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Peter Wall is a property developer in Vancouver, Canada who, during the 1990s and 2000s, has been a significant and controversial player in the city's real estate boom. He has been described as "a leading contributor to Vancouver's 'City of Glass' reputation", as over the course of a couple of decades the economic and social profile of Canada's major West Coast city was transformed, and with it, its urban skyline.[1] Wall rejects the label "developer", however, and has stated that he "just make[s] some money investing in business ideas and projects".[2]

Wall migrated from Eastern Europe to Canada as a child shortly after the Second World War. During the 1990s, when Vancouver was changing from a provincial port tied to the British Columbian lumber industry to a major multicultural gateway for immigrants from around the Pacific Rim, Wall and his company Wall Financial Corporation helped revitalize the city's downtown. In the process, Wall benefitted from and propelled a property boom that continues to this day, for which he has earned criticism and praise in equal measure.

Today, he is seen as a colourful character and has has been described as the city's "ultimate business maverick",[2] while the award-winning hotel and condominium tower, One Wall Centre, is seen as his crowning achievement. At the time of its construction, the skyscraper was the highest in Canada west of Toronto, and today it remains Vancouver's tallest completed building.[3] He is known for his flamboyance and business acumen, his legal scrapes as well as his personal and public generosity. He has been a significant donor to his alma mater, the University of British Columbia, and in 1991 provided them with what was at the time their largest received private donation.

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[edit] Biography

Wall was born to a German Mennonite family in Ukraine, and spent his childhood in Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Austria. In 1948, he immigrated to Canada with his mother and five siblings (his father fell victim to Stalinist repression). The family settled in Abbotsford, British Columbia.[2] He enrolled at the University of British Columbia in 1958, where he studied chemistry, however he did not finished the degree course.[4] Given C$6,000 by his mother to build a house, he sold it for $13,000 before she could even move in and, he has stated, "discovered right then how easy it was to make money in the real-estate business".[5] Despite his early exit from academia, his association with the university has continued: in 1991 he donated $15 million to the institution, at the time the largest private donation UBC had ever received.[6] With this gift, the University founded the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. In 1995, UBC bestowed upon him an honorary doctorate; Wall's degree citation described him as having "a creative and innovative mind which allows him to bring unconventional solutions to otherwise insoluble problems".[7]

As of 2008, Wall lives in Vancouver, where he has regularly been ranked as the highest-paid executive in the city. In both 1998 and 1999 he earned $1.4 million, although there have been years in which he has earned less, as his salary is linked to the firm's pre-tax profits.[8] He is frequently described as "flamboyant" and is known for his "outspoken opinions, designer clothes, German accent, in-your-face enthusiasm and self-confessed love of spending money".[8] The Vancouver Sun has called him the "Condo king", interviewing him while he leant "on the fender of a special-edition Bentley Turbo-R sedan that cost '$300,000 or $320,000 but -- what's it matter? -- they're only worth a hundred [$100,000], anyway.'"[9] His approach to business has resulted in occasional conflict; he himself is quoted as saying "I have been a bit impulsive at times and I do want to be more respectful of my fellow man".[2] He is also known for his generosity, sometimes on impulse: in 2002 he gave a friend a Rolls Royce convertible simply so the man would not have to walk to a meeting.[10]

[edit] Wall Financial Corporation

Founded in 1969 as "Wall & Redekop Corp.",[11] Wall Financial Corporation has been described as "a barometer of [Vancouver's] strong real estate market".[11] Some however, have argued that Wall and his firm have created as much as they have reflected the city's real estate boom: Wall has reportedly been "blamed by many of his peers for driving up land values".[12] Peter Wall stepped down as Director and Chairman of the Board in 2005, and is now listed as its Consultant and Advisor.[13]

[edit] Vancouver real estate

Peter Wall's good fortune, although due also to his hard work and business intelligence,[14] should be understood in the context of Vancouver's remarkable real estate boom of the 1990s and 2000s. The first two elements in Vancouver's late-20th-century transformation were the influx from Hong Kong and a dense downtown core that the city was interested in further developing, and the third was what social planner Baldwin Wong called "a combination of developers’ expertise and the injection of new capital into the market".[15] This was where men such as (particularly) Peter Wall came to the fore, playing a "foundational role in the (re-)introduction of a residency purpose to the downtown peninsula".[16]


[edit] Construction projects

One Wall Centre, a two-tone tower 137 metres (450 ft) tall
One Wall Centre, a two-tone tower 137 metres (450 ft) tall
Main article: One Wall Centre

Wall's most famous building is One Wall Centre, part of the Wall Centre Complex in downtown Vancouver; the building was completed in 2001 and has been called "the crowning achievement of his life's work".[17] Wall's other construction projects have included Capitol Residences, a 42-storey condominium tower on the site of Vancouver's Capitol Theatre, which incorporates an extension to the city's Orpheum Theatre. Among Wall's innovations have been to offer a car-sharing plan to attract buyers to one of his properties, in what was called "a strategy to sell yet more condos in a market that analysts say may be getting saturated".[18]

Wall's friend Bob Rennie, another claimant to the "condo king" title who has worked extensively with the developer, has described "Wall's model" as "'take a prime location and undersize the suites a bit'".[19]

There have been criticisms of the Vancouver real estate boom, for allegedly increasing the divide between the city's rich and poor,[20] and though many argue that it is a bubble about to burst,[21]

