Wealthy locals, American billionaire among Trump Vancouver condo owners
? JOANNE LEE- YOUNG AND SCOTT NEUFELD
The Vancouver Sun
We take you inside Trump tower, perhaps the most scrutinized building that’s ever gone up in Vancouver. The structure housed the most expensive per-square-foot condos in Canada when sales began at Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver. An examination of public records reveals a list of well-heeled buyers who represent a cross-section of Vancouverites, including a tech billionaire, former ambassador and a northern B.C. mayor. Almost 20 per cent bought more than one condo. Some buyers hit it big with an assessed value now nearly double the purchase price.
Fast facts
Canada’s (second) richest building The tower’s 214 units were announced as sold-out in May 2016 at a Canadian record $1,610 a square foot. That was recently topped by the nearby Cardero development at $1,800 a square foot. Sale prices ranged from $619,900 for a 23rd floor unit to $6,737,900 for a unit on the 67th floor. Almost sold out While buyers have scooped up most units, the three penthouse suites have yet to hit the market. The largest boasts and 4,661 square feet of living space. It’s assessed at $14,618,000. A slightly smaller 4,406-square-foot penthouse is assessed at $13,688,000 and a 3,744-square-foot penthouse is assessed at $11,492,000. They’re reportedly going to be priced from $20 million. Buying in bulk At least 41 units, or about 19 per cent of the tower, are owned by buyers who purchased more than one condo. American billionaire John Tu, Vancouver psychiatrist Raymond Liang and Vancouver realtor Derrick Cheung bought three each. Corporate purchases Of the 20 companies that bought units at the Trump, 16 are registered in B.C. Several of these B.C. companies have overseas ties. One B.C. numbered company has links to a multibillion-dollar company in Hong Kong and another has links to the former Andorran ambassador to Canada. Of the remaining firms, there is an Alberta numbered company with a B.C. address, an Edmonton property investment firm, an Ontario company linked to the director of a candle manufacturer and a California holding company linked to the CEO of a video game publisher. A diversity of day jobs Trump buyers represent a cross-section of wealthy Vancouverites including many dentists, doctors, homemakers, realtors, students, property managers, a travel agent, a pastor and many businesspeople. Among overseas owners is Jonathan Wan, the CEO of California-based video game publisher Tommo Inc., as well as co-owners Mahmood Al Aradi, an Abu Dhabi bank executive, and restaurant owner Rehab Almaskati. Low-risk buyers? About 40 per cent of the selection of land titles Postmedia looked at included mortgages, meaning the rest were likely paid for upfront. CIBC appears to be the lender of choice among these luxury buyers with other banks represented including HSBC, TD and BMO. Realtors get in on the action Licensed realtors, or their relatives, snapped up at least a dozen units. The units proved too much for even the developer’s own sales team to resist. Trump sales manager Rachel Pai secured an 844-square-foot unit on the 67th floor. Her Trump colleague Eddy Chau bought his own unit on the 27th floor. The 601-square-foot pad is now back on the market asking $977,000. Early birds win big Pre-sale condos can be a lucrative investment. Of the 186 units the Sun obtained sale prices for, the assessed value is now 31% higher on average than what buyers paid for the units. Some really hit it big with 19 units climbing 50% and two units on the 66th floor soaring more than 90% higher than what the buyers had paid. On the flip side, the value of two units dropped 10% below what the buyers had paid. Investors cash in There are 11 units listed for sale at the tower and five that have already been re-sold since November. The sellers profited by an average of 38%, pocketing between $228,000 and $691,000 for their investment. There are 14 more listed for rent and one that has already rented. Rents range from $10,500/month for a unit on the 55th floor to $2,750/month for a unit on the 29th floor, however, some landlords are starting to slash rents. Four out of favour The number four is rare in the building. There’s only one unit ending in the number four (it’s on the 46th floor). Although most floor numbers from 40 to 49 are included, the 24th, 34th, 44th, 54th and 64th floors are all missing. Posh perks Among the amenities for tower residents are exclusive access to a private jet and access to a chauffeured RollsRoyce. Also on site are Vancouver’s first hotel champagne bar and first hotel pool bar. Legendary Hong Kong fine dining restaurant Mott 32 is also opening in the tower.
