It was very tough for Italo Ferrari in Sault Ste. Maria these days. After managing to avoid a scheduled power outage at one of his properties – the Doctor’s Building at 955 Queen St. E – in mid-September for “pending issues” between his company and PUC Distribution Inc., Woodbridge, Ont. The developer faced yet another setback at the weekend when a fire broke out at the former St. John’s Primary School site. Veronica, causing even more damage to the already dilapidated vacant building on the west end of town.
Land registry records show a numbered company controlled by Ferrari and real estate investor Mike Anobile (2749978 Ontario Inc.) purchased the school site for $100,000 in April 2020 from Northern Advancement Capital Inc., which originally purchased it from the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board in 2015. A sign currently posted outside the former primary school in East Balfour Street suggests plans for “Balfour Residences”. In July 2021, Ferrari and her company Anobile entered into a $1.85 million mortgage on the property from Berkshire Enterprises Inc. About eight months later, in March 2022, they took out another mortgage, this one for $400,000 from M Plus McKerlie Holdings Inc. However, court documents obtained by SooToday show that Ferrari and Anobile are in hot water over the non-payment of mortgages taken out on other properties the couple acquired in Sault Ste. Mary. In September 2021, Anobile, a numbered company managed by Anobile (166721 Ontario Inc.), Berkshire Enterprises and Leisure Meadows Community Living Inc. — which counts Anobile as president and Ferrari as general manager — were sued for $1.5 million, alleging default on a mortgage for the amount registered on the vacant General Hospital space. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are 2156423 Alberta ULC and Brysonwood Construction Inc. The mortgage was due to be paid off in July last year. The group has since informed the court of its intention to file a defense to the suit. Earlier this year, Ferrari told SooToday that it planned to convert the General Hospital site into a long-term care facility and retrofit 82 apartments into the five-story Plummer Renal Unit. An additional 65 townhouses are planned for the former hospital parking lot, he said. “We’re applying for a seniors facility for the hospital, so we’re dealing with the government,” Ferrari said at the time. “For the others we go through the logistics through the city for mansions. We are working on the file, but it is very slow.” The General Hospital site and the Doctor’s Building are currently listed by Westroy Assets Management Inc. as potential long-term care facilities and a wellness center for the elderly. Sault Ste. Marie Police Department reported 113 calls for service at the former General Hospital between 2017 and 2021. Three people have been charged during that time.
If there wasn’t already enough heat on Ferrari, he’s also the target of two other lawsuits that have started in the past two years. In October 2020, Ferrari attempted to bring a case against him and one of his companies, Core Life Inc., heard in court in Manitoba, arguing that the province lacked jurisdiction. As it turns out, a group of Manitoba-based investors say they paid Core Life for 450,000 shares, at a dollar each, to build a retirement home in St. Thomas, Ont. in 2016. Shares purchased by investors were to be redeemed on or before March 30, 2017 at a price of $1.10 per share. The investor group then took legal action in 2019 after they said Ferrari failed to pay. Another legal dispute saw Ferrari and a number of companies being sued by MOS Mortgage Solutions Ltd. for a “mortgage investment in connection with the development of a senior living facility” in St. Thomas. According to court documents, MOS Mortgage Solutions Ltd. claimed that Fingal Property Holdings Inc. — a subsidiary of Wilsondale Assets Management Inc. owned by Ferrari formed in 2014 to acquire the St. Thomas — used funds from investors for “purposes other than completion of development construction.” Fingal Property Holdings Inc. it has since been put into administration, with RMS Canada taking control of the St. Thomas and of the possessions of Fingal. Ferrari made headlines last year when Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli announced the creation of 96 long-term care beds in Trout Creek. The property developer has also bought the former Lady Isabelle Nursing Home with plans to convert the empty building into a senior living facility. SooToday has reached out to Ferrari and Anobile multiple times seeking comment. They haven’t responded yet.