OmniTRAX president and real estate developer, Patrick Broe …

A real estate developer?

Others undoubtedly saw that line and took in its full meaning. But I had focused on Broe as president of a U.S. railway company, OmniTRAX, who was bidding for BCRail. And who, rumour says, was offered a substantial consolation prize for losing out. Or being pushed out. Or something.

OmniTRAX had trains in the U.S., but had only just begun its quest for a Canadian empire. OmniTRAX had obtained ownership of Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill. What a deal that was, with the Arctic Ocean opening up because of global warming. Today is July 14, 2009 and today I think Pat Broe is a real estate developer who knows more than we do about how railways lead to real estate.

News item in BUSINESS WIRE for March 15, 2004: Broe begins land division with initial operations focused on Intermodal, Rail Related … Read about it HERE.

So OmniTRAX president, Pat Broe, is a major real estate developer. Early in 2002, he was meeting with, and corresponding with Gordon Campbell and promoting OmniTRAX as an attractive partner in Gordo’s vision for B.C. prosperity.

Broe, as OmniTRAX, already owned a small railway in the Okanagan, plus Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill. HBRY is 810 miles of former CN track, from The Pas to Churchill, Canada’s only Arctic seaport [www.portofchurchill.ca] Broe’s OmniTRAX took possession of the whole shebang, port and rail line, by paying $10. to the Canadian federal government in September 1997. Ten bucks.

Gordon Campbell, the Vancouver real estate developer, formed the BC government in 2001 and immediately began talking about selling BCRail. Pat Broe must have zeroed in very quickly.

Then Erik Bornman enters the scene by registering with Gordo’s B.C. government as a consultant lobbyist representing the Broe Companies. Bornman busies himself looking for B.C. investment opportunities in economic development and trade, such as rail transportation.

Soon Pat Broe, Dwight Johnson are having dinner with the B.C. Minister of Finance, Gary Collins. For some reason, police wanted to know what those men were discussing. There were RCMP inside the Villa del Lupa restaurant as well as outside, making videos of that meeting. Thank goodness.

Today is July 14, 2009 when various spectacular BC Rail properties can be scooped by CN for $1. Or so we hear.

I think that maybe Collins, Broe, and Johnson were talking, in a roundabout way, about land, lots and lotsa land to be had for 1/10th the cost of the Hudson Bay Railway plus Port of Churchill.

Pat Broe is a real estate developer.

- BC Mary.

“”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”

lynx has left a new comment on your post “Give me land, lots of land, under starry skies above …”:

In light of what BC Mary has just written – here is an excerpt from hansard between Joy MacPhail and Gary Collins: (Read between the lines and think real estate deal and it reads a whole new way.)

J. MacPhail (Leader of the Opposition): I have two concluding questions. These are a follow-up from my questions around lobbying. The minister said he never met with Pilothouse. Did he ever meet with anyone from Omnitrax itself?

Hon. G. Collins (Minister of Finance): Yes. I have met with Pat Broe prior to the B.C. Rail transaction process starting. I met with him once after the B.C. Rail transaction had completed.

J. MacPhail: Boy, I’m sure glad I get the questions right. Is the minister aware of any of his staff that met with Omnitrax on his behalf?

Hon. G. Collins: I’m not aware of that, whether it would have happened or not — certainly not on my behalf. I wouldn’t have directed anybody to do that.

J. MacPhail: And Pat Broe is whom?

Hon. G. Collins: He’s the owner, president and CEO, I think, of Broe Companies, of which Omnitrax is a subsidiary.

J. MacPhail: What were the two meetings about?

Hon. G. Collins: The first meeting was, “Hi, this is who I am,” on his part. “I’d like to come and invest in British Columbia. I think what you guys are doing makes sense. It looks like a great place for me to invest. I’m interested in all sorts of things.” Just a general get-to-know-you type of meeting. I have those regularly with potential investors in British Columbia, if they want to come and talk. It’s more of a welcome, get-to-know-you, individual meeting.

After the transaction had closed, Mr. Broe wanted to tell us that despite not winning the B.C. Rail contract,, he would be interested in continuing to be part of British Columbia, if he could — similar to the prior meeting.

J. MacPhail: Was Mr. Basi present at either of those meetings?

Hon. G. Collins: No.

J. MacPhail: Who staffed the minister?

Hon. G. Collins: I rarely take staff with me. I think it’s a waste of their time for the most part when I travel or when I meet with them. Sometimes I do; sometimes I don’t. It depends on what the need is. I had a dinner, and I didn’t feel I needed staff at a dinner.

