Thousands of Toronto-area home buyers are once again furious to find out that the prestigious condos they'd purchased more than a year ago will no longer come to exist.

The Icona Condo project, first announced in January 2017, was set to be a marquee property in the fast-growing neighbourhood of downtown Vaughan.

At 51 and 53 stories high, the two-building Gupta Group development was billed as "Vaughan's tallest tower," just steps from the new Vaughan Metropolitan Centre with 20,000 square feet of its own retail space at ground level.

#iconacondos is just around the corner! Message or email me to book your unit right away. #investment #RealEstate #condos #vaughan #icona pic.twitter.com/RJQHbs6w8M

— Mashhood K. (@realtormashhood) January 13, 2017

An unprecedented amount of demand for living space near Hwy 400 on Hwy 7 saw all 1,140 available units sell out within record time.

Buyers were looking forward to a move-in date sometime in 2021, but — just like the nearby Cosmos Condos project, which was cancelled in April — the Icona condos will not come to be.

A local realtor who did not want to be named said by email on Wednesday that more than 20 clients who had purchased units in one of the two Icona buildings got their deposits back today.

They received identical letters from the Gupta Group on Wednesday morning stating that "The Icona project has been cancelled because of circumstances beyond our control that make the project un-financeable."

When reached by phone, a representative for The Gupta Group (parent company to The Easton's Group of Hotels) said that they had no comment at this time.

The project's website has been completely dismantled. All that remains is the text "For inquiries regarding ICONA Condos, please email info@theicona.com."

Emails to that address went unreturned as of Wednesday afternoon.

So @City_of_Vaughan we now have TWO cancelled condo projects in the Vaughan Metropolitan centre. What’s happening in our city?? #Icona #Gupta #Cosmos #LibertyGroup #Vaughan #Condos

— SOKVIN • VANN (@SVannRealEstate) September 19, 2018

This marks the second sold-out condo development to be scrapped in Vaughan lately, and based on how people reacted when Liberty Development Corporation cancelled all three of its Cosmos Condos buildings, the news won't land very well.

"I am not at all impressed about what has transpired," said Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua in April of the Cosmos development cancellation.

"While the developer cites financing challenges as the reason, I am much more concerned about the hundreds of people that have purchased a condo where they could live, experience and enjoy life in our community."