Uncategorized

Cruise ship hotel plans sinking?

63
63 Comments

Some more winter-game accommodation stories in the news:  There appears to be a problem with the plan to house some visitors in a cruise ship.

A plan to berth an 1,100-room cruise ship in North Vancouver for use as a floating hotel during the Olympic Games appears to be in serious danger of sinking.

Edmonton-based Newwest Special Projects – which has marketed the Norwegian Star to Games visitors for the past nine months – said in a statement over the weekend that sales have been disappointing while expenses have increased beyond expectations. It said it is negotiating with its partners to try to lower costs and keep the project alive.

They initial priced rooms at $1,300 a night, dropping that to $500 per night in October and recently lowering starting prices to $275 per night including free meals.  They appear to have removed their booking gateways from the internet as they work out their current problems.

63 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Furlong is Paranoid

"In Lynn Valley they spent over $40 million on a new library,"

Let's see now. The approx population of Lynn Valley is about 8,000 including children. A new computer with 10 years internet connection cost about 2,000.00 maybe less

If one divides the population into a family unit then there are about 3,000 familes

3,000 times 2,000 = $6,000,000.00

Close the libraries and have a central one where people can order a book and have it delivered and returned the same way…mail

0
0
patriotz

@Slim:

I didn’t say that money laundering supports RE prices.

You were responding to another poster who said the drug trade supports the economy, and by implication RE prices (that's what this blog is about, you know).

I think this website is more your style. Maybe they have a comments section:

http://www.cheechandchongtour.com/splash.html

0
0
Slim

@Drachen:

Well, if you’re in the drug trade and you’re stupid enough to admit it on a public forum then I can see how you’d think laundering money through real-estate was a good idea too.

=====

Since I’m not the Slim that you’re referring too (that’s a different Slim than the original – me), I won't take offense to you’re comment.

0
0
Slim

@patriotz:

I didn’t say that, dummy. What I said is that money laundering (or other exotic sources) cannot support RE prices as the price level is determined by what the least able and willing buyer, Joe Homedebtor, is able to pay.

-======

I didn't say that money laundering supports RE prices. I said that housing is a convenient avenue to launder money and if it's not obviously clear to you why, you're in denial. Laundering money is another piece of the puzzle that can make higher prices affordable for some.

0
0
Slim

@Drachen: That can’t happen with real estate because the exchange of property is recorded so anyone can tell who paid how much money to whom and you can’t make money appear as if by magic because the SOURCE of the money is recorded so it would have to be already laundered money at that point. ——- Did you read what I wrote? You don't think that I could spend a $100k on renovations that would significantly increase the value of my house (way more than original $100K invested in reno’s) and never have a receipt to show for it? You're kidding right? I buy a house, pay a whack of cash under the table for upgrade materials and labour and sell for a huge profit. How exactly would that be tracked? It’s money that's washed clean and not traceable, and… Read more »

0
0
gork

@Dave: awesome, now the bubble is really forming!

0
0
Nobody Cares 2010

I believe Slim was referencing the fact that he is in the construction industry, and sees the flow or cash to workers and the buyers of houses. Thats all.

And I really dread supporting anything Real Paul has to say, but if you know anyone on the VPD and other municipal police forces, they will admit that there is some validity in what RP has said about those involved in grow ops.

A sergeant friend of mine on the drug side of operations admitted a few months back how pervasive the problem is. He admitted that they were so busy just dismantling the grow ops and running to the next one, that they did not have the time to prosecute the operators. Apparently, things have slowed down now though…

0
0
Drachen

@Slim:

Well, if you're in the drug trade and you're stupid enough to admit it on a public forum then I can see how you'd think laundering money through real-estate was a good idea too.

0
0
patriotz

@2010:

But get, let’s say, 20 people sporting the same non-sponsor t-shirt at the gate, and there might be a problem.

And just how are they going to know at the gate what kind of t-shirt someone is wearing? It is wintertime, you know.

0
0
patriotz

@Slim:

Nothing I stated contradicts your position. What? Do you think that a price drop is going to stop people from laundering cash through RE? Why would it?

I didn't say that, dummy. What I said is that money laundering (or other exotic sources) cannot support RE prices as the price level is determined by what the least able and willing buyer, Joe Homedebtor, is able to pay.

Any fool can see this from the price behaviour over the past couple of years, but it looks like you're not just any fool.

