Luxury condos in Mont-Tremblant | A controversial project is placed in the shelter of creditors

A project of prestige of Mont-Tremblant which depends on an elevator to cars to solve a quarrel of neighbors has placed themselves away from its creditors, leaded by astronomical costs and the problems that accumulate.

Erected on the site of the old Hotel du Lac Tremblant, the LAGO project, which has 69 luxury apartments, has promised since its launch in 2020 a “breathtaking view” on the mountain, with spas, outdoor swimming pool and private quay reserved for its residents. He has found 37 takers for the moment, most of whom paid almost a million for their property.

However, the project became insolvent, after major changes that the promoter, Cédric Grenon, was forced to make a dispute with two neighbors who hold non-construction servitudes on which the EMPI-was complex. These changes “have generated construction costs estimated at 12 million,” said a document filed in court to suspend appeals against the company under the Arrangement Law with the creditors of companies.

The promoter and his company, Luma dwellings, “no longer have access to additional financing or to the capital necessary to complete the LAGO project”, adds the document. A company’s bank account was seized by the Ministry of Revenue, the entrepreneur being unable to pay his taxes, adds the document.

Mr. Grenon did not respond to our interview request.

The origin of the dispute

From the first shovels of land, the project faced a legal showdown opposing it to two wealthy neighbors established for a long time near Lac Tremblant, Annette Pankrac and Mark Hantho, who benefit from non-construction servitudes protecting their land. The Superior Court of Quebec has categorically prohibited the promoter from building a route that would have encroached these easements to access the underground parking of the new complex.

To get around the problem, the promoter has made plans designed for an autos elevator, dug and energized on a cliff side, an unusual solution for which the building management requires a specialized operator present 24 hours a day.

The city of Mont-Tremblant took several months to issue the permits necessary for its construction, and the building management then blocked the concept for more than a year, stressing “the absence of access routes” for fire service vehicles.

The LAGO co -ownership union, which represents a total of twenty buyers, says that it was not consulted by the promoter when developing this solution. The owners fear that the concept will generate an explosion of maintenance costs and that new proceedings brought by the neighbors continue to paralyze the work. “We are concerned and hope that a decision of the authorities is taken to advance the project favorably while respecting the servitudes of the neighbors. We bought these properties because we were looking for tranquility, and we don’t have what we have been promised, “deplores the union.

Still to date, the elevator is far from finished. Construction Kingsboro, a subcontractor who argues that he was not paid for work to form the elevator well, grew last April all the units of the LAGO project of legal mortgages totaling more than $ 614,000.

No license for the pool and spas

To add to the promoter’s misfortunes, the municipality of Mont-Tremblant refuses to issue a permit for the development of an outdoor swimming pool promised in the promotional brochures of the project. Evoking the judicialization of the file, the municipality refused to answer questions of The press on this subject.

These disputes have “led to a strong dissatisfaction” of buyers and “weighed the momentum of the sales of the units”, indicates the judicial document. At least six people who have deposits several hundred thousand dollars for purchase promises claim a refund in court, because the swimming pool, spas and the parking access path is nonexistent.

According to the controller appointed by the court to find a business ready to relaunch the project, Pierre Marchand, the search for new investors should extend until the beginning of fall. “I think the promoter [Cédric Grenon] would like to sell [et se retirer du projet] “Indicates Mr. Marchand.

The organization Les Amis de Mont-Tremblant, which campaigns to maintain the rustic character of the municipality, believes that the LAGO project “should never have been authorized”. “This is a high density condos complex, obtained under the guise of hotel zoning, which is very badly integrated into its environment,” said his spokesperson Daniel Cook. “In addition, the complex does not meet the security requirements of the Quebec Building Régie. Such a project has no place in Mont-Tremblant. »»