J. MacPhail: Was the minister aware that Omnitrax was bidding on the B.C. Rail spur line to Roberts Bank during that period of time?

Hon. G. Collins: No, I wasn’t. I knew they were generally looking to do investments in British Columbia. We certainly didn’t talk in any great detail about any of their proposals. Rather, it was a general discussion of things they might do in British Columbia. They were still interested in British Columbia. They were disappointed, obviously, that they weren’t the successful bidder on CN, but they wanted to continue to have a presence in British Columbia. They were looking for things they might do.

There are a whole range of things they might do. I hope at some point that they are part of that.

http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/2009/07/give-me-land-lots-of-land-under-starry.html

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC Canadian Funding Corp CEO

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that sales of detached, attached and apartment properties increased 75.6 per cent in June 2009 to 4,259, from the 2,425 sales recorded in June 2008. The figure is just short of the record-breaking 4,333 sales which occurred in June 2005.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined 17.9 per cent to 5,372 in June 2009 compared to June 2008, when 6,546 new units were listed. However, new listings increased 13.5 per cent from May to June of this year. Total active listings in Greater Vancouver currently sit at 13,252, down 27 per cent from June 2008 and 2.9 per cent below the active listings count at the end of May 2009.

“Price reductions and low interest rates have created an improvement in affordability, which is causing the number of sales to rise to levels comparable to 2003 to 2007,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said.

“Many people who were reluctant to purchase a home last fall and earlier this year are returning to the market because they see conditions that appeal to their personal and financial needs,” Russell said. “However, the current marketplace is such that buyers are more inclined to walk if they don’t like the terms of an offer.”

Residential benchmark prices, as calculated by the MLSLink® Housing Price Index, declined 8.2 per cent to $518,855 in June 2009 compared to June 2008.

The number of sales of detached properties increased 81.6 per cent to 1,667 from the 918 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties declined 8.4 per cent to $701,384 in June 2009 compared to June 2008.

The number of sales of apartment properties in June 2009 increased 69.3 per cent to 1,790, compared to 1,057 sales in June 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 8.2 per cent from June 2008 to $356,880.

The number of attached property sales in June 2009 increased 78.2 per cent to 802, compared with the 450 sales in June 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit declined 7.3 per cent between June 2009 and 2008 to $441,620.

Bright spots in Greater Vancouver in June 2009 compared to June 2008:

Detached:

Burnaby up 109.7 per cent (151 units sold from 72)

Coquitlam up 122.2 per cent (160 units sold from 72)

Delta – South up 107.7 per cent (56 units sold from 27)

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows up 54.3 per cent (162 units sold from 105)

New Westminster up 104.8 per cent (43 units sold from 21)

North Vancouver up 96.2 per cent (153 units sold from 78)

Port Moody/ Belcarra up 120 per cent (33 units sold from 15)

Richmond up 77.4 per cent (204 units sold from 115)

Squamish up 107.7 per cent (27 units sold from 13)

Sunshine Coast up 33.9 per cent (75 units sold from 56)

Vancouver East up 71.2 per cent (238 units sold from 139)

Vancouver West up 85.2 per cent (200 units sold from 108)

West Vancouver/Howe Sound up 117.8 per cent (98 units sold from 45)

Attached:

Burnaby up 81.8 per cent (140 units sold from 77)

Coquitlam up 80 per cent (54 units sold from 30)

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows up 48.6 per cent (55 units sold from 37)

North Vancouver up 121.2 per cent (73 units sold from 33)

Port Coquitlam up 82.6 per cent (42 units sold from 23)

Port Moody/ Belcarra up 77.3 per cent (39 units sold from 22)

Richmond up 84.5 per cent (155 units sold from 84)

Vancouver East up 118.5 per cent (59 units sold from 27)

Vancouver West up 121.8 per cent (122 units sold from 55)

Apartments:

Burnaby up 60.4 per cent (239 units sold from 149)

Coquitlam up 93.9 per cent (95 units sold from 49)

New Westminster up 57.1 per cent (121 units sold from 77)

North Vancouver up 71.4 per cent (120 units sold from 70)

Port Coquitlam up 58.1 per cent (49 units sold from 31)

Port Moody/Belcarra up 128.6 per cent (48 units sold from 21)

Richmond up 54.1 per cent (225 units sold from 146)

Vancouver East up 58.7 per cent (165 units sold from 104)

Vancouver West up 87.2 per cent (627 units sold from 335)

West Vancouver/Howe Sound up 155.6 per cent (23 units sold from 9)

http://vancouverspaces.com/07/real-estate-board-june/

brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

Updated Wed. Apr. 8 2009 6:40 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A recession-cooled Canadian real estate market saw falling housing prices during the first quarter of the year, though the declines were not as steep as expected.

