Steve Payne
Viceroy Homes struggles to survive after Vancouver filing of Notice of Intent
Canadian ContractorThe high-end, prefab timber homes company owes a million bucks to its employees. And that's just the beginning of its reputational problems.
In its glory years, Port-Hope, ON-based Viceroy Homes had a business that most Canadian builders could only dream of. Its magestic structures – often with soaring roof lines – were a prestigious package-bought dream for well-off owners with vacant lots across Canada. It expanded into international sales aggressively, and got 25 per cent of its business from Japan.
Now the brand name is in the toilet, as the company struggles with $24.7-million in debt. Its manufacturing facilities in Port Hope and Richmond, B.C., have been shuttered for months. Employees are owed $902,926. The company has filed a Notice of Intent in Vancouver, that will give it up to six months to make a financial proposal.
Viceroy Homes has circling the drain since at least 2007, when it was purchased by a Russian firm right before the U.S. housing crash. But its well-publicized problems started well before that.
Read an excellent article on Viceroy’s collapse here, in the Toronto Star.
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