10 P o r t r ai t : A l ai n a M i c h e ll e
B C B U S I N E S S . C A
J A N U A R Y/ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 5
DEVELOPING
RELATIONSHIPS
As a writer and editor, there are only a few rare circum-
stances in which I would normally consider inserting myself into
a story. It's something I debated a few times in my head when I
went to write a profile on up-and-coming real estate developer
Colin Wall ("Building a Wall," p.32) for our annual real estate
issue. Ultimately, I decided that my brief personal history with
Wall was worth sharing to help articulate who he is as best as I
possibly can.
Wall, the grandson of Peter Wall, is one of the many scions of
Vancouver real estate families who are making their mark on the
city. As Wall starts out on his own, the stakes are higher than the
23-storey rental building he plans on developing. As real estate
marketing mogul Bob Rennie notes, not all of this city's young
industry hot shots will make it. Wall will carve his own path.
Frances Bula stories, meanwhile, are always going to feel like
she's in them. For the main piece in our real estate issue ("Invest
Yourself," p.22), Bula took on the topic of real estate investors.
Their presence has dimmed of late, and their reputation has been tarnished. But does the housing
market need them to move back toward any semblance of affordability? There's an argument to
be made, and Bula considers all sides with the same affinity for suffering fools (none) that she
brings to her monthly Land Values column in this magazine.
Not many fools were suffered over the last year in B.C.'s economy. Veteran BCBusiness writer
Michael McCullough unpacks the year that was and provides predictions for how B.C. will fare
in 2025 based on interviews with several experts ("What's in Store for 2025," p.48). The short
version is that this coming year should be a better one for B.C.'s embattled economy, but it'll still
be mostly tough. Of course, if you have any stake in the province's economic performance in the
year ahead (and if you pay taxes here... yeah, you do), you'll find this long read by McCullough far
more interesting than the typical list of stats and figures you might get.
Elsewhere in the issue, we peek behind the curtain at the sometimes-reclusive family behind
Bosa Properties ("All in the Family," p.13) and check in on some uncomfortable truths around sea
levels in the Lower Mainland ("Rising Tide," p.15). To finish things off, Amielle Lake of water treat-
ment startup CarboNet (a recent winner of EY's Pacific Region Entrepreneur of the Year awards)
shares her worst day on the job ("Treading Water," p.66).
You, the reader, will likely have opinions on whether we handled some of the (admittedly divi-
sive) topics in this issue capably. Whatever you think, I hope you know that my door (well, email)
is always open. Who knows—maybe you'll find yourself in the story someday.
DESK
DITOR'S
e
Our annual 30 Under 30
issue crowns the next
wave of entrepreneurs and
executives making change
in the province
NEXT
NATHAN CADDELL Editor-in-Chief
bcb@canadawide.com | @bcbusiness | Follow BCBusiness on
