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e 114 BCBusiness July 2014 Eldest of the three sons of Luigi and Elisa, Francesco is the public face of the Aquilini Investment Group. AIG is a holding company with assets of mul- tiple billions, yet the Aquilinis are still viewed in some quarters—and, in some ways, they still run their business—as if it were 30 years ago and they were a little family operation considering whether to buy this apartment building or sub- divide that lot. It all started with real estate, soon after Luigi came to Canada from Tra- valgliata, in northern Italy, to meet up with his young wife. They'd married in 1953 and rented a tiny house in Vicenza for $4 a month. The place had no bath- room, so Luigi bathed in the river. When he was conscripted, he urged Elisa to go ahead to Canada and stay with her sister in East Vancouver while he completed his compulsory military service. When he finally got to Vancouver, in 1956, Luigi had nothing but a fifth- grade education, an iron will and a strong back. Before long, working three jobs, he bought a little house on Napier Street, which he renovated late into the night before heading back out to build chimneys, do landscaping and lay track for the PGE Railway between North Vancouver and Squamish. He sold that house and used the proceeds to buy three building lots. After build- ing houses and selling them, he used the proceeds to buy a commercial lot and, with two partners, put up his first apart- ment building. Half a century later, the Aquilinis own dozens of businesses—from hotels and blueberry farms to golf courses and condo developments, entertain- ment attractions and waste incinera- tion, Pizza Hut franchises and high-end restaurants. Their sprawling empire did not grow out of any master plan. At root, it's the result of Luigi's buy-and- hold approach during a time when the Lower Mainland became some of the most prized property on the continent. The Aquilinis may be the biggest blue- berry producer in the world, with 4,100 planted acres in Pitt Meadows (they are the largest contiguous landowner in the Fraser Valley) and the Snohomish Valley in Washington state. They're also one of the biggest developers of retail, office and residential space in the country. Using the original real-estate foun- dation, they've seized opportunities as they arose, never chasing, letting deals come to them. Their strategy is to identify undervalued assets and find ways to give them a lift. They bought the Canucks, for example, just before the 2004-05 NHL lockout, as much for the real estate play as for the NHL team. Not long ago the franchise was deter- mined by Forbes magazine to be worth $743 million, the fourth-highest valua- tion in the NHL (after the Rangers, Leafs and Canadiens) and about $470 million more than they paid for it. The regional TV viewership is also fourth-highest in the league, ahead of many teams in more populous markets. Four towers will soon rise up around Rogers Arena—the first is well under way—offering a mix of commercial and residential space and rental accom- modation. A practice rink and training facility—doubling as a community cen- tre —will be built on the site of the Plaza of Nations. Eventually the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts will come down and more towers will go up. The immedi- ate area anchored by the arena will be branded Aquilini Centre. It—along with the towers that other developers will erect on that last, unexploited stretch of False Creek—promises to revitalize a part of town that, considering its cen- tral location, can feel oddly bleak and windswept. In recent months, building on their father's legacy, Francesco, Roberto and Paolo—along with David Negrin, who sagely runs AIG's construction and development division and has become almost a fourth brother—have been on a serious roll. They've part- nered with First Nations on development deals in the Lower Mainland and oil- and-gas initiatives in north- ern B.C. Their proposed pipeline, from the Alberta oil sands to the west coast, is a promising alternative to Enbridge's Northern Gateway. The Aquilinis recently purchased two substantial wine properties in Wash- ington state, and they're pushing ahead in their bid to build a waste-to-energy plant for the region of Metro Vancouver in Port Mellon (their first plant is up and run- ning in the Philippines). They scooped up the old bus depot in Montreal and will finish off a huge residential proj- ect into which the province and the Université du Québec à Montréal had already sunk hundreds of millions, as well as the entire city block in down- town Moncton around the Crowne Plaza Hotel (which they own), an area ripe for redevelopment. In April, they spent $91 million on the last 67 unsold condo units in the Olympic Village. Their FlyOver Canada attraction in the old Imax facility at Canada Place had a successful first year and will be repli- cated in other cities, with a U.S. expan- sion plan expected to be announced in the next few months. Their agricultural empire, which includes aquaculture fish in recenT monThs, building on Their FaTher's legacy, Francesco, roberTo and paolo–along wiTh david negrin, who sagely runs aig's consTrucTion and develop- menT division and has become almosT a FourTh broTher– have been on a serious roll ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ p112-121_Aquilini_july.indd 114 2014-05-29 11:31 AM