Notable buyers
Gary and Michael Averbach The swankiest unit may belong to a B.C. company called Yankel Investments. The directors of the company include Gary the CEO of Belmont Properties, which manages 22 rental buildings in B.C. The other director is Gary’s son Michael, who is the principal of Averbach Mortgages. Assessed at $8,947,000 and with more than 3,252 square feet in living space, the 62nd-floor unit is larger and more valuable than any other condo below the penthouses. The purchase price was $6,288,059. Chin Sun Chan A B.C. company called VSQ Holdings bought a unit on the 67th floor assessed at $3,389,000, the highest floor below the penthouses. Chan, the company’s only director, also owns a unit on the 60th floor of the Shangri-La, which is being rented out by the same company managing many of the rentals at the Trump. Chan was featured in a Sun story in 2015 after he bought a home on Burkehill Place in West Vancouver for $1 million over the asking price. Narcis Casal de Fonsdeviela The former Andorran ambassador to Canada has apparently purchased a unit on the 52nd floor for $2,494,695. The purchase was made through a B.C. registered company that has a mailing address in Barcelona. The ambassador was also his country’s envoy to the United States and the United Nations. The Fongs A company called KMF Property bought a unit on the 60th floor and one of the company’s directors purchased a unit on the 37th floor for a total of $5,672,795. Although the company is registered in B.C., it has strong ties to China. The company’s address is a $19.6-million home on Fannin Avenue owned by Sou Lam Fong, the founder of CHTC Fong’s Industries, a Hong Kong-based manufacturing company. Sou Lam’s wife, Kam Ming Fong, is a major shareholder of Fong’s and a director of KMF Property. CHTC Fong’s majority shareholder is the Chinese government. Raymond Ambrose Liang The Vancouver psychiatrist bought three units for a total of $2,394,300 on the 23rd, 27th and 35th floors. Two of the purchases at the tower were made through numbered B.C. companies. Both of those condos have since re-sold for a net profit of $518,600 and a gain of 38%. Liang was fined in 2011 by Revenue Canada after being found guilty of tax evasion for not reporting the income from flipping homes. Anoop Majithia The founder of Plan A Real Estate bought a unit on the 50th Floor with oncologist Sharlene Gill that’s now assessed at $2,439,000. Majithia was involved in a legal battle with tenants of an apartment building he purchased in 2014. A month after taking possession, some tenants were evicted and those remaining claimed they were threatened with rent increases. Some evictions were later reversed and tenants were awarded costs after laundry charges were tripled, but they failed to prove allegations the landlord harassed them. The Mossalanejads Armita, Armineh and Ario purchased matching 06 units stacked in a row on the 26th, 28th, 30th, 31st, 32nd and 35th floors. They own two units each in the tower assessed at a total of $5,970,000. Armineh lists her residence as a $6.4-million condo at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, whose owner is Gholamabbas Mosalanejad. Ario owns another condo at the Fairmont Pacific Rim and Armita, a notary, owns one at the Shangri-La. Both were transferred to them from Gholamabbas who lists his occupation as businessman. One of Ario’s 600-square-foot units is listed for rent at $4,100 per month. Bill Streeper The Northern Rockies (formerly Fort Nelson) mayor purchased a unit on the 55th floor assessed at $3,897,000. The purchase was made through a numbered company registered in Alberta. The company lists Streeper as its sole director. Streeper owned an oilfield company and is president of Hardcastle Developments, which is described on its website as one of the largest real estate companies in northeast B.C. John Tu The American billionaire spent $7,611,135 to acquire condos on the 55th, 52nd and 43rd floors, apparently spending more than any of the tower’s other buyers. All three condos are now listed to rent for $10,500, $9,500 and $6,000 per month. Forbes pegs the Kingston Technology CEO’s current net worth at $5.9 billion landing him at #251 on its list of the world’s richest people. Greg Vorwaller The president of Vancouver-based mortgage investment corporation Trez Capital, paid $5,897,900 for a unit on the 66th floor. The purchase was made through a numbered B.C. company of which he and wife Ava are directors. The unit is assessed at $6,139,000. The couple recently moved to Vancouver from Chicago where they sold a condo designed by celebrity designer Nate Berkus for $6.2 million US.
