Sam Mizrahi

Sam Mizrahi
Sam Mizrahi at his Yorkville office.
Native name	سام میزراهی
Born	1971 (age 45–46) Tehran, Iran
Residence	Toronto, Ontario
Nationality	Canadian, Iranian
Occupation	Real estate developer
Years active	2007–present
Known for	Real estate development in Toronto and Ottawa
Notable work	The One

Sam Mizrahi (Persian: سام میزراهی or سام مزراحی‎‎) is a Canadian real estate developer. He is the developer of The One development at the intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets in Toronto.^[1][2] He started his first condominium project, a 9-story building known as 133 Hazelton Residences, in Toronto in 2011.^[3] Three years later, in 2014, he purchased land at the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Bloor Street for development of "The One", the tallest residential building in Canada.^{[4][5][6][6][7][8]}

Mizrahi is the president of a number of corporations, including Mizrahi Developments, Mizrahi Design Build, Mizrahi Inc.^[9] and Mizrahi Enterprises Inc.^[10] In 2015, he was named the 45th most influential person in Toronto by Toronto Life.^[11] Before becoming a developer, Mizrahi founded Dove Cleaners in 1992. The company filed for restructuring in 2007^[12] and became a successful business with over 100 franchises in Greater Toronto.^[13]

Early life and career

Mizrahi was born in Tehran in 1971 to Jewish parents, Shamoil^[14][15] and Ziba Mizrahi.^[16][17] His father was a business owner who owned and operated shops in the famous market of Tehran.^[17] The family immigrated to Canada in 1977, two years before the Iranian Revolution, when Mizrahi was six years old.^[18] Mizrahi grew up in the York Mills and Bayview neighborhoods of Toronto and attended York Mills Collegiate.^[19] Mizrahi has never attended post-secondary school and considers himself an entrepreneur.^[20]

Mizrahi started his first company while in high school. Known as Unimax, the company imported and sold blank audio and video cassette tapes in Toronto and Montreal.^[19] Unimax had $18 million in annual revenue when Mizrahi sold it four years after establishing the company.^[19]

In 1992, Mizrahi formed a dry cleaning company known as Dove Cleaners.^[21] Formed during a recession, DoveCorp, as it came to be known in 2004, operated both in retail dry cleaning and commercial linen cleaning. Mizrahi's goal was to create a niche dry cleaning company that served high-end customers.^[19] He founded the company in Los Angeles and moved it to Toronto in 1994.^[19] Mizrahi listed the company on the TSX Venture Exchange in 2005 and ran it until 2007, when it filed for restructuring.^[12][22][23]

Mizrahi moved back into real estate in 2007, building custom houses in Forest Hill, one of Toronto's most affluent neighbourhoods, which led to him getting into luxury condominium development.^[24]

Mizrahi developments

In 2008, Mizrahi founded Mizrahi Developments.^[19] Initially, Mizrahi Developments built luxury custom homes in Toronto neighborhoods that included Forest Hill, the Kingsway, Port McNicoll and Georgian Bay.^[19] Later, Mizrahi moved into building custom luxury condos, which includes projects at 133 Hazelton, 181 Davenport, 1451 Wellington and 128 Hazelton.

An exterior view of 133 Hazelton Avenue.

133 Hazelton (Toronto)

133 Hazelton is a 9-story building of 37 suites ^[25] located at 195 Davenport Road and 131 Hazelton Avenue in Toronto ^[3] that was completed in March 2015.^[26] 133 Hazelton includes amenities such as a theatre room, concierge service and garages that allow electrical vehicles to charge.^[27] Similar to other Mizrahi developments, suites at 133 Hazelton were custom designed ^[25] and allowed condo buyers to choose condo layout, finishes and appliances.

181 Davenport (Toronto)

181 Davenport is a 12-story building of 110 suites ^[25] located at 145 and 185 Davenport Road.^[28] The project launched in the fall of 2012, with half of the units sold within 60 days of being on the market.^[25] As part of its design, 181 Davenport offered condominiums that could be customized in detail by buyers.^[25] Condo sizes at 181 Davenport range from 700 to 1,600 square feet with prices beginning at C$400,000.^[25]

1451 Wellington (Ottawa)

1451 Wellington is a 12-storey condominium of 95 units ^[27] to be built at 1445 and 1451 Wellington Street in Ottawa.^[29][30] 1451 Wellington is designed by Toronto architectural firm Page and Steele. In 2015, Mizrahi Developments presented their design plans for 1451 Wellington to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). In reviewing the design, OMB required that in order for the condominium to stay at 12 storeys tall, the design needed a more landmark appearance.^[29] In December 2015, OMB reviewed revised designs for 1451 Wellington and gave the project a green light, citing that the design met the board’s landmark architecture requirement.^[31] Units at the development will have 10 foot ceilings and it will include a spa, gym, theatre, saltwater pool, concierge service and valet parking.^[27] The construction of a $1.5 million sales centre was completed and opened in March 2017.^[27][32][33] Mizrahi sold 20% of the development in the first 10 days of being on the market.^[34]

