By Amy Chen

Vancouver developer Onni is pre-selling the upcoming 1335 Howe condominium at a Hong Kong fair for prices “cheaper than if bought in Canada,” while boasting about pricing ordinary Canadians out of the housing market.

“Every buyer who has successfully purchased the onni project at a fair this weekend has a special discount, which is cheaper than buying in Canada,” the Facebook page for the event reads^[1]original: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1134791789987424&id=668690993264175 archive: http://archive.is/qMlhp

“Many people in Hong Kong feel that the property market is not a product that can be bought by ordinary people, and that Canada, Vancouver or Toronto, has now become the preferred choice for many Hong Kong people,” the Facebook post boasts.

The controversial developer has long been accused of pre-selling condo units abroad before they become available to be bought in Canada.

The City of Vancouver also fined Onni $24,000 earlier this year for running an illegal Airbnb hotel^[2]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-developer-fined-for-running-short-term-rentals-1.4124531.

Onni and its president Rossano De Cotiis have donated $305,600 to the BC Liberal party, including a $100,000 donation just before the writs were dropped for the last provincial election.

For their part, the BC Liberals exempted pre-sales from the foreign buyer tax^[3]http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/property-taxes/property-transfer-tax/understand/pre-sold-strata-unit, enabling Onni’s customers abroad to flip lower mainland’s condo units without having to pay the 15% tax.

Onni has “decided to start introducing more of its next project to Asia,” the Facebook event for the page reads.

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