hazelton Avenue | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  32. "AUDAX architecture | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  33. "The One | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  34. "Sam Mizrahi Reveals a Few Details for Bloor and Yonge Development | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  35. "Sam Mizrahi - One Bloor Street West, the One-Billion Dollar Building". Dolce Vita luxury magazine. 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  36. "Mizrahi Shows Refined 'The One' at Design Review Panel | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  37. "New Images of The One Revealed as Design Development Continues | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  38. "Is Toronto getting a new Apple Store? A rumour rundown | Toronto Life". 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  39. "The One Grows Even Taller as Design Continues to Evolve | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  40. "Khavari v Mizrahi, 2016 ONSC 101". Canadian Legal Information Institute. March 24, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  41. "Khavari v Mizrahi, 2016 ONSC 4934". Canadian Legal Information Institute. August 17, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  42. "Around Town: NAC Gala with Shelley, Lang sets new record". Ottawa Citizen. 2015-09-20. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  43. http://www.feduja.org/bookoflife/story_Mizrahi_Sam-Michal.php
  44. https://jewishtoronto.com/news-media/for-the-chairs-of-this-years-walk-with-israel-its-a-family-affair
  45. http://www.friendsofsimonwiesenthalcenter.com/about_us.aspx
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