“If the Chinese market doesn’t want it, I have no interest in it” – Vancouver developer

By ThinkPol Staff

Vancouver developer Westbank is only interested in projects that are wanted in China, the marketing director of the company has admitted.

“It’s a hindrance that I don’t speak Mandarin for example, in sales,” Westbank’s Director of Marketing Michael Braun says on a blog post on the company’s website^[1]Original: http://westbankcorp.com/michael-braun, archive: http://archive.is/cwqJ8. “And there is always the fear, what if the China market blows up? But right now I have a rule when we talk about projects if the Chinese market doesn’t want it, I have no interest in it.”

Westbank and its owner Ian Gillespie have come under heavy criticism recently for catering to wealthy foreign buyers at the expense of taxpaying locals — a criticism that Braun has previously denied.

“Our goal with this project is to get people who are committed to the community – versus an investor-style product,” Westbank marketing director Michael Braun told The Globe and The Mail last March^[2]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/west-vancouver-real-estate-project-closes-locals-only-buying-period/article34984982/.

The project Braun was referring to was Westbank’s Sewell’s Landing project, which the developer was found to have been marketing offshore before permits were even in place^[3] https://globalnews.ca/news/2945647/horseshoe-bay-condo-development-to-target-local-buyers-only/.

It came to light recently that Westbank, owned by developer Ian Gillespie, is sponsoring the Asian Marine and Boating Awards Gala, held in conjunction with the The 23rd China (Shanghai) International Boat Show, days after a judge order another of Gillespie’s companies to pay $200,000 in unpaid bills to a local contractor^[4]https://thinkpol.ca/2018/04/29/vancouver-developer-sponsoring-yacht-gala-china-stiffing-local-contractors/.

Leaked documents revealed last year how Westbank pre-sold nearly a quarter of all units of its Kensington Garden project, aggressively marketed in Hong Kong, to flippers^[5]https://thinkpol.ca/2017/10/23/westbank-pre-sold-nearly-1-in-4-kensington-garden-condos-heavily-marketed-overseas-to-flippers/.

ThinkPol analysis of publicly available MLS data showed that speculators were flipping condo units at Vancouver House, another of Westbank’s other major development projects^[6]https://thinkpol.ca/2017/11/23/more-than-1-in-3-yaletown-condo-sales-appear-to-be-flips/.

Ian Gillespie is a major donor and fundraiser for politicians at all levels of government, including Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and the ruling Vision Vancouver party^[7]http://contributions.electionsbc.gov.bc.ca/pcs/SIGSearchResults.aspx?Contributor=IAN+GILLESPIE&EndorsedSK=0&Endorsed=(ALL)&EventSK=0&EventAlias=(ALL)&FilerTypeSK=0&FilerType=(ALL)&Class=0&OfficeSK=0&Office=(ALL)&JurisdictionTypeSK=0&JurisdictionType=(ALL)&JurisdictionSK=0&Jurisdiction=(ALL)&FilerSK=0&Filer=(ALL)&DateTo=&DateFrom=&DFYear=&DFMonth=&DFDay=&DTYear=&DTMonth=&DTDay=, both the BC Liberals and BC NDP^[8]http://contributions.electionsbc.gov.bc.ca/pcs/SA1ASearchResults.aspx?Contributor=IAN+GILLESPIE&PartySK=0&Party=(ALL)&ClassSK=0&ClassificationName=(ALL)&DateTo=&DateFrom=&DFYear=&DFMonth=&DFDay=&DTYear=&DTMonth=&DTDay=, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Liberal Party of Canada.