Former owner of Hamilton City Centre looking to purchase four Martino retirement homes
A former owner of the Hamilton City Centre shopping complex has applied for licences to operate the last four retirement homes still owned by the Martino families, including the COVID-ravaged Rosslyn Retirement Residence.
Laura Philp is seeking licences for the Rosslyn, Cathmar Manor, Greycliff Manor in Niagara Falls and Sheridan Lodge in Brantford from the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA), the industry's governing body in Ontario.
The Rosslyn home had its licence revoked last June following a COVID outbreak that forced the evacuation of 64 residents to hospital and left 16 people dead.
The other three homes will have their licences revoked on June 1 because of growing concerns by the RHRA for the safety of residents, poor conditions in the homes and worries about their financial stability.
In the past year, the RHRA has recorded more than 120 violations of the Retirement Homes Act against five of the Martinos' homes, including 65 violations alone at Greycliff Manor.
Brothers Aldo Martino and the late John Martino previously owned the Royal Crest Lifecare chain of care homes until it collapsed into bankruptcy in 2003, leaving Ontario taxpayers on the hook for $18 million.
Kathryn Chopp, a spokesperson for the RHRA, said the applications are being reviewed and there's no firm timeline on when decisions will be made.
There is a significant amount of due diligence that goes into this," Chopp said.
A spokesperson for Philp said she applied for a new licence for the Rosslyn in November and that she intends to purchase the four Martino retirement homes if the licences are approved.
She wouldn't be operating them for anyone else," said Michael Woollcombe, a Toronto lawyer who has represented Philp for many years. She's an owner."
Philp currently owns about half a dozen residential care facilities in southern and central Ontario, Woollcombe said.
A search of land registry documents shows the Rosslyn property at 1322 King Street East is still owned by a company associated with the Martinos.
Speaking generally, Chopp said licence approval is often one of the conditions included before a transfer of property ownership takes place.
Woollcombe stressed that there is 100 per cent not" any connection between Philp and the Martino families.
Laura is aware of the challenges of those facilities," Woollcombe said. It's an underserviced area with well-located facilities.
Her goal, he added, will be to create a safe, high-quality care place for residents going forward."
The Martinos did not respond to requests for comment made through their lawyer.
There have been no licence applications received by the RHRA for the three Martino retirement homes that are currently in receivership - Dundas Retirement Place, Northview Seniors Residence and Montgomery Retirement Home.
Those three homes will also have their licences revoked on June 1 unless they are sold to a buyer that meets the approval of the RHRA.
The latest receiver's report filed in court shows the three homes had $2.2 million more in liabilities than assets at the end of December.
Among the Martinos' unpaid debts at the time of receivership was $135,000 owed to the federal government, $47,000 owed to Alectra Utilities and $42,000 owed to a food service provider.
Emerald Lodge, a residential care facility in downtown Hamilton owned by the Martinos, also remains in receivership.
Philp's company, Holyrood Holdings Limited, owned Hamilton City Centre for several years until it was sold in 2019.
In 2014, Philp and her company were among the defendants named in a class-action lawsuit launched over a real estate transaction that involved the sale of several of her company's properties, including the Hamilton City Centre, once known as the Eaton Centre.
The properties were being sold to a real estate investment trust called Partners REIT. Around the time of the purchase agreement, a real estate investor and developer named Ron McCowan had just become the REIT's largest shareholder and would soon be installed as its interim CEO.
Angry shareholders launched the class action when they discovered that the sale of the Hamilton City Centre and the other properties wasn't an arm's-length transaction. Philp and McCowan had a long-standing business relationship and the shareholders alleged she was McCowan's longtime companion."
The real estate deal was eventually rescinded and Philp's company retained ownership of the Hamilton City Centre.
In 2018, the class-action lawsuit was settled for nearly $5 million.
Steve Buist is a Hamilton-based investigative reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbuist@thespec.com