The Supreme Court of Canada has sided with the City of Brockville in a years-long legal battle with Tall Ships Landing Developments Inc.
Tall Ships appealed to the court after a lower court upheld an arbitration award made to the city over issues including whether Brockville should be on the hook for nearly $2 million in overage costs incurred during the construction of a mixed-use condominium building.
Part of the development includes the Maritime Discovery Centre, which ended up being larger and more costly than allowed under the original $7.4-million estimated budget. The city refused to pay for the overages.
In a judgment Thursday the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Tall Ships’ application for leave to appeal from the previous judgment, which had been made by the Ontario Court of Appeal in December 2022.
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“The Court of Appeal’s decision upholds arbitration awards rendered in favour of the City with respect to the development of waterfront property on the St. Lawrence River, including a mixed residential/commercial condominium tower and the Maritime Discovery Centre,” the city said in a statement Friday.
“As part of the arbitration awards, the arbitrator found that Tall Ships ‘actively misled’ the MDC Steering Committee about the construction costs of the Maritime Discovery Centre.”
The legal fight, originally won by the city by arbitration in 2019, included issues over brownfield tax credits, interest payments and land remediation payments the developer said it was owed.
In the lower court decision from December, the court ruled in favour of the city, saying the city was not responsible for the construction overages and the nearly $800,000 in tax credits, and said the city would not have to reimburse taxes paid on unfinished condo units.
Thursday’s decision holds up the lower court’s decision and leaves Tall Ships responsible for the city’s roughly $385,000 in legal costs.
— with files from Ryan Peddigrew