[edit] Philanthropy

Wall is known for his philanthropy. Even before his donation to found the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of British Columbia, he had already donated $1 million to his alma mater.[22] He also provides financial support to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind[23] and helped the renowned Canadian architect Arthur Erickson keep tenancy of his house and garden after a bankruptcy.[24]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Anonymous 2008. For Vancouver as a "city of glass", see Coupland 2000.
  2. ^ a b c d Ford 2002a
  3. ^ By the end of 2008, One Wall Centre will be overtaken by the 61-storey tower, Living Shangri-La.
  4. ^ For the date, see Weder 2001; for the fact that he did not finish the degree, see Ford 2002a, where he is said to have been studying Pharmacy.
  5. ^ Ford 2002a; Weder 2001 has a slightly different version of the same story
  6. ^ “UBC donation”, Financial Post (Toronto): 4, April 12, 1991, <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=267746651&sid=3&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD>. Retrieved on 2008-05-26 
  7. ^ “Honorary Degree Citations, 1992-1995”, UBC Archives, University of British Columbia, <http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/hdcites/hdcites10.html>. Retrieved on 2008-05-27 
  8. ^ a b Hasselback 2000
  9. ^ Parry, Malcolm (March 1, 2007), “Condo King Wall wants 'Everybody to Make Money'”, The Vancouver Sun: C.5, <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1226325761&sid=4&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD>. Retrieved on 2008-05-27 
  10. ^ Parry, Malcolm (June 28, 2002), “Help yourself to the Rolls-Royce: Developer Peter Wall Told Pal Rob Macdonald to 'Take my Car'”, The Vancouver Sun: D.4, <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=225385941&sid=7&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD>. Retrieved on 2008-05-27 
  11. ^ a b Schreiner 1989
  12. ^ Chow, Wyng (October 27, 2003), “Surging Demand for Condos brings Ever-Higher Land Prices”, The Vancouver Sun: F.3, <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=436314041&sid=6&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD>. Retrieved on 2008-05-27 
  13. ^ “Executive Profile: Peter Wall”, BusinessWeek, <http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=8093303&symbol=WFC.TO>. Retrieved on 2008-05-27 
  14. ^ His "ability to divine [Vancouver's] ultra-competitive downtown development market" is described as "uncanny" by Ashley Ford (Ford 2002b); realtor Bob Rennie has said that "no one can anticipate the market more precisely than Peter Wall" (Ford 2002a).
  15. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named smith
  16. ^ Anonymous 2008
  17. ^ Mackie & Reeder 2003, p. 17
  18. ^ Kennedy, Paul (April 7, 2003), “Pooled Cars Latest Twist in Condo Marketing”, The Globe and Mail (Toronto): B.3, <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1059817561&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD>. Retrieved on 2008-05-27 
  19. ^ Sasges, Michael (May 3, 2008), “The Old Will Become New Again: Remaking '80s Tower Creates Noteworthy Homes”, The Vancouver Sun: K.2, <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1473565631&sid=4&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD>. Retrieved on 2008-05-27 . On Rennie as "condo king", see the profile in Hanley, William (February 25, 2006), “Rennie a Winner at Vancouver's Main Game: Flogging Condos a Full-Contact Sport”, National Post (Toronto): FW.5, <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=993863041&sid=3&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD>. Retrieved on 2008-05-28 . On another occasion, Rennie described "the characteristic Wall formula" as "Great location, smaller suites. Put in a Sub-Zero fridge and a Wolf range with red knobs, and they'll line up to buy it".<ref>{{Harvnb|Parry|2008}}</li> <li id="cite_note-19">'''[[#cite_ref-19|^]]''' {{citation|last= McMartin |first= Pete |title= Locals Lose Out in City that's a Victim of its Own Success |newspaper= The Vancouver Sun |date= [[April 1]], [[2006]] |year= 2006 |page= B.1 |url= http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1014156701&sid=3&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD |accessdate= [[2008-05-28]] }}</li> <li id="cite_note-20">'''[[#cite_ref-20|^]]''' See {{citation|last= McCarthy |first= Bill |title= Local Housing Market will Reflect U.S. Problems |newspaper= Burnaby Now |date= [[April 23]], [[2008]] |year= 2008 |page= 16 |url= http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1468669181&sid=6&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD |accessdate= [[2008-05-28]] }} and, for a national view that also encompasses Vancouver, {{citation|last= Holloway |first= Andy |title= Safe as Houses? |journal= Canadian Business |place= Toronto |date= [[April 28]], [[2008]] |year= 2008 |volume= 81 |issue= 7 |pages= 42-43 |url= http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1484084721&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD |accessdate= [[2008-05-28]] }}.</li> <li id="cite_note-21">'''[[#cite_ref-21|^]]''' {{citation|last= Parry |first= Malcolm |title= Wilson's NDP Opponent White Has a Way with Wordsmiths |newspaper= The Vancouver Sun |date= [[October 17]], [[1991]] |year= 1991 |page= A.2 |url= http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=182168591&sid=4&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD |accessdate= [[2008-05-27]] }}</li> <li id="cite_note-22">'''[[#cite_ref-22|^]]''' {{citation|last= O'Connor |first= Elaine |title= The Man behind the Deal |newspaper= The Province |date= [[March 23]], [[2004]] |year= 2004 |page= A.5 |url= http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=593083861&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD |accessdate= [[2008-05-27]] }}</li> <li id="cite_note-23">'''[[#cite_ref-23|^]]''' {{Harvnb|Easton|Laskin|Mandell|2001| p= 109}}</li></ol></ref>

[edit] References