A quarterly house price survey, released Wednesday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services, showed national price declines in several major housing types compared to the same quarter in 2008.

According to the survey numbers:

* The price of a standard two-storey home dropped 6.5 per cent
* The price of a detached bungalow fell 6.1 per cent
* The price of a standard condominium declined by 4 per cent

Royal LePage Real Estate Services President Phil Soper said the data shows the hottest housing market to be in St. John’s, where prices for standard two-storey homes rose 15 per cent year over year.

“Consumer confidence drives a lot of activity in the housing market and they remain a very confident lot, and there’s still a supply shortage of homes for sale there,” he told CTV’s Canada AM.

Soper said other markets in Atlantic Canada also performed steadily, due in part to the region’s affordable housing prices and to an increasingly diverse regional economy.

“Halifax, Moncton, Saint John, N.B., are all healthy markets,” he said.

“The economies have really diversified over the last 15 years and it’s showing up in terms of steadier prices.”

In Ontario and Quebec, Royal LePage said the markets “held steady” with some small gains and declines. But overall, Ontario typically saw “mid to low single digit declines” in its housing prices, the survey said.

The survey said that Western provinces saw “significant changes” in real estate prices, with double-digit declines in many areas. Manitoba was the lone major exception to this trend.

The survey predicted that B.C. and Alberta may be among the first areas in Canada to see pricing gains because those provinces experienced market corrections prior to the brunt of the economic crisis.

Soper said the first quarter of 2009 was, overall, one of the worst-performing sales periods for real estate in recent memory.

But he said Canadian realtors have high hopes for an improvement in the national market this spring.

“There is a remarkable uptick in March in buying activity in the marketplace, compared to November, December, January, February, (which) were easily the worst four months in the last decade in terms of housing market activity,” he said.

Out west, the declines were particularly severe, Soper said.

“In Vancouver, the activity level in the province was down by half,” Soper said.

“Fifty per cent of the transactions just disappeared over those four months. So, now we’re only down 25 per cent in March, that’s a remarkable turnaround in one month.”

The survey also said that condominiums have become “increasingly accessible” for young homeowners across Canada, due to a combination of low lending rates and falling prices during the recession.

In the first quarter of 2009, the average price of a standard Canadian condominium was $232, 877 — a mid-point price on a scale that ranged from $120,000 in Charlottetown to $431,500 in Vancouver.

http://www.johnhutton.ca/?p=84

brought to the blog by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

Amongst the highest donors were Madison Pacific Properties and The Maple Bay Townhomes Corporation each donating $100,000.

According to Business Week Magazine, Madison Pacific Properties “engages in the ownership, development, and operation of industrial and commercial real estate properties,” the majority located in Metro Vancouver.

As of December 31, 2007, the company’s property portfolio contained 1.1 million square feet of net rentable area in industrial properties; 395,708 square feet of net rentable area in highway-commercial properties; and 81,149 square feet of rentable area in office properties.

In 2007, the company generated over $19.8 million in revenue.

Sam Grippo, chairman of Madison Pacific Properties, is also president and CEO of Madison Venture Corporation, a company that operates business and tourist publications as well as community newspapers. Madison Venture also gave to the Liberal party with a donation of $10,000.

Grippo is also chairman of Glacier Ventures, which had company shares acquired by Madison Venture. Glacier Ventures owns daily and weekly community newspapers including Business in Vancouver and, also in B.C.:

Whistler Question, Squamish Chief, Lillooet Bridge River News, the Sunshine Coast Reporter, the Powell River Peak, Nelson Daily News, West Kootenay Weekender, Cranbrook Daily Townsman, Kimberley Daily Bulletin, East Kootenay Weekly Extra, East Kootenay Weekly Weekender, Trail Times, Fernie Free Press, Grand Forks Gazette, Grand Forks Boundary Bulletin, Creston Valley Advance, Kamloops Daily News, Kamloops The Extra, Prince George Citizen, Prince George This Week, Prince George Extra, Alaska Highway News, North Peace Express, The Northerner, Peace River Block News, The Regional Advertiser, The Northern Horizon, The Mirror, Prince Rupert Daily News, Merritt News, Cariboo Advisor, Quesnel Advisor, 100 Mile House Advisor, Coast Mountain Advisor, the Real Estate Weekly and Kodiak Press.

Another member of the 100K club is businessperson Milan Ilich who donated $253,050.

