Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
These projects represented the impressive tip of the property iceberg,
with many lower profile developments and acquisitions throughout
Vancouver and into the suburbs (Gutstein 1988, 1990). In the West End, a
high-density residential district on the downtown peninsula, offshore inves-
tors bought dozens of apartment buildings, many to be demolished and
re-built as condominiums.
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By the end of the 1980s half the properties on
the prime blocks of Robson Street (Figure 5.2), a fashionable downtown
boutique district, was owned by Hong Kong investors (Gutstein 1988;
Chinatown News
1988b).
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Outside the downtown peninsula, media sur-
veys of land registry records led to estimates that in the mid-1990s half of
all residential property sales in the City were to buyers with Asian, prima-
rily Chinese, family names - twice as high a proportion as would be
expected from their share of the population; in Richmond the Asian share
rose to two-thirds, though in other suburbs figures were lower (Chow
1996c). For Vancouver houses priced above $1 million, Chinese-named
buyers rose to 80-90 percent. Most properties were in wealthy Vancouver
Westside neighbourhoods, or downtown condominium apartments, includ-
ing penthouses.
By the mid-1990s investment was arriving from a variety of East Asian
sources. Encouraged no doubt by the Kuoks' active presence in Singapore,
50 condominium units in their Residences on Georgia were bought en bloc
by Singaporean investors through the Hong Kong sales office (Chow
1996d).
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Taiwanese capital was a growing force in the purchase of apart-
ment buildings and small retail malls, aided by funds assembled by investor
immigrants. During the 1992-95 period Taiwanese and Korean capital
accounted for 45 percent of total Asian investment in commercial property
in Greater Vancouver (Constantineau 1996b). Among individual players,
Ken Liang, well known for luxury condominium development in Taiwan,
built a series of high-end projects downtown and in favoured Westside
neighbourhoods (McQuade 1996).
Marketing Intermediaries
A large group of intermediaries served this new and substantial market. In
1995, the top three Greater Vancouver realtors by MLS sales were Chinese-
Canadians, led by Grace Kwok of Anson Realty, a firm she co-owned with
her husband. Kwok's sales were in downtown condominium and Westside
detached homes, a majority of them bought by ethnic Chinese (Chow 1996c).
A series of other companies were created and rose to prominence including
Park Georgia Realty, Royal Pacific Realty, and Hallmark Properties. David
Choi, president of Royal Pacific Realty covered Vancouver's Westside dis-
tricts from its Oakridge office. Its staff had grown to 240 real estate agents by
