B’nai Brith Canada puts headquarters up for sale

TORONTO (JTA) — Cash-strapped B’nai Brith Canada is selling two of its landmark buildings in Toronto, including its national headquarters.

The headquarters carries two mortgages totaling nearly $4 million, the Canadian Jewish News reported, and in 2012 the market value assessment was set at slightly more than $3 million.

The difference leaves “open the question of how much B’nai Brith can net from the sale,” the newspaper reported.

Also up for sale is a cutting-edge facility for those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease opened by B’nai Brith Canada just 18 months ago. The Alzheimer Centre for Excellence has 45 beds but only 20 residents, and has been bleeding money since it opened last December, the CJN also reported, citing court documents.

A front-page Toronto Star story published Thursday said the facility is under insolvency protection. As of two weeks ago, the home had $65,000 in reserves and was spending $50,000 a month. It owes $11 million to creditors, according to the Star.

The building received $5.4 million in funding from the federal government.

B’nai Brith Canada’s new CEO, Michael Mostyn, who took over the organization last September, said he hopes to boost charitable donations, which have lapsed in recent years.

His predecessor, Frank Dimant, who retired after 36 years at the helm and is now CEO of Christians United For Israel Canada, a pro-Zionist evangelical group, has demanded a retirement payout that the current management of B’nai Brith “believes is too lucrative.”

Last week, Dimant, 69, informed the new management that he is owed annual retirement payments of $175,000, or 75 percent of his former salary.

Dimant said the arrangement was approved by the board, the Star reported. A source familiar with the deal told the Star that it was arranged with little oversight while Dimant was still the CEO.

In a cost-cutting move, Mostyn folded publication of B’nai Brith Canada’s weekly newspaper, the Jewish Tribune.