Court appoints receiver for ReidBuilt Homes as Alberta faces housing glut

CALGARY – One of Alberta’s largest home builders has been placed in receivership by an Edmonton court.

Alvarez & Marsal Canada says in a posting on its website that it was named Thursday as receiver for insolvent ReidBuilt Homes and several subsidiaries by the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta.

The company’s failure comes as Alberta recovers from an oil price-induced slump that led to concerns about “imbalances around overbuilding,” according to Richard Cho, principal of market analysis for Calgary at Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp.

CMHC statistics show the inventory of built but not occupied new housing units reached a record high of 4,397 last March. Cho said they fell to 4,039 in September as the Alberta economy gradually improved over the summer.

Documents filed in court by Royal Bank show that ReidBuilt owes more than $64 million and Emilie Reid, wife of founder Art Reid, who died in 2009, owes the bank $2 million. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Last month, Postmedia reported the company was attempting to sell its Calgary division, and had stopped construction on dozens of houses. Several media outlets reported that some contractors had not been paid.