American-based developer receiving calls from Prince Albert residents who mistakenly think the company purchased several apartment buildings from Weidner
Editor’s Note: After this story went to press, the Daily Herald received an email from Wingspan Group of Companies Managing Partner and Chair Sean Burns. When asked if Wingspan were the new owners of several former Weider apartments in Prince Albert, Burns wrote “sorry – you’ve got the wrong company.” This story has been updated with this information.
The confusion continues among residents who live in apartment buildings previously managed by Weidner Apartment Homes.
On Friday evening, some tenants reported receiving a letter from Wingspan Dev Capital Inc. identifying the company as the new owner of former Weidner buildings 33 River Street Apartments, Spruce Meadow Apartments, and Carlton Park Apartments.
According to the letter, Wingspan Dev. Capital Inc. took control of the buildings on Nov. 27. The letter also gives residents an email address they can use to pay their rent.
Now, a U.S. based company not affiliated with Wingspan Dev Capital Inc. has reported fielding calls from Prince Albert residents concerned about their rent payments, and mistakenly believing they are contacting the new property owners.
“It’s that time of month where people are starting to pay their rent, so I imagine we’ll get more (calls),” said Jason Macklin, the Director of Development with Wingspan Development Group, a developer headquartered in Mount Prospect, Ill.
“We’ve gotten a number of calls and emails from (Prince Albert) residents saying they’ve sent their rent payments in, but can’t get a hold of anybody. We feel for them, (but) we haven’t personally received any rent checks and we are not the owner.”
Wingspan Development Group develops residential, commercial, and mixed-use properties, but has never done business in Canada. Macklin said all of their properties are in the U.S.
Macklin said calls to the U.S.-based Wingspan started after a social media post mistakenly identified them as the new owner. He said residents should follow the instructions they received on the letters instead of listening to social media.
Despite the mix-up, Macklin said every Prince Albert caller they’ve talked to has been calm.
“Everyone’s been very cordial,” he said. “They’re more just trying to get to the bottom of what happened to their rent check or where to send their rent check. It hasn’t been harassing at all.”
In Canada, there is a website for Wingspan Group of Companies based in New Westminster, B.C. The Canadian Wingspan has medical, technology, and property portfolios, the latter of which is called Wingspan Property on the website.
The website does not give a list of Wingspan properties, or the cities or provinces in which they operate.
Sean Burns is listed as the company’s founding partner, and current managing partner and chair. In an email to the Daily Herald, Burns wrote that his company is not the new owners of the Prince Albert apartment buildings.
Renters living in Weidner apartments say they were caught off guard after the local Weidner office put up a “permanently closed” and the Weidner rent app stopped accepting payments. One tenant interviewed by the Herald did not know about the change until he visited the former Weidner office on Thursday, Nov. 29 and found it closed.
