On Wednesday, Vancouver-based Wall Financial Corporation (TSX: WFC) announced the passing of the company's Founder, Peter Wall, in a press release celebrating his life and legacy.
A young immigrant of Mennonite heritage from Ukraine, Peter Wall arrived in Vancouver after World War II. In the 1960s, Wall established cement, dry wall, and lumber businesses, before founding Wall & Redekop Corporation Ltd. along with Peter Redekop, his cousin. Wall and Redekop owned and operated a variety of businesses, including Atlas Construction, Mavis Securities, Chester Securities, Munroe Lumber, and Sperling Lumber, in addition to a farming operation in Clearbrook that provided 10% of British Columbia's egg supply at one point in time.
After Wall & Redekop Corporation Ltd. was incorporated on July 31, 1962, the aforementioned businesses were consolidated and the company went public on January 31, 1969, with Wall serving as Chairman and Redekop serving as President.
The company was listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange a few months later on May 8, with an initial public offering of 3,000,000 shares at $4.00, valuing the company at $12,000,000. The company was then listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1973.
By that point, Wall had already significantly raised his profile and portfolio in the world of Vancouver real estate.
In 1967, Wall purchased a 19th century Beaux-Art mansion built on a 10-acre piece of land in Kerrisdale — along W 57th Avenue between Adera Street and Granville Street — from Jack Bentley, President of the Vancouver Teachers Pension Fund. Wall engaged renowed architect Arthur Erickson to restore the neglected mansion, which remains on the site today, and subsequently built a new residential community called Shannon Mews around the mansion.
The company was renamed Wall Financial Corporation in 1988 after Redekop departed and Wall subsequently donated 6.5 million shares in the company, then valued at $15 million, to UBC in 1991 to establish the Peter Wall Institute of Advanced Studies.
That same year, Wall Financial broke ground on its flagship development, the multi-tower Wall Centre Vancouver that occupies the full block bounded by Nelson Street, Hornby Street, Helmcken Street, and Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver. After acquiring the land in 1989 for a reported $30 million, construction began in 1991 and entailed what was then the deepest excavation in Vancouver, at 75 feet. The project is now home to the Sheraton Vancouver with 746 hotel rooms across two towers, 74 luxury condos, 29 timeshare units, and 55,000 sq. ft of meeting space, according to the company's website.
Upon completion in 2001, the 48-storey North Tower, also known as One Wall Centre, won the Emporis Award for "World's Skyscraper of the Year" and remains one of the tallest buildings in Vancouver.
In the decades since it was founded, Wall Financial has developed two hotels, thousands of single-family lots, over 10,000 condominiums, and over 15,000 rental units, the company says.
The Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre and One Wall Centre in Vancouver. / The Bold Bureau | Nigel Jarvis, Shutterstock
Outside of business, Wall was known to be a lover of the arts, but perhaps not as much as he loved horse racing. An owner, breeder, and racer himself, Wall participated and won multiple prestigious races, such as the Del Mar Derby, the Japan Cup, and the legendary Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
As is true for many of Vancouver's long-time developers, Wall was also a behind-the-scenes player in politics, which intersected with his love for horse racing after he acquired a 40% interest in the Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver for $5.4 million in 2004.
According to Vancouver Magazine, Wall later sold the stake for a profit of $17 million after Council voted to allow the addition of 600 slot machines. Council consisted of a COPE majority and also included the NPA's Sam Sullivan, and Wall was such a staunch supporter of the NPA that the party established a $10,000 donation limit. Wall would then go on to back the COPE councillors, who eventually formed Vision Vancouver, that voted in favour of the slot machines.
More recently, after some initial mystery, Wall was also uncovered as the backer who paid $85,000 for a billboard campaign supporting mayoral candidate Hector Bremner in the 2018 election.
In the press release published on March 5, Wall Financial Corporation did not provide any details of Wall's passing, such as the date or cause, but a representative of the company told STOREYS that Wall was in his late-80s when he passed.
According to the company, Wall owned a controlling 54% interest in the company prior to March 2, and those shares will now be passed to the Peter Wall Legacy Trust, which is comprised of three trustees.
Last September, Wall was appointed to the company's Board of Directors and then resigned as as a director of the company in October, amidst a series of changes that also saw Simon Yoon appointed as President, replacing Bruno Wall, Peter Wall's nephew, who stepped down from the position and was named Chief Financial Officer and Chair of the Board of Directors.
Peter Wall's grandson, Colin Wall, is now also in the real estate business, leading Hollybush Holdings Ltd. alongside his grandmother Charlotte Wall, which submitted a rezoning application for a 23-storey rental tower at 2180 W 6th Avenue last year.
