[mobglob-discuss] Press Release: Interpreting Olympic Business Lessons from Jack Poole

[Bella]

COLCO News 2003.02.20

COLCO: THE COALITION OF LEAKY CONDO OWNERS

COLCO: Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners  www.myleakycondo.com
P.O. Box 16041, New Westminster, B.C., V3M 6W6  Canada
T 604-739-4190   F 604-739-4109

Interpreting Olympic business lessons from
Jack Poole, Chair, Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation

By James Balderson, COLCO

"I've never been one to look too far ahead. Or to look back. Just focus on
what we need to do today and let the future look after itself" (1)

[Poole's Daon/BCED real estate empire, the third largest in North America 
at
the time, crashed due to unmanageable debt. Investor's who trusted in
Poole's abilities lost money.]

"There are a lot of U.S. buyers of real estate here right now and so if we
win [the bid], you're going to see another spike in buyer interest.  It's
going to bring so much attention to our city and to Whistler and to the
province. You'll see a lot of activity in the Okanagan ski resorts. In the
Kootenays. It's going to resonate around here. It's not just going to be 
in
Whistler. Whistler you could argue is really at capacity now, so prices 
are
going to go up." (1)

[Poole is Chairman of Concert. Concert is owned by 21 union and management
pension funds. Concert has already invested in hotel and resort properties
and hopes to build the Olympic Village.  Concert built leaky rotten condos
at Collingwood Village in Vancouver. The leaky condo owners have to pay 
for
the repairs to their Concert leaky condos. Concert advertises it is "a
developer with a difference". Concert is building a new condo tower at
Collingwood, The Nexus, with Bosa. Bosa has built leaky rotten condos.]

"I would think every real estate developer and owner needs to sit back
quietly and take a look at [the Olympic bid] again and say, 'How will it
impact me and what am I going to do with my business to maximize the
opportunities which are going to happen?'" (1)

[That's what Concert has done. After all, remember that the provincial
taxpayers are on the hook for guaranteeing Olympic infrastructure costs 
and
budget overruns. This is the deal of the century, make the most of it, 
take
your money and run with it. Don't let anyone interfere with your Olympic
dream to make it big during Campbell's new era.]

"[Getting the Olympics is]... a blood sport ... months of adrenaline." (2)

"This is very similar to bidding for a major real estate deal" (2)

"It's not a pleasant experience to see your own holdings and everybody
else's melt down. What it really demonstrates is that sometimes in 
business
you get punished for doing too much, for not knowing when to say enough's
enough." (3)

[But what the hell, that's history now. Besides, this time we have an
Olympic-sized government guarantee, and it's not my money. By the way, I
really do have a lot of sympathy for all those owners of leaky rotten
condos, but like my friend Gord says, they should forget about the leaky
condo fiasco and get on the Olympic bandwagon with us.]

REFERENCES
1. Canadian Property Management, BC Edition, December2002/January2003, p. 
6.
2. The Province, January 27, 2002, Final Edition.
3. Vancouver Sun, April 08, 1994, p. B8.






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