Westbank Projects, development firm....Asian Influenced, hmmm ?

We have been a private investor in Westbank since 1999 and applaud Ian Gillespie's energy and professionalism. - 太太

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Ian Gillespie, the youthful head of the successful Westbank Projects development firm, has never lost the instinct to run hard and 'think outside the box' the way we do which is why we have a long standing relationship.

 

The opening line was briefly visible this week, but now is carefully covered up. It reads: "lying on top of a building ... the clouds looked no nearer

When injury brought an end to a highly promising middle-distance running career, the now 40-year-old Gillespie simply exchanged his spikes for more sedate business shoes and kept on running.

With 28 profitable real-estate development ventures behind him and some spectacular new ones under way, Gillespie is your quintessential modern-day business warrior with a strong sense of decency and a desire to leave his construction and design mark on Vancouver.

"My message to any young person entering the business world is they should focus on building strong, lasting relationships with the people around them," he says. "When you surround yourself with a small group of people, all of whom have a high level of trust in one another, you will succeed."

With $1.2 billion in completed or currently under development projects, Gillespie has been content to beaver away largely out of the glare of publicity. At least up until now.

Teaming with Shaw Communications Inc. and construction giant Ledcor Properties to build the $150-million Shaw Tower on the Vancouver waterfront in Coal Harbour has thrust Gillespie into the limelight.

He wants to leave his mark through architectural excellence, and long-term friend and architect James K. M. Cheng has designed a spectacular flat-iron-style building that will dominate the harbour skyline.

Construction on the ambitious 149-metre residential/work tower, the highest in the city so far, is under way. The 40-storey tower will have 16 levels of offices.

Realtor Bob Rennie, who works with Gillespie on his developments, says Gillespie is a very unassuming but extremely creative person: "He really understands that architecture is important and sells. When you look at a postcard from Vancouver in 2005 it will show the Shaw Tower and the Five Sails of Canada Harbour Place. That will be one of Gillespie's marks on the town."

Gillespie, who is also building the largest U.S. mixed-use complex west of the Mississippi in Bellevue, Wash., says he doesn't build purely for development sake.

"Land use, responsible land use, with well-designed buildings is important. There are plenty of examples of crappy land use," he says.

So how did a kid who grew up in Port Coquitlam and became a runner get into the hurly burly life of a developer?

After a brief stint on a track scholarship at Cal State -- 800 metres was his distance -- he got hurt and came home where he trained with Dr. Doug Clement, whom he describes as a friend and mentor. Leg surgery followed and he nearly made the Olympic team in 1984, coming third at trials. "Only two went," he says.

Running career over, Gillespie turned to completing a business degree at the University of B.C. and then an MBA at the University of Toronto before learning the real-estate ropes at Schroeder Properties in Vancouver.

"I decided to strike out by myself in the early '90s," he said.

He struck up a relationship with Hok Meng Heah, a businessman running Abbey Woods Development Ltd. -- the Canadian property arm of Asian business baron Robert Kuok. "Mr. Heah taught me a great deal about business," he says.

Teaming with Heah and the Kuoks was fruitful and they went on to develop a series of high-profile and profitable projects in Greater Vancouver, including the $100-million Residences on Georgia, the $66-million twin tower Palisades downtown and the $32-million Ironwood Plaza in Richmond among others.

When the Kuoks shifted their business activities from property to high tech, Gillespie successfully engineered a buyout of Abbey Woods and took the firm private. "I don't believe real-estate companies should be public," he says.

Gillespie says he is not really in business to make money. "I never dreamed I would be as successful as I have. But I am in this because of a love for the creative process."

He admits his creative juices rarely stop flowing and often wakes up in the night thinking about new ways to do things.

Is there any chance the U.S. might lure him away permanently? "Never! To do business yes, but never to live."

The profit margins may be better in the U.S. but Canadians are better in construction. "My experience in the U.S. has only made me more patriotic as a Canadian," he says.   - by  Ashley Ford       THE PROVINCE       30 June 2002

  Photo by Malcolm Parry 2009 November
Concord Pacific's Terry Hui with Westbank's Ian Gillespie