Buyers in a Junction condo-townhouse development are now awaiting the return of their deposits after Limen Developments Ltd. sent letters Monday saying the project has been cancelled.

The agreements of purchase and sale were conditional on Limen “obtaining and accepting financing for the construction,” said the letter naming president Antonio Lima.

“Unfortunately, despite using all of our commercial reasonable efforts, we were unable to obtain financing from three separate institutions,” it said, adding that company lawyers will arrange for the return of all deposits.

The East Junction Condos at 394 Symington Ave. were supposed to begin construction last year and be complete by 2021. The 278 units were priced from about $650,000 to about $830,000 and the project included a 16-storey tower as well as stacked townhomes.

Tarion, the agency that regulates builders in Ontario, lists the project as “in progress,” according to a spokesperson.

Lima was in Vancouver on Tuesday, and the company was unable to answer any questions about the project until early next week, said a representative of the developer, who responded to queries from the Star.

The project was originally proposed as two towers but it was redesigned and approved by the provincial Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) in December 2018, according to Urbantoronto.ca, a website that tracks development.

Following a run of pre-construction condo cancellations in recent years, Tarion has added a new warning document this year to the front of the standard agreement of purchase consumers sign when they are buying a pre-construction home. Although it helps alert buyers to the risk that developers can cancel projects if they don’t get satisfactory financing terms, it doesn’t deter builders from killing developments for undisclosed financial reasons, say consumer advocates.

Tarion also added features to its website last year that are supposed to help consumers research builders that may have cancelled projects.