The Best Little Movie House in Vancouver

Photo Credit: The official signing ceremony at the Bayshore of the ‘deal of the century,’ the sale of Fantasy Gardens to Taiwanese billionaire Tan Yu in September 1990. The deal had actually already been signed in the wee hours of the previous morning and this was for the media. Seen here are LillianVander Zalm representing the premier, Emilia Roxas, Tan Yu’s daughter representing her father, Faye Leung and the premiers high priced lawyers all looking on in the background. Right after the official signing, the three lawyers would try to scuttle the deal upstairs in Tan Yu’s suite. Learn the reason why and how in: It Ain’t Over Until Faye Leung the Hat lady Sings.

The Bayshore 1960s:

NOSTALGIC VANCOUVER I met Donald Nixon through John Meier who was a business advisor to Howard Hughes. Hughes stayed for two months in the top four floors of the Bayshore Inn. He called from his plane and requested the top four floors. The manager told him they were full. “If I don’t get the rooms,” Hughes said, “I’m buying the hotel.” Such threats had precedent. When the Desert Inn tried to evict him in 1966, Hughes bought the Las Vegas landmark.

There were five Nixon brothers. Two died young, three survived. There was Donald (a business executive), Edward (a geologist) and Richard, the 37th President of the United States. Edward was the least controversial of the brothers. Donald’s association with Meier-Hughes went back to 1956 when he accepted a secret $205,000 loan from the billionaire industrialist whose businesses frequently depended on the good will of the government. I came into the picture when Hughes’ advisors tried to convince him to have a haircut (He was on the run from U.S. tax authorities and had not been seen in public for many years). “If we call are you prepared to come and give Howard Hughes a haircut?” his people came in one day and asked. “No problem.” Long story short: he wouldn’t agree to have his hair cut.

John Meier arrived in Vancouver in July, a month after the Watergate break-in. He often came in for a haircut. Although almost all of the individuals in Howard Hughes’ inner circle never actually met Hughes, Meier not only met with him regularly but at one point was only one of five people allowed to see him. He was referred to in the press as Howard Hughes’ “right-hand man” and “the man to see about any of Howard Hughes’ operations.” President Richard Nixon’s brother, Don, testified to the Watergate committee that he viewed Meier as “the number-two man with Hughes.”

It was an exciting time. Through John I met Terry Moore, the 1940’s Hollywood starlet and Oscar nominee. She claimed to have been married to the mysterious, enigmatic billionaire. Hughes had a legendary reputation as a womanizing “lady’s man.” But, unknown to much of Hollywood, he fell hard for this popular young starlet named Terry Moore… and secretly married her, or so she says!

Max Bell rented the top two floors of the Bayshore (After Hughes left in May). He was a Canadian newspaper publisher, racehorse owner and philanthropist. He partnered with Frank McMahon, a Canadian businessman, best known as “The man who did the most to open up northwest Canada’s wilderness—and convince oilmen of its treasures,” and then the pair joined with singer Bing Crosby to win the Irish Derby in 1965. He called me twice to cut his hair. Once I took my manicurist. -excerpts from My Greek Barber’s Diary.

Fantasy Gardens, 1990

“You’ll have to come to Vancouver to see the property and meet the Premier face to face,” I told Tan Yu. He had never flown overseas and had several requirements that I had to fulfill before they could leave. I also had to get visas and other papers for all of them.
“You have to accompany me and stay with me to complete the deal,” he told me. I booked us both into two suites at the Bayshore Inn in downtown Van-couver.
I had turned Tan Yu on to the prospects of buying Fantasy Gardens. He had wanted to invest in something big in Vancouver as well as elsewhere in North America. I told him Vancouver would be a good place for his Canadian headquarters which he seemed to be thinking about seriously. I sold him on Vancouver just as Grace McCarthy had sold Li Ki Shing on the Expo Lands four years earlier in 1986. It made sense Fantasy Gardens was positioned well for visitors coming from the US and also from Victoria. I told Vander Zalm about my ideas and he developed some grandiose plan where he would leave politics and become the president of Tan Yu’s Canadian holdings.

But Vander Zalm never realized that the reason everyone was interested in Fantasy Gardens was because it came with an open end agreement with the Premier of Canada that he would personally help them buy properties and develop their businesses in Canada. If he wasn’t the premier any longer they didn’t need him. As I said he had a vision for himself but not for the people. He never had a vision for the people it was always about him and becoming like the Asian billionaires he had met at Expo. You don’t have to be smart to be a prophet and sell your idea to a few followers but you sure have to be smart to see your vision become reality with you in the middle of it all and this he didn’t seem to be.

Tan Yu was a big hit with everyone but he was also a very smart man. He pretty much did what he wanted to do and he wasn’t impressed by rank or prestige. Vander Zalm on the other hand wasn’t sure what to make of him. He was only interested in his money and wealth so he pretty much went along with all of Tan Yu’s requirements regarding the sale. He wanted him to be as happy as possible so he would invest as much as possible in B.C. and then he would be able to run the show for him or so he thought. Tan Yu had a lot of requirements and had fun thinking of the premier running around trying to fill them all. Tan Yu like Li Kai Shing didn’t acquire his wealth from being a stupid man and he could see through people very easily especially politicians. Find out how the deal finally went down and what happened next which changed B.C. politics forever in It Ain’t Over Until Faye Leung the Hat Lady Sings.

Dining in around the Westin Bayshore Hotel (past and present) Be sure and support your local restaurateurs.