Illu s t r a t i o n : J a n ik S ö ll n e r/
N o u n P r oj e c t
THE
NBOX
i
Most of the people sitting
in the ballroom of the Hotel
Vancouver on this Thursday
night in November weren't
alive when Robert Bosa came
to Canada in the 1950s. And,
back in the '70s, when Bosa
was plying his trade as a
carpenter in Vancouver, if you
had told him that this collec-
tion of mostly blue suits and
black dresses would be here to
celebrate him 50 years later,
he probably wouldn't have
believed you.
The hundreds of people
who have filed to the second
floor of the hotel are here
to see Bosa and his family,
the principals of real estate
developer Bosa Properties,
receive the annual Vancouver
Founders' Award from the
Fraser Institute.
Perhaps they're here
because public appearances
from the Bosas are rare. Many
of the articles you'll read about
the family feature guestimates
about stats and figures or a
line about how they "politely
declined to comment for this
article." The family that
presides over one of the most
successful real estate develop-
ment companies in the coun-
try—one that has built over
10,000 homes in B.C. and has
some 5.5 million square feet of
commercial space under ma-
nagement—doesn't love talking
about itself.
So it was a bit of a surprise
to see Robert's sons, Colin
(co-owner and
CEO of Bosa
Properties) and Dale (also
a co-owner), along with his
nephew Paul (CEO
of Axiom
Builders), take the stage for a
wide-ranging fireside chat with
the company's VP of brand,
marketing and communica-
tions Jen Riley. It was even
more surprising (to both the
audience and the family) that
Robert stepped up to the mic
for a few words as well.
We'll get back to that in a bit,
but there were also a few things
that weren't surprising. Tracey
McVicar of
CAI Capital Part-
ners emceed the evening with
her standard composure and
charm, even if the job of getting
hundreds of people to stop talk-
ing isn't an envious one.
And Fraser Institute presi-
dent Niels Veldhuis brought
his usual stage presence and
some tough words for our
current federal and provin-
cial governments. Veldhuis
notably did not say the words
"Trudeau" or "Poilievre," but
ALL IN THE FAMILY
As Robert Bosa's family wins a prestigious award,
its members reflect on more than three decades
in business
by Nathan Caddell
R E A L E S TAT E
OPEN HOUSE
From left: Paul, Dale
and Colin Bosa reflect
on their family's busi-
ness with Jen Riley, the
company's VP of brand
and marketing
"
Our dad
didn't have
a great rela-
tionship with
his brothers.
We've always
believed we
were stron-
ger together
than apart.
It hasn't
been easy.
We made a
choice to
figure it out...
It's a good
partnership."
