A contentious sale of a Burnaby apartment complex was supposed to close this month – seven days before a suspicious fire sent one of the buildings up in flames this week.
Fire gutted a section of Cameray Gardens at 5715 Jersey Ave. early Tuesday morning.
Security video now in the hands of police shows two people breaking into the lobby seconds before the fire erupted.
A blinding flash can be seen in the video before the two people flee the scene.
Burnaby RCMP has confirmed the blaze is being investigated as arson.
Court battle
The fire comes just one week before the strata apartment complex (3925 Kingsway and 5715 Jersey Ave.) was to have been sold to a numbered company for $61 million, according to an order by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth McDonald.
The Cameray Gardens owners passed a resolution in February 2022 to wind up the 50-year-old strata.
In December 2022, a liquidator hired by the strata then struck a $61-million deal with a numbered company (1038573 B.C. Ltd.) that agreed to buy the 1.9-acre property with the strata’s 101 units.
But the sale has been a divisive one, with both sides accusing the other of breaking the deal.
The numbered company claimed the strata had reneged on the deal by failing to deliver "clear title" to the property by the original Dec. 15, 2023 closing date.
But the strata accused the numbered company of filing a "meritless claim" to buy more time to secure financing.
Lawsuits and affidavits were filed on both sides.
After a hearing in the case in August, however, Justice McDonald ordered a new Nov. 26 completion date for the sale "by consent."
Lawyers representing both sides of the agreement have not responded to requests for comment about the status of the deal after the fire.
'Particular value'
What's at stake is a property of "particular value" with zoning that allows for "considerable future development," according to a Jan. 31 ruling in the case by B.C. Supreme Court David Justice Crerar.
In Burnaby's Metrotown Downtown Plan, Cameray Gardens is in the Central Park North area, which allows for future commercial podium and residential highrise building forms.
And whatever is built on the Cameray Gardens land will look out across 86-hectare Central Park right across the street to the south.
The property is also close to Vancouver and transit, including the nearby Patterson SkyTrain station.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
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