Forest Hill Jewish Centre (Toronto)

Mizrahi announced in 2014 that he would help build the "biggest newly built synagogue in Toronto in the past 45 years",^[35] which would serve as a new building for the Temmy Latner Forest Hill Jewish Centre.^[36] In 2017, the construction of the Temmy Latner building was completed.^[37] Located at 360 Spadina Road, the building is a replica of the Great Synagogue in Jasło, Poland, which was destroyed by the Nazis in World War II. A replica of the 11-meter-high Torah ark destroyed by the Nazis was built in Israel and shipped to Canada for the project.^[38][39] The synagogue has a library, classrooms and offers space for community events and also serves as a museum for the community.^[37] In March 2017, Mizrahi contributed to a fundraiser to help support initiatives at the new Temmy Latner building.^[40]

128 Hazelton (Toronto)

128 Hazelton is a 9-story building of 21 suites, designed by AUDAX Architecture,^[41] located across the street from 133 Hazelton.^[42][43] The development will be located at the former location of Hakim Optical.^[44] 128 Hazelton is the third development for Mizrahi in Yorkville, which includes his developments at 133 Hazelton and 181 Davenport. The design of 128 Hazelton involves a modern interpretation of Haussmannian architecture found in Paris. In line with other Mizrahi condo developments, Mizrahi worked with condo owners to customize each unit in the development.^[41] Condos will have winter gardens off living rooms or bedrooms.^[45]

128 Hazelton launched in 2016.^[41] By September 2016, half of the project’s units were sold,^[46] with all units sold out as of January 2017.^[41] Construction of 128 Hazelton is scheduled to begin in March 2017.^[41] Prices of the condos at 128 Hazelton range from C$1.14 million to C$11.5 million.^[45]

The One (Toronto)

Proposed as an 82-story (306.3 metre)^[47] residential skyscraper with 416 condominium units ^[34] and with multi-level retail at the base, "The One" will be the tallest building in Canada^[48] and the second tallest structure after the CN Tower. ^[47] Paying $300 million for the land acquisition,^[49] the total cost for the development of The One is reported to be $1 billion.^{[50][34] [47]}

Mizrahi hired the London-based Foster and Partners as the design architect and Core Architects as the local architect,^[51] and travelled to London to help design the building. The One's design and height have gone through various revisions and includes an exoskeleton structure at its 8-storey podium, which will make up The One's retail space.^[19]

Apple is expected to be the anchor tenant of The One,^[52] and the retail portion of the tower is scheduled to open in 2018.^[53]

On April 18, 2017, The One received formal approval from the Ontario Municipal Board, which provided the go-ahead for Mizrahi Developments to begin pre-construction of The One and pre-sales for The One's condominium units. The construction of The One is expected to be completed by 2022. ^{[47] [54]}

Khavari lawsuit

In June 2016 Khashayar Khavari and his brother in-law filed a lawsuit against Sam Mizrahi stemming from their $14.2M contribution to purchase land for 181 Davenport and 133 Hazelton,^[18] two condo projects that Mizrahi built. The Statement of Facts for the legal motion says the "Khavaris neither invested in, nor have an interest in, any of these additional developments." ^[55] Mizrahi has filed a countersuit, seeking at least C$50 million for breach of contract, negligence, intimidation, conspiracy to cause economic harm, and defamation, among other grievances.^[18]

On March 24, 2016, the court dismissed a motion, described as an “attempt to fast track the case”,^[18] on the part of the Khavaris to have Mizrahi return shares of five corporations held by Mizrahi, ruling "Khash has transferred all of his rights of ownership in the Shares to MEI (Mizrahi Enterprises Inc.)... Khash has no right with respect to the Shares, other than the right to compel their return after all Liabilities have been satisfied".^[55] Most recently, on August 17, 2016, the judge presiding over the legal dispute dismissed the Khavari’s motion for an inspector to be assigned to investigate Mizrahi's finances, awarding Mizrahi’s side with $373,860.25 in costs and writing "... I am further of the view that, in all of the circumstances, it would not be appropriate to appoint an inspector."^[56]

Community involvement

Mizrahi is an active supporter of Israel and a member of the UJA, and has managed and participated in the annual Walk With Israel parade in Toronto. Mizrahi also co-chaired the Run With Israel event in 2015.^[57] In addition, Mizrahi has co-chaired UJA’s SixPoints Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund, an organization that helps guide financial investment in the Jewish community.^[58] He is also on the board of directors of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies. In 2017, Mizrahi was elected to the BILD Board of Directors.^[59]

Personal life

Mizrahi is married to Micki Mizrahi.^[60] They have two children, a son named Ethan and a daughter named Eden.^[61]

See also

• Mizrahi Jews
• The One development
• Iranian Canadians
• Great Synagogue Jaslo

References

External links

• Mizrahi Developments
• Biography at Mizrahi Developments
• Biography at Mizrahi Design Build