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QT
"I realized I was pretty good at this stuff
and liked doing it," says Jivan. Around that
time, he met John Evans, founder of Van-
couver's famed Opus Hotel Group, at an
event in support of Jivan's festival camp.
"I'd just meet him for coffee and pick his
brain—he's a legend," says Jivan. "I was
super honoured that he would want to
mentor me and work with me."
The pair worked on a few projects
together while planning for a massive
development in Mexico that would have
seen Jivan move down south. "I got to learn
about everything—how people raise money
in the space, the common pitfalls. It was
like getting an
MBA in the hotel industry,"
he says. The Mexico project, however, fell
through during the economic downturn,
and Jivan told Evans that he was going to
do his own thing.
He started building a database of 20
potential developments that were on the
market in B.C., Alberta, Mexico and Bali.
It wasn't long until he circled in on an old
motel on the Sunshine Coast just north of
Madeira Park called the Stonewater.
"
At first, I
thought: well, it's
cute, but it's not
near the water. But
I started to fall in
love with it. For
one, from a busi-
ness perspective,
it was very strong.
Even if we per-
formed the same
way the previous
owner did, it's still
a good business."
"At first, I thought: well, it's cute, but
it's not near the water," says Jivan. "But I
started to fall in love with it. For one, from
a business perspective, it was very strong.
Even if we performed the same way the
previous owner did, it's still a good busi-
ness." The previous owner, Terry Griffin,
had listed the Stonewater on the market
multiple times but had never put pen
to paper.
"It was a nine-month negotiation," says
Jivan. "I started working directly with her.
We hashed it out one winter evening right
here around the table." Jivan got some
financing for the deal. "The investment
group was like, 'This is a no-brainer.' I've
had other investors ask me when project
two is happening. Which is all really cool—I
just have to not screw this up."
So far, it's looking good. Other than the
main house, where Jivan and McDonald
live, the Stonewater and its 11 rooms for
guests have been appropriately gussied up.
"The idea was just modernizing a place that
was well-maintained," says Jivan. "The pre-
vious owner had done a good job, she just
BRICK
BY BRICK
After nine months
of negotiations with
previous owner Terry
Griffin, Qaid Jivan (top
right) and his partner
Alyssa McDonald (left)
took over the Stonewa-
ter motel in February
2024
