INVESTMENT
REAL ESTATE
BIV/IPSOS Don't know POLL se Strongly oppo pose Somewhat op se ort nor oppo Neither supp pport Somewhat su Survey finds businesses ort warming up Strongly supp to minimum wage raise in B.C. 3210% 0%
Minimum wage, maximum debate
Development dust-up
North of 49th North Growth Management Ltd. CEO Rudy North on your best bets for investing in 2011 3
Mohamed Ahmed targets city and developer in $10m lawsuit 5
YOUR WEEKLY SOURCE OF REGIONAL BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SINCE 1989 Local. Business. Intelligence. October 11–17, 2011 • Issue 1146
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Wind behind Surrey company’s growing turbine sales 3
Red flags over red tape
Business pushes for municipal AG 10 Issue 1107 � January 11–17, 2011
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n this second instalment of a three-part series, Business in Vancouver examines the additional layers of bureaucracy that will accompany Metro Vancouver’s recently adopted Regional Growth Strategy and the complications that Maureen Enser, Urban Development Institute executive director, and other business leaders see in it. The series’ first instalment examined how the plan could promote development via transportation and transit links (see “Banking on transit’s power to drive growth” – issue 1145; October 4-10). In next week’s BIV, instalment 3 will look at the impact on business from the Lower Mainland’s shrinking industrial land base.
Dominic Schaefer
Retailers down on daily digital deals Jalil Asaria and Dave Haboosheh RETAILnew Metro Vancouver driving taxi advertising vehicle 12
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Business in Vancouver special report – 6, 7
Glacier Media launches real estate website 14 How to narrow our housing affordability gap 40
Boundary tiff stalls flight plan Catherine Warren
Helping major media tap the 21st century power of audience participation Profile, page 43
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Selling the city Inaugural issue of BIV’s Vancouver Relocation Guide
Taseko trouble Class action lawsuit pondered
Outgoing Central 1 CFO Rowland Kelly on building the country’s credit union system 43
News, page 6
Better business builders
SAM LEUNG
Your guide to closing more deals; chocolate wars and leadership Business tool kit, page 36
Construction in Vancouver: quarterly industry roundup of news, views and analysis C1-C16
Pot applause; more on Moe money; everyone into the pension pool Letters, Holman, Milke
Op/ed, pages 40-41
Biggest retirement homes in B.C
Lynda Barr, director, Dianes Lingerie: doesn’t offer mass discounts to the lingerie retailer thinks such marketing Positive altitude: Alpha Aviation has through investeddaily moredeal thansites $24because million inshe Boundary Bay Airport since it tooklist control of the operation in 2004 ploys would diminish the store’s specialized, service-oriented brand Biggest interior
Biggest architecture firms in Metro Vancouver C6
>HostSubscriber of new websites details offering subscribers huge discounts at stores and other businesses >But merchants complain that the daily deal craze has Business in Vancouver Issue 1146 few long-term benefi ts for Vancouver’s 7 71114 retail 78312 sector 6 42 PM40069240 R8876 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Department: 102 East 4th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. v5t 1g2.
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Boundary Bay battling By Curt Cherewayko past as it looks to expand
its
ByAJoel McKay critical mass of consumers taking up
the offer is usually required for the offer to spectre from Boundary Bay Airport’s be completed. troubled past has re-emerged, a Like all businesses that sign upcreating to deliver potential threat to its bottom line. offers on such sites, Townsend’s favourite Seven years ago, Aviation entered restaurant hopes its Alpha discount offer will draw into a long-term lease with the Corp. of Delta a flood of new clientele. to operate theoff, airport. “At 50% they’re not making any Since then, the company built counta new money,” said Townsend, “sohas they’re terminal at Boundary Bay, updated its heriting like blazes that somebody is going to age hangar improved local infrastruccome back aand second time and cover off that ture to help existing businesses and attract loss.” new ones. But because Townsend’s a regular patron Butfavourite in July, the airport’s former leaseholdat her restaurant, she’ll continue to er, Boundary BayorAirport filed suit patronize it with withoutCorp., the discount. against Alpha in B.C. Supreme Court seeking2 see Groupon,
S>The airport’s former leaseholder A
haron Townsend points to her own use of “daily deal” websites to question just how beneficial their proliferation is to Vanhas filed a lawsuit against Alpha couver retailers. The South Granville Business ImproveAviation seeking $950,000, but ment Association executive director bought Alpha and Corporation of Delta a 50%-off mealthe coupon to her favourite Vansay they’re focused on building couver restaurant a few weeks back from one ofindustrial the city’s nearly dozenfor daily sites. capacity thedeal future Each site follows a similar model: it sends its subscriber base a daily deal, which usually includes discounts on goods or services that range between 30% and 90% at a particular store.
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design firms in Metro Vancouver $950,000 for an alleged breach of the C10 lease
purchase agreement. Subscriber details The suit, filed on behalf of a numbered company, claimed Alpha owed the former leaseholder $500,000 for a lease extension with Delta. It further alleged that Alpha aviation should pay the former leaseholder another $450,000 for an additional 10 acres of commercial development space Alpha took over since the original 2004 agreement was signed. But Alpha general manager Greg Fong Business in Vancouver isn’t worried about the suit, Issue even 1107 though his company7 has yet to78312 generate6 profit 71114 02 at the PM40069240 R8876 airport. RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION see B.C. Upgrades, DEPARTMENT: 102 EAST 4TH AVENUE, VANCOUVER, V5T 1G2. 5