Robby Clark and SID Developments: What the Record Shows

Lead roles in the television series The Zack Files and Strange Days at Blake Holsey High. Young Artist Awards in 2001 and 2002, and a nomination in 2003. Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, entry for Robert Clark

No court filing covers these years. Mr. Clark has said publicly that he lost his earnings as a child actor and declared bankruptcy in 2009. By his account he then worked in restaurants, started a landscaping business around 2012, and bought his first property in 2013 with four partners who each put in $2,500. Over the next six years he bought, renovated, rented and sold homes in Ontario without 100 per cent financing, keeping some and selling others to fund the next, and brought property management and construction in house. On that account he started from nothing, and the business was vertically integrated and had completed an eight-figure volume of purchases and sales before the group began borrowing through the broker's firm at the end of 2018. The Globe and Mail reported in July 2024 that Mr. Clark said he acquired his first property in 2013, a duplex in St. Catharines that he renovated and sold for a profit. The Ontario Business Registry records the business name Redline Renovations, by Mr. Clark's account his renovation business, registered in St. Catharines on March 30, 2015 and again in Oakville on March 22, 2017. Mr. Clark's account, including a 2021 interview. Not part of the court record. Ontario Business Registry, Redline Renovations (BIN 250313103 and 270326432); The Globe and Mail, Jul 27, 2024

The group buys, renovates, rents and sells homes in Ontario. The sworn evidence describes the model: "the acquisition, renovation and leasing of distressed residential properties in undervalued and underutilized markets throughout the province where the cost to purchase is less expensive than the cost to build per square foot". Its stated purpose was work that "assisted in creating jobs, revitalizing communities, and increasing the quality and supply of affordable housing". Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Clark affidavit paras 1 and 72(a)(ii); Application Record, Vol. 1, including the first affidavit of Robert Clark (Jan 23, 2024), first affidavit paras 5, 43, 44 and 45

Purchases are financed through the broker's firm. A director later told the Monitor's counsel that the group "Used 100 leverage on a number of properties funded through Windrose". Brief of Documents of the Monitor to the Fourth Report, Vol. 4 (Jul 5, 2024), including the interview transcript of a third director (May 6, 2024), transcript qq. 67 and 344

The earliest dated public description of the business found is a podcast episode page of November 1, 2019. It states that Mr. Clark "bought his first rental property 7 years ago" and "is approaching 200 units now in his portfolio". Breakthrough Real Estate Investing Podcast, episode 99 (Nov 1, 2019)

The group receives letters of intent for refinancing "at lower interest rates through Bank of Montreal, CMBS, as well as Scotiabank". A buyer, Core, makes an initial offer that a director described as "north of a hundred million dollars". The Globe and Mail later reported that the sale was negotiated from January 2022 as 295 homes for $118 million, before the terms were reduced. Brief of Documents of the Monitor to the Fourth Report, Vol. 4 (Jul 5, 2024), including the interview transcript of a third director (May 6, 2024), transcript qq. 220 and 248; The Globe and Mail, Jul 27, 2024

The sale agreement is signed on February 24, 2022 and closes in May 2022: 223 homes for $75,850,443. A director's evidence is that "Twenty-four hours prior to close, they decreased the price". The lenders are repaid from the sale in amounts the companies' sworn evidence says they "believe to have been overstated by Windrose". Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.4.5 para 1; Brief of Documents of the Monitor to the Fourth Report, Vol. 4 (Jul 5, 2024), including the interview transcript of a third director (May 6, 2024), transcript q. 254; Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Clark affidavit para 72(d)(iii)

A further "Core production partnership" that had been discussed does not proceed. The 5 per cent of the sale price held back by the buyer, due in May 2023, is not paid. Interest rates rise. The group obtains refinancing term sheets of about $70 million and about $89 million. Brief of Documents of the Monitor to the Fourth Report, Vol. 4 (Jul 5, 2024), including the interview transcript of a third director (May 6, 2024), transcript qq. 404 and 691; Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.4.5 para 2; Affidavit of Robert Clark sworn Mar 27, 2024, para 14

The property companies file for protection under the CCAA. The Monitor's pre-filing report puts the estimated appraised value of the homes at about $173 million. Pre-Filing Report of the Proposed Monitor (Jan 2024), s.2.0 para 4