NAME NO DETERRENT FOR BUYERS AT TRUMP TOWER
Wealthy locals, American tech mogul among condo purchasers
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.