NAME NO DETERRENT FOR BUYERS AT TRUMP TOWER
No residential tower in recent memory has been scrutinized as much as the new Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver.
To see who bought what were reported as the highest price-persquare-foot for condos in Canada at the time they were sold, Postmedia News did a search of records at B.C. Assessment, B.C. Online and the Land Title and Survey Authority.
The records reveal how much some of the well-heeled buyers paid to snap up units, and that almost 20 per cent of them bought more than one.
For example, American tech billionaire and philanthropist John Tu paid $7.6 million for units on the 55th, 52nd and 43rd floors, apparently spending more than any of the tower’s other buyers. His condos are now listed for rent at $10,500, $9,500 and $6,000 a month. Tu co-founded Kingston Technology, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., which makes computer memory chips. Forbes pegged him as being No. 90 out of 400 American billionaires with an estimated net worth of $5.9 billion in 2016. He declined to comment on the purchases.
Joo Kim Tiah oversaw the tower’s construction as chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Holborn Group, which was been backed by the Kuala Lumpur-based company of his father, one of Malaysia’s wealthiest businessmen. New U.S. President Donald Trump doesn’t have a stake in the project, but its branding comes from him and is licensed by his company.
The controversial association has been a public relations landmine for the building with public outcry leading the mayor of Vancouver to ask Tiah to drop the Trump name. A steel framer, who climbed to the top of the building to unfurl a large Mexican flag, called out the then-presidential candidate’s bigoted comments about immigrant workers.
In the weeks leading up to the U.S. presidential inauguration, Tiah was interviewed about the project by U.S. media for what he might say about how Trump deals with international partners and controls the business empire the new president says will be run by his sons and executives while he occupies the White House.
“It had nothing to do with the name,” said Vancouver businessman Gary Averbach of his Trump tower purchase. He is moving into one of the more luxurious units (technically, it’s the equivalent of two in size) on one of the highest floors this weekend. “It was the building itself. When I saw the original plans, Trump hadn’t declared his candidacy. I loved (the idea) of looking at my beautiful city. The view is unbelievable; 320 degrees.”
Assessed at $8,947,000, Averbach’s suite is one of the most valuable of any in the tower, below the penthouses. Averbach, who is the CEO of Belmont Properties, which manages 27 rental buildings in B.C., had already been living downtown at the Wall Centre for more than two years.
“I made the purchase because I knew that even if I didn’t like it, I had a salable product.”
Aside from the notoriety of its namesake, the tower is located in an area attracting attention for its record-breaking, pre-sale condo prices even as the general market has been slumping.
Holborn Properties announced in May 2016 that the tower’s units were sold out at $1,615 a square foot. This was topped in September, after the introduction of the additional property tax for foreign buyers, when the nearby Cardero development sold out at $1,800 a square foot. Both sit where Coal Harbour meets the West End in a desirable, but tight space.
“Developers will always build the best product for a certain site. We’re not going to build the Trump Tower — I won’t want to offend anyone — in Cloverdale. It ain’t going to happen,” said Tiah. “As for the market in Cloverdale, you build what the market will swallow there. Every developer (assesses) this.”
At least 41 other purchasers bought more than one condo, representing more than 19 per cent of the tower.
Tiah said it’s no surprise the building sold so well and many purchasers bought more than one unit. “I think a lot of people … have thought of real estate as a great investment for the last few years. For everybody. Not just this project. People who have the foresight got in early and have done pretty well. In every project, you always have a few people who buy more than one unit. It’s an investment. It’s pretty common. I should say it’s actually more common to have more people buy more than one unit the more entry-level (as opposed to luxury) the project is.”
Derrick Cheung, a local realtor, bought his three units “pre-sale, referred by a friend. … Why buy luxury property? For upscale living.” He is doing that in one of the units and renting out the other two.
Vancouver psychiatrist Raymond Liang also bought three units, two through numbered companies linked to him and his office address, and one in his own name. He has resold one at a 33 per cent profit and another at a 43 per cent profit. Liang was subject to a rare fine by Canada Revenue Agency in recent years for tax evasion after flipping condos and not reporting $365,000 in income. Liang declined to speak to Postmedia about his Trump tower purchases.
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