Vancouver's legendary developer and philanthropist Nat Bosa and his wife Flora have bought the historic Fairmont Empress Hotel, bringing it home into B.C. hands.
Bosa toured his new Victoria property today, greeted by 14 senior managers all wearing running shoes because they heard their new boss is fast-moving.
"She's a lovely old princess but we are going to make her look better than she even is," Bosa said in the hotel today.
The 106-year-old Empress Hotel was designed by Francis Rattenbury, also architect for B.C.'s legislative building, and was built to be one of the chateau-style hotels in Canadian Pacific Railway's stable.
It was most recently owned by Ivanhoe Cambridge, a subsidiary of Quebec's Caisse de depot pension fund manager, which bought the Empress in 2007. Ivanhoe Cambridge put the Empress on the market, at an undisclosed price, in a move to reduce its hotel holdings.
Bosa is not revealing how much he paid. The 477-room Empress is assessed at $89.9 million, putting it in the top league of value for Victoria-area properties.
A renowned developer, Bosa Development Corp. is well known for its condominium projects in the Vancouver area, Whistler, Calgary and California. It is also a property management firm.
This is Bosa's first hotel.
Why did he buy it?
"I was trying to find a reason not to," he said with a smile. "Then my wife got on the website and she said, 'Look, there's not very many complaints about the hotel ... So I guess she had a little bit of influence with me. It didn't take much convincing though."
The hotel, with its 500 staff, is a must-see on any tourist agenda. "It's a fabulous hotel. The bones are great," Bosa said.
The hotel is an iconic building and it is a privilege to own it, he said.
"Every once in a while something appears in front of you. If you happen to have the capability at the time, we do certain things that many other times we would find excuses why it is not right.
"So let's just say that everything seemed to have come together at this point."
Asked if he is planning to buy more hotels, Bosa replied, "Why would I want any other hotel? What fun would that be? This is not just another hotel. This is Victoria. This is B.C. This is history."
Friday's visit was Bosa's third to the hotel, a National Historic site.
"We are going to come up with a master plan. We are not going to rush into anything. We are going to think it through," he said.
"I would say that our plan is to implement whatever we plan to do as soon as possible, while not rushing and make mistakes."
Fairmont, the Long-term Empress manager, remains in place.
The sale closed Friday morning, just 20 days after Bosa expressed a serious interest in the property. The transaction was "remarkably fast," said Richard Weir, executive vice-president of real estate and development for Bosa Developments.
