BC Business
A rendering of Coleman's proposed arena
A rendering of Coleman’s proposed arena
The Seattle… Space Needles?A proposal for an NHL team in Seattle has been once again revived, this time led by a Vancouver-born, L.A.-based real estate developer. It’s one of two proposals for a Seattle area team as the league’s deadline for new team proposals looms, according to a report in the Hockey News. In the lead up to the July 20 deadline for bid proposals for new NHL teams, two Seattle bidders—with a $10 million application fee, $2 million of which is non-refundable—are seriously interested in bringing a professional hockey team to Puget Sound. The first of those bids, by investment banker Ray Bartoszek, seeks to build an arena in Bellevue, the suburb across the lake from Seattle. The Second, led by Canadian Victor Coleman, would place a new arena a few blocks south or Mariner Field. The fee alone for a new team is $500 million, while the stadium would cost another $500 million—of which Coleman, in the past, has said he hopes the city will pay $200 million. As for the proximity to Vancouver: “The expansion of the NHL into the Pacific Northwest, with Vancouver and the presiding area, makes it a perfect fit,” he told KING/5 last August. “There are built-in synergies. That’s a ‘Day 1’ rivalry.”
Million-dollar fire saleAt the frothy end of Vancouver’s real estate market, not only are prices eye-watering but million-dollar properties are changing hands at a rapid rate. According to a new report from Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, 2,465 homes sold for more than $1 million in the first six months of the year, a 48 per cent increase over the same period last year. The average detached house on Vancouver’s west side sold for $2.4 million in 2014. And at the top of the market, the $4 million-plus category, the number of units sold in the first six months of 2015 jumped by 71 per cent over last year.
Bovine justiceA year after a startling video of cow torture at a Chilliwack Farm made the rounds online, the B.C. government is adding rules for the caretaking of dairy cows and stiff penalties for acts of cruelty. Anyone convicted of causing distress to an animal can face up to $75,000 in fines or 24 months in prison, new penalties which were lauded by the B.C. SPCA and the B.C. Dairy Association. As for the instance of cruelty last June, eight employees at the farm ultimately lost their jobs.