Molson site condo ads prompt scrutiny
ONLINE INVESTOR APPEAL: B.C. Securities Commission won’t say whether investigation is underway
The B.C. Securities Commission is reviewing reports of an investor syndicate’s “sea view apartment development” at the Molson Brewery site in Vancouver.
Spokesman Richard Gilhooley confirmed Thursday the BCSC is examining information obtained by The Province that Sun Commercial Real Estate has advertised online encouraging investors to buy into a condo development on industrial land at the southeast foot of the Burrard Street Bridge.
The industrial-zoned site was sold to a mystery buyer late last year, and both regional and city planners have stated they do not want condo towers built at the site.
However, an English translation of Sun Commercial’s ads state “Sun Commercial real estate brewery project recruit shareholders, 330,000 feet of great sea view apartment development.”
Under the “zero risk, high return” plan advertised, small investors were required to contribute $150,000 and “VIP customers” must invest $100 million. However, the VIP contribution was already “full,” online ads said.
The recruitment ads now have been removed from vansky.com, a Chinese-language site for investors in the Lower Mainland.
“In terms of how we are using the information (reported) I’m afraid I can’t comment on that,” Gilhooley said. “I can’t confirm or deny whether we are investigating.”
On its website last year Sun Commercial described itself as a crowdfunding syndicate helping clients “with a relatively small amount of capital” gain access to some of the largest real estate investment projects in Vancouver.
Crowdfunding is a form of online investor recruitment that has been regulated in B.C. since May 2015, Gilhooley said. He said under current laws, crowdfunders can only raise $250,000 per project, twice a year.
“Each individual investor is only allowed to invest $1,500 per distribution,” Gilhooley said.
“So to get up to large numbers it is not easy with $1,500 limits.”
On Thursday a Sun Commercial employee told The Province to send questions for this story to an email address.
The company did not respond to a request for comments last week.
Documents researched by The Province last year link Sun Commercial to a Richmond mansion called the Ivy Manor. Property documents show that investor Kevin Sun, then known as Hongwei Sun, bought the $9.5-million home in 2009.
Corporate documents list the mansion as the mailing address for a number of companies connected to Sun Commercial Real Estate. One of the companies is Suncrowdfunding Holdings Ltd. The company director is Davidson Guo, formerly known as De Xue Guo.