Downtown Windsor business accelerator closes and building to be sold

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The Windsor Downtown Business Accelerator, which supported and helped launch a number of local businesses for more than a decade, has closed its doors and been placed into receivership.

“I am no longer with Accelerator and am not at liberty to speak on the matter,” former Accelerator CEO Arthur Barbut wrote in response to a request for comment from the Windsor Star.

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According to the bankruptcy notice and filing dated Aug. 12, posted online by MNP Ltd. of London, Accelerator owed Libro Credit Union $1.2 million on a commercial mortgage and an unspecified amount to the company with number 957590 Ontario. Both parties are listed as secured creditors.

In addition to the two mortgages, Accelerator owed another $732,000, including $127,949 in combined taxes to Revenue Canada and Tax Ontario.

The statement also lists 45 other unsecured creditors who are owed a total of $604,000. The size of those debts ranges from $11.30 to $253,863.

Unsecured creditors are a mix of local businesses, utilities and individuals.

The accelerator was located in the former Purity Dairy at 1501 Howard Avenue. The shuttered building has several notices posted on doors and windows dated Aug. 14 indicating that the court-appointed trustee had seized the property.

Libro Credit Union told the Star that the financial institution intends to put the building up for sale.

“At Libro Credit Union, we focus on the financial well-being of individuals, businesses and communities, so we naturally recognize that the future of the former Accelerator Building is an important issue for downtown Windsor,” said Libro Communications Manager Mike Donachie.

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“It is public knowledge that we are a secured creditor with a mortgage on the property and I can confirm that the property will be put up for sale,” he added. “I’m afraid I can’t offer many details or a timeline at this time.

“We also want to acknowledge the business community’s concern about this property and want everyone to remember that our credit union is dedicated to developing communities, especially local businesses.

“We share the business community’s desire for a vibrant Windsor and look forward to seeing this building repurposed to boost the local economy.”

The mortgage issues first surfaced in June 2023 when Libro sued Accelerator, founded in 2011, seeking payment of the $1.1 million owed on the mortgage on the 95-year-old building.

An appraisal at the time by F.R. Jordan & Associates listed the 55,000-square-foot building and 75-car parking lot as being valued at $3.52 million. The Accelerator was moved to the dairy property from an Ouellette Avenue bingo hall when the nonprofit corporation purchased the site in March 2018 for $1.7 million.

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In addition to the Accelerator’s own operations, the site housed a variety of companies. A handful of companies continue to operate in the Accelerator building in separate offices.

“It wasn’t a total surprise,” said Krystal Baylif, screen printing and embroidery manager at Graphix Plus, about the closure. “We had heard things, we knew it was going to happen.

“It’s a huge building,” he told the Star. “It still needs some renovations and there’s a lot of open space there.”

Baylif said Graphix has been operating at the site for 25 years and has a five-year lease for its store.

Among those still on site are the Shadow Box Theatre and the Spider Guys.

Financial challenges to operating and maintaining the building increased in 2022 when FedDev Ontario rejected a $4.7 million plan submitted by Barbut for new programming and modernization of the building to provide those services.

That rejection led to the building being put up for sale in August 2022 for $4.6 million, a price that was later reduced to $3.6 million before it was taken off the market.

The property was put up for sale again earlier this year for $2.9 million, but failed to find a buyer. Attempts to get a local angel investor to buy the building also failed.

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The Accelerator’s mission was to help startups get off the ground by providing them with access to facilities, expertise, mentoring, contacts and support to navigate the maze of paperwork required to start a business.

Companies that enjoyed early-stage support from the Accelerator (and later went on to achieve national recognition) include mobile robotics company Optimotive and Build a Dream, which offers specialized programs that help women and girls explore underrepresented careers.

Optimotive has also attracted international attention, announcing this week that it had received $2 million in investments from venture capital funds Version One (San Francisco), Garage Capital (Waterloo) and Newlab Detroit to expand.

Email: dwaddell@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/winstarwaddell

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