Lights out? PUC slaps Doctor's Building owner with disconnection notice (updated)

UPDATE: MAY 6, 2024

Mike Anobile, the president of the numbered company that owns the Doctors Building, tells SooToday that "a payment has been made to PUC, and there has been no interruption of service."

ORIGINAL STORY:

It was almost two years ago when the lights nearly went out at The Doctor’s Building over an "outstanding issue" between PUC Distribution Inc. and the building’s owner. 

Now, it appears as though the same issue has reared its head yet again: Tenants at 955 Queen St. E. —  including a number of health-care services and medical professionals — received a disconnection notice from PUC late last month, informing them the building will go dark May 13. 

“This action on our part has been brought about because of an outstanding issue with the owner that covers the electricity supplied to the premises,” the letter said.

Calls and emails to doctors and health-care providers in the Doctor’s Building have so far not been returned. 

The Doctor’s Building is owned by a numbered company, 1667271 Ontario Inc., that lists Mike Anobile — a real estate investor based in Vaughan, Ont. — as president, secretary and treasurer. 

According to documents filed at the provincial land registry office, another numbered company — 2612316 Ontario Ltd., which lists controversial developer Italo Ferrari as its director — bought the doctor’s building for $1 in June 2020. It was then sold five months later to 1667271 Ontario Inc. for $2.2-million.

Companies linked to Anobile also own the four parcels of land that make up the old General and Plummer Hospital sites, which were purchased in 2019 with promises to redevelop the property into condominiums and a long-term care facility. 

One portion of the hospital property was purchased through the same numbered company that owns the Doctor’s Building, and the other three via Leisure Meadows Community Living Inc., where Anobile is listed as president and secretary.

Ferrari, who is also the general manager of Leisure Meadows, has been the public face of the hospital redevelopment plan since the companies associated with Anobile purchased the former hospital site more than five years ago. 

Documents available to the public show the property owner obtained two separate mortgages on the Doctor's Building in July 2022: A $4-million mortgage from Northern Credit Union at a 24 per cent interest rate, and a $2.1-million mortgage from a private lender at 12 per cent interest. 

Real estate listings show that two of the units in the Doctor’s Building are currently available for lease at a rate of $24 per square foot. 

Meanwhile, 1667271 Ontario Inc. is one of the companies named in a $118,000 civil suit launched by RLP Security Services Ltd. earlier this year, claiming non-payment for security services provided at a number of properties in Sault Ste. Marie, including the Doctor’s Building. 

None of the claims have been tested in court and a statement of defence has yet to be filed.    

SooToday has reached out to Anobile for comment. 

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