The Salient Group

Vancouver Magazine: The Unlikely Revolutionary
Joel Solomon has put his millions, and those of a powerful circle including Rubbermaid heiress Carol Newell,into a new business-first socialism

Frances Bula
Vancouver Magazine
May 25, 2009

Across from Victory Square, a crowd is celebrating the reopening of the historic Flack Block, a monument to Vancouver’s gold-profiteering past that has been transformed into a home for people who believe in changing the world one socially responsible business at a time. Mayor Gregor Robertson, reading a proclamation honouring the restored building, and several of his councillors are here on the fourth floor. So are a woman with a company that manufactures cloth menstrual pads, a man whose firm delivers organic food to people’s homes, and staff from the collection of like-minded save-the-world enterprises that have decided to bunk at the Flack Block, like Rainforest Solutions Project, IdeaLever, and ForestEthics.

Amid the bustle at what’s now called the Tides Renewal Centre, the man at the centre of the room seems unremarkable. Tall and lanky, with a thin, lined face and rectangular metal glasses, Joel Solomon, 54, is the hypersensitive host preoccupied with making sure that everyone feels good. You wouldn’t guess that this guy in shapeless black jeans, black runners, and a nondescript suit jacket is the force behind this room, this gathering, this restoration. Or that he binds this group, giving them the sense of being part of a grand revolution that will remake Vancouver.

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Panorama – You are here
Lofty Ambition

Vancouver Magazine
September 7, 2007

A spacious loft-style condo under $300,000? New Westminster is chockablock with them. This unit, found on the top floor of the former post office, was one of the first heritage building renos in the city’s downtown core, in 2002, the minimalist concrete structure was overhauled to accommodate a police station on the first two floors (forget property crime, and loud parties for that matter) and 45 apartments above. On completion, this unit sold for around $149,000 (similar spaces in downtown Vancouver went for $250,000). It looks much as it did then, with its 11ft. ceilings, contractor’s cream paint and pristine cabinetry and tile. It’s a low-maintenance starter, sure, and one block from the nearest SkyTrain station, but is a condo in New West a wise buy? Tough call. A few years back, local journalists were writing about the city’s “exciting resurgence;” every new business and condo development received column inches. Now, the optimism seems premature. This stretch of Columbia Street, once the “Miracle Mile,” still lacks decent eateries, pubs and shops – unless you’re in 

the market for a fuschia bridesmaid dress. And Price Waterhouse Coopers until recently was warning of an over-supply in the condo market. The gap between planned starts and estimated housing requirements is narrowing, mostly because of fewer planned starts, but there’s still reason to tread carefully.

502-549 Columbia St.
$299,000
Monthly Condo Fee: $214.33 House size: 798 sq. ft.
Bedrooms: 1 Bathrooms: 1

1. Antique Alley
Front Street’s antique row is a lot like Main Street’s: quality is hit and miss. The major difference is price. Here, a mid-century teak credenza can still be found for $500, and pariking in the waterfront parkade overhead Is cheap and abundant. Definitely worth a rainy-day trip.

2. 668 Columbia St.
Sign of the times: The Trapp Block – Columbla Street’s prettiest heritage building – used to house a family hardware store. Now its main floor is home to a Yaletown Sofa Co., a chainlet that specializes in condo-sized furniture, and the bullding is slated for redevelopment by Robert Fung’s Salient Group, the developer remaking Gastown.

3. Columbia Station
From here, the termlnus of the original SkyTraln line, it’s only a 20 minute ride to Waterfront Station provided you don’t have to wait for a train during peak hours.

Vancouver Magazine – Evoke International Design featured
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