19-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
2 Hamilton banquet halls placed in receivership, clients scramble to find alternatives
Two popular Hamilton banquet halls have been placed in receivership as a bank looks to recoup millions of dollars in unpaid loans, potentially leaving scores of charity events and weddings in limbo.
Michelangelo Banquet Centre and The Grand Olympia were shuttered indefinitely late last week after Ontario's Superior Court of Justice
denied a request
from its owners for an extension to repay debt.
No events were held at either location over the long weekend with the doors at each locked.
'These premises and all of the property herein are now in the possession of the receiver,' read a letter taped to the front door of Grand Olympia at 660 Barton St. in Stoney Creek. 'Entry or removal by unauthorized persons is prohibited.'
According to
court records
, the halls and their related companies are owned by a Mississauga-based family which owes more than $14 million to the Bank of Montreal, including around $8.2 million tied to Michelangelo and $6 million for Grand Olympia.
Aftab Elahi — which corporate documents list as the sole officer and director of Mario's Catering Service and Grand Olympia Realco, the parent companies of the banquet halls — didn't respond to request for comment.
Michelangelo Banquet Centre and The Grand Olympia were shuttered indefinitely late last week after Ontario's Superior Court of Justice denied a request from its owners for an extension to repay debt.
While the halls were placed in receivership on Jan. 29, the appointment order was delayed to allow the owners to make a real estate transaction that would've been 'an amount sufficient to repay the bank in full,' court records state.
The proposed transaction was scheduled to close by April 30.
On May 15, a person representing the Elahi family asked the court for another 45 days to finish the sale.
The Bank of Montreal argued against that extension 'based on a number of concerns.'
'The bank is concerned that there is no current timeline for repayment in full that is supported by evidence of an ability to complete, and the bank has significant concerns regarding the financial circumstances and management of the respondent companies,' the bank said in court records.
In an endorsement decision, Justice Jessica Kimmell declined to vary the appointment order and wrote she wasn't satisfied there was 'a supported justification for granting further accommodation.'
Locks were placed on the gates of Michelangelo Banquet Hall last week as its parent company was put in receivership.
MSI Spergel has been appointed receiver over both banquet halls.
What that means for people who had booked future events at Michelangelo and Grand Olympia — and paid deposits — remains unclear. Spergel couldn't be reached for comment Sunday or Monday.
'It came as a surprise to us,' said an event organizer with CollectiCon, a local toy and collectible show that's held monthly events at Michelangelo on Upper Ottawa Street for decades.
After hearing the news — and seeing the gate to the venue locked — event organizers had to scramble to find a new location for their Victoria Day show, eventually landing space at Carmen's Event Centre.
'Carmen's really came through for us,' the organizer said.
CollectiCon wasn't the only one.
Weddings, retirement dinners, community fundraisers and school events like grads and proms were among the affected Michelangelo and Grand Olympia clients who reached out to Carmen's this weekend in a desperate effort to book space.
'Our sales and operations teams have been working diligently and mobilized in real time to accommodate the event customers, which included a handful this weekend and another half-dozen or so in the coming week,' Carmen's Group CEO PJ Mercanti said in a statement. 'Our operations teams have been especially attentive with purchasing food, ordering linens and scheduling staff on short notice.'
Mercanti extended his sympathy to hospitality staff and suppliers affected by the abrupt banquet hall closures.
'Especially our many colleagues at Michelangelo, who we have enjoyed a positive working relationship with for many decades.'
Michelangelo was incorporated in 1977 and Grand Olympia in 2021, according to receivership records. The records don't specify when Elahi family became involved with the businesses.
Court documents state the Bank of Montreal extended Grand Olympia a $7.8 million loan in December 2019 and $8.2 million to Michelangelo in December 2022. Both fixed-rate loans had terms of five years.
In its application to place the halls in receivership on Nov. 28, the Bank of Montreal said it had been supervising accounts tied to the borrowers 'for a considerable period of time' due to concerns 'about the financial health of the underlying businesses and the performance of the (borrowers') credit facilities.'
'As a result of such concerns, together with various defaults on the part of the borrowers … the bank determined it no longer wished to continue the banking relationship with (them),' the bank said in its application.
