Developer caught marketing waterfront hotel without necessary town approvals

By: Mike Anderson

The Unexus Group, formerly known as the Lalu Group, has been marketing a hotel project it hopes to build on lands it owns in Jackson’s Point, without having the necessary approvals from the Town of Georgina. 

The land at 20 Bonnie Blvd, part of the original Bonnie Boats Marina property, is registered to MSR Lalu Jackson’s Point Inc., which Unexus Group controls. 

The three-storey hotel would be built on the parcel closest to the harbour with most of the structure over the water, requiring re-zoning, engineering reports and site approvals to proceed. 

The problem is that Unexus Group had been claiming on its corporate website that the project is in the zoning stage, indicating that the Town of Georgina has given the project the green light. 

In fact, in an email response to The Post, the town says, “a re-zoning application has not been submitted, and postings on the company web site indicating that a proposal was in the re-zoning stage were inaccurate.” 

According to a town spokesperson, staff contacted representatives of Unexus Group last week and asked the company to take the posting down until it makes a formal planning application, which would include re-zoning and site plan approvals for the site. 

Unfortunately, the public can’t check whether the developer has complied with the town’s request, as the webpage is now password protected. 

The Post has attempted to contact Lalu Group President Lei Guo, as there are no directors listed on the Unexus Group website — Unexus Group and Lalu Group share the same corporate address, contact information and social media feeds. However, as of posting, there has been no response. 

This is not the first attempt by the town to stop the developer from marketing its projects for Jackson’s Point. 

In November 2017, MSR Lalu posted a six-storey condo design, located on Bonnie Park, on its website — again, without the necessary town approvals. 

This followed unauthorized sample drilling conducted by the developer on the adjacent Bonnie Park property in the spring of 2017.

At the time, Mayor Margaret Quirk expressed her frustration with MSR Lalu’s missteps and requested that the rendering be removed from the company’s website. 

“When I see the distress this causes our residents and the distrust that it creates towards ourselves here on council, to the staff and to the consultants, it really makes me upset,” she said in council. 

“Because we all value our reputations and to have the actions of a developer call into question our honesty, our integrity and our reputation really upsets me.”

Sunny Matharoo, then representing MSR Lalu, made a formal apology for the on-line rendering and unauthorized drilling to Georgina Council on November 22, 2017. 

When the Post conducted Matharoo, he indicated that his company no longer represents the developer, nor does it have any ownership interest in the 20 Bonnie Blvd property. 

“My company (MSR Holdings, now DMCC Holdings) has never owned any land in Georgina,” he said in a recent email. “Our role has been one of project/development managers. My role as of now is to deliver the YRP marine unit as a Development Manager.”