Ilich is president of Progressive Contracting Ltd., a construction and development company. Progressive Contracting made a separate donation of $9,750 to the B.C. Liberal party. Ilich is also former owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps and is related to Olga Ilich, Richmond Centre MLA. Prior to being MLA, Olga Ilich was an executive vice-president of Progressive Contracting.

Ilich has been a loyal contributor to the Liberals donating over $70,000 in 2005 and in 2006 went on to donate over $17,000. He donated over $53,000 in 2007.

Ilich’s company, Progressive Contracting, recently submitted a bid of over $323,000 to the Greater Vancouver Sewage and Drainage District to provide “earth moving equipment.” Ilich and his wife Maureen have given to a number of causes through the Maureen and Milan Foundation. Both the Richmond Hospital Foundation and the Richmond Community Centre Transportation Program are previous causes to which the foundation has given.

Other donors of the real estate and construction company variety included Dunkley Lumber, a lumber product corporation that distributes all over North America, its location focused in Prince George, B.C. The lumber distribution company donated over $40,000 to the Liberal party in 2008.

In 2008, Dunkley Lumber constructed “a fully automated lumber grading system, along with additional trimsaws, a second sorting system, autostacker, banding and paperwrapping stations. This investment has provided significant gains with respect to efficiency, recovery, consistency and flexibility,” said the Dunkley Lumber webpage.

Dunkley Lumber also donated over $35,000 in 2005 and just over $20,000 in 2007. Delta Land Development, located in Vancouver, donated $42,000 last year. The company is a North American branch of the Delta Group, an international real-estate development company with offices located in Singapore, London and Shanghai.

The company is responsible for the construction and completion of Callitso, a massive apartment suite on Coal Harbour and a number of other projects within B.C. including the Conservatory in Oakridge Vancouver.

Delta Land Development donated over $30,000 in 2006 and in 2007, the company donated $33,000 to the B.C. Liberals.

Rennie Marketing System, a company responsible for handling the assets of real-estate properties and the manufacturing and selling of condominiums all over B.C. donated just under $30,000 to the B.C. Liberals.

The company has donated thousands of dollars to the Liberals in the past, with over $30,000 in 2007 and $1,550 in 2005.

Led by Bob Rennie, the company has managed to sell $1 billion in property in the last four years and has sales teams all over B.C.

Burnco Construction gave the Liberal party a donation of more than $20,000 in 2008. The company specializes in the manufacturing of rock and concrete bi-products made for industrial construction and is the largest independent supplier of ready-mix concrete in Canada with offices all over B.C. and Canada.

The company has also contributed to the party in the past with over $4,000 dollars in both 2007 and 2006.

Other companies who broke the $20,000 mark in political donations to the Liberal party included Polygon Homes, donating $22, 250 in 2008. In 2005, the company donated $25,000 and roughly $18,000 in 2006. The company went on to donate over $18,000 in 2007. The company has contributed over $85,000 to the B.C. Liberals since 2005.

In 2008, Concord properties donated $26,000. They also have been a generous donor in the past, having donated over $80,000 to the B.C. Liberals in 2005. The company also donated over $12,000 dollars in 2006 and over $14,000 in 2007.

Maple Bay Townhomes donated $100,000 to the B.C. Liberals in 2008 with no previous donations in past years.

While many donors to the BC Liberals are in the business of building homes, one other very supportive group is all about what’s parked in the garages.

The B.C. Association of New Car Dealers donated $107,000 to the BC Liberals last year.

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/BC-Politics/2009/05/08/Builders-real-estate-firms-gave-big-to-BC-Liberals/

“The majority of the decline in home prices has already occurred,” said association chief economist Cameron Muir, in a report released on Tuesday.

“Balanced markets are emerging in Victoria, Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. There’s now little downward pressure on home prices in these areas,” said Muir.

As a result, the real estate association has revised its forecast for the year, predicting the average listed price for a residential property in B.C. will decline eight per cent to $420,600 in 2009, instead of 13 per cent as originally forecasted at the beginning of the year.

Prices have stabilized because of increased demand, with seasonally adjusted home sales raising over the past three months, according to Muir.

“First-time buyers were largely absent in the late fall and winter, making it more difficult for move-up buyers to sell their current homes. The chain of ownership is now being oiled,” he said.

Lower home prices and record low interest rates have reduced the carrying cost of the average priced home 24 per cent over the last year, according to Muir.

“A significant increase in affordability has brought many first-time buyers into the market,” he said.

Muir expects stronger consumer demand to continue for the balance of the year and residential sales in 2010 to climb 10 per cent.
Moishe Alexander’s report.

http://www.victoriarealestate.ca/falling-prices-in-bcs-real-estate-market-are-levelling-off