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Once construction starts, there’s also the possibility of projects going sideways.

Here are a few instances this year when development went off the rails.

Paris, Ont., is well known for rolling rivers and a quaint downtown. But when developer Losani Homes had a chance to build in the much-desired suburbs, the planned for something big and tall. To that, residents said absolutely not.

A North End street was closed off, and neighbours temporarily forced out, when an off-duty building inspector noticed a home rebuild “appeared unsafe.” The Ferrie Street East construction project, towering over its neighbours, seemed a little top-heavy and needed to be — a project costing nearly $300,000.

After a home was reduced to rubble in a 2021 explosion, this Bonaventure Drive lot owner started a rebuild, but neglected to file some necessary permits. Calling the case “one of the most egregious acts of non-compliance,” the city took permit-less builder Omre Taha to court, one of the contractor was facing.

Darko Vranich’s plan for a legacy project — donating an affordable housing tower to Hamilton — hit a snag. Planning staff’s reaction to the two-tower pitch for a vacant King Street East lot wasn’t as warmly welcomed as the Hamilton megadeveloper expected. Vrancor vice-president Mario Frankovich said the development firm would “take a step back” after city planners noted problems with the plan and issues with some not-so-minor variance requests. Negotiations continue; however, Frankovich noted later in the year some

Rosy and Michael McGrowder were packing up to move into their new custom-built home when a call changed their reality. It was a lender for their builder on the phone; the caller said of Mariman Homes defaulted on payments to his mortgage holders. If the McGrowders wanted to close the deal, they’d have to pay an additional $300,000.

Over more than a decade, commercial property management and investment firm Forge and Foster carved out a $400-million chunk of Hamilton and southern Ontario real estate, including restaurants, offices and converted industrial buildings. But in recent years, cracks started to appear and now the empire has crumbled into a growing pile of mortgage defaults and failed projects.

Unhappy campers in parks owned by companies connected to Forge and Foster founders Joe and Mark Accardi spoke to The Spectator. , the city said a dozen tiny homes on wheels were illegally installed without building permits. Residents had just moved into the campers marketed as nearly year-round homes with water and septic tank hookups.

Residents of two Forge and Foster buildings, , rallied together in March to ask for help to protect their affordable apartments after learning their landlords could soon lose control of the buildings. Separate corporations that owned the buildings were headed by Joe Accardi.

In July, artists were asked to at Bayfront Studio District — a building owned by Forge and Foster, once briefly their headquarters — because of an apparent pending ownership change. Around 25 artists were able to rent space in the harbour west building at about half the market rate thanks to a partnership between non-profit Centre(3) and Aeon Studio Group.

, first for the summer, then permanently, amid receivership proceedings involving building owner Joe Accardi. The restaurant reopened in December as das Schnitzelhaus, a change in name and ownership only, according to their website.

in October. The movie studio firm partnered with Toronto-based TAS and Forge and Foster on their vision for a 14-acre arts hub with studios, performance spaces and 750 homes. Among the reasons for the plan’s collapse: the end of the artist space and alleged mortgage defaults by Forge and Foster also meant the loss of another building in the area.