On July 28th the International Estonian Centre announced that a conditional sale of the Toronto Estonian House, as well as the 3 neighbouring properties owned by the Estonian Foundation of Canada, is expected to close in September this year. The release stated: “Some months ago, shortly after the onset of the COVID outbreak, the Purchase Agreement with Revera was terminated.” Although Estonian House shareholders were not notified at the time the Revera agreement was terminated, the press release continued: “EH and EFC were very pleased that soon after, they were able to conclude a new Purchase Agreement with DK Acquisitions Inc, a subsidiary of a very credible and experienced local development group.”

Based on publicly available information, DK Acquisitions is a combined venture of two development firms - The Kilmer Group and Diamond Corp. Primaries Stephen Diamond and Robert Blazevski from Diamond along with Kilmer’s Kenneth Tanenbaum, David Harper, and Steven Bloom lead DK Acquisitions.

DK Acquisitions is not the only developer who seem to have an affinity for the Broadview Ave. neighbourhood. One example is Options Development with their Nahid project, close to the Broadview subway station. It is likely that similarly to Options, DK Acquisitions is looking to cater to a particular clientele that craves for luxury in smaller, more access-friendly buildings in proximity to transit, parks and walking distance to eateries and entertainment. Making smaller buildings work within the City’s Broadview Development Plan guidelines was something Windmill, Tribute, Alterra and now Revera couldn’t make happen at 958 Broadview.

Many details have yet to be released to Estonian House shareholders, the City of Toronto and local resident associations regarding the projected size of the development. While planning and zoning processes will start from scratch again, shareholders will be interested to know what price was put on the Estonian House and how that valuation will mitigate the growing budget of the IEC.

Update: Once Revera walked away from the purchase of Estonian House, insiders tied to the International Estonian Centre project were able to preset IEC leadership with alternative plans. A detailed review of the groups behind DK Acquisitions shows that one-time IEC project manager Rob Deutschmann also serves as Senior Advisor to the Kilmer Group where he is "involved with active projects, pursuits, and community efforts." At the beginning of the IEC efforts Deutschmann was touted, along with David Kalm, as part of a "strong leadership structure." Deutschmann was also profiled as part of an IEC update in October 2017. The IEC profile and Deutschmann's biography brief on the Kilmer Group website also point to his involvement with "many types of developments over the last 30 years including the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, the renovation of Ricoh Coliseum, and the MaRS Discovery Centre." While Kilmer had knowledge of Revera's retreat early after the Covid outbreak, the same could not be said for a group of interested Estonian's, which included Estonian House shareholders and non-shareholders, that also wanted to present alternatives to Revera's purchase plans.


Other links of interest:
https://www.thestar.com/news/g...
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/re...
https://www.eesti.ca/toronto-e...

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