0
0
citizen

We are different, it's not going to happen here. We are safe and RE collapseproof. We are smart and know how to keep the show running. Those guys south of border are just bunch of amateurs. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/business/03walk… New research suggests that when a home’s value falls below 75 percent of the amount owed on the mortgage, the owner starts to think hard about walking away, even if he or she has the money to keep paying. In a situation without precedent in the modern era, millions of Americans are in this bleak position. Whether, or how, to help them is one of the biggest questions the Obama administration confronts as it seeks a housing policy that would contribute to the economic recovery. “We haven’t yet found a way of dealing with this that would, we think, be practical on a… Read more »

0
0
Slim

Drachen,

You are wrong dude. I am in the biz, and I know it is happening.

0
0
Drachen

@Slim:

You have no real understanding of how money laundering works do you? Real estate would be a terrible place to do it. Here's why.

Money laundering is a method where you take a legitimate business front and then you run your illegal money through it as "profit", you pay your taxes and everyone is happy, nobody wants to go through a dry cleaner's receipts to check if every customer on the books is legit.

That can't happen with real estate because the exchange of property is recorded so anyone can tell who paid how much money to whom and you can't make money appear as if by magic because the SOURCE of the money is recorded so it would have to be already laundered money at that point.

0
0
realpaul

While I'm at it I may as well kick the rest of the weasels and deniers in the nuts. We all know now that the entire climate boondoggle was a lie and a scam with the sole mission to misle the world into raising funds for third world development. It has been proven and the perpetrators have admitted to the lie.

So, all of you timid intelligences who fought so hard to stay on the politically correct bandwagon because you haven't a thought of your own to carry you through the day. Heres another nail in the coffin of why the truth should be lionized and screaming out catch phrases that have replaced any personality you may have had before you drank the kool aid is just stupid.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/02…

0
0
realpaul

So according to some of the shocking politically correct, the 7 billion that is raised in BC bud cash in BC is all sitting under the floorboards of the poor immigrants shanties? Hold your breath guys and see if your still on earth when you exhale. Examing the Vietnamese involvement in the drug trade is very well publized and not ( BIG KNEE JERK) rascist. It is a well known boo hoo liberal strategy to cough up rascisn accusations when the argument becomes uncomfortably correct. Or scenario two, the Hells Angels never spend thier money (billions)and live in the east side dumps most (majority) of them live in but have billions under the floor boards? Look these guys are scum bags not international financiers. The cops are spinning this dope thing as organized bike gangs etc because the public perception… Read more »

0
0
2010

VANOC ready to stop ambush marketing at venue gates

When it comes to so-called guerrilla marketing, quantity matters. Spectators can wear whatever brand of clothing they want into 2010 venues.

But get, let’s say, 20 people sporting the same non-sponsor t-shirt at the gate, and there might be a problem.

“Obviously we’re going to stop ambush marketing,” said Jan Damnavits, VANOC’s director of city venues……..

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Olympics2010/2010…

0
0
Slim

@Dave:

So, from May 08 to Jan 2010, 19 months, prices went up .8%. Wow, prices never do go down. 🙂

0
0
Slim

@patriotzed: Nothing I stated contradicts your position. What? Do you think that a price drop is going to stop people from laundering cash through RE? Why would it? I didn't say that laundering cash caused the bubble, I said that it's a contributing factor. As someone else pointed out: all the illegal cash is going somewhere and it's not all going to leased cars and dinners out. And, the more expensive the prices, the easier it is to rinse. What don't you get about that? Is it easier to hide $100k on a $150k house or hide $100k on a 2.5M house? And why has drug money been more of a factor in recent years – the answer is obvious if you think about it. With the bubble, with lots of cash laying around, there’s more money to be made… Read more »

0
0
Dave

MLS press release:

"Over the last 12 months, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 17.2 per cent to $573,241 from $489,007 in January 2009. This price is 0.8 per cent above the previous high point in the market in May 2008 when the residential benchmark price sat at $568,411."

0
0
Anonymous

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/apa/1583141…

haha this made my day … pure greed.

" As an added perk, being an official Torchbearer, I have my uniform and torch that I can make available for taking photos by the potential renters. "

0
0
Bizznitch

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2…

haha There goes the cruise ship idea.

0
0
Anonymous

Vancouver " Greatest fail on earth! "

0
0
Furlong is Paranoid

As we speak China is pouncing on the housing bubble over there and is determined to burst it. Guess how many Chinese own over priced bubble homes in Vancouver and what a house price crash in China will do to the prices here. Oh, I can't wait.

BTW a local groundhog just said that there will be 6 more weeks of snow melting spring weather to coincide with the 2010 Corporate Orgy

0
0
No Longer Looking

CBC just confirmed the Norwegian Star is canceled. Visitors need not worry as Vancouver homeowners will line up to take advantage of them.

0
0
Anonymous

' The wrong kind of Olympic spirit '
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/…

0
0