Bruce Constantineau, Vancouver Sun, January 25, 2005
The B.C. ghost town of Kitsault has been sold to U.S. developers who are now considering its possible reincarnation as a destination resort, a university town, or even a movie studio centre.
Virginia developer Shawn Weingast and partner Krishan Suthanthiran paid less than the $7-million asking price for the intact former mining community along Alice Arm on the remote northern coast.
Derrick Penner, The Vancouver Sun, November 12, 2002
There are at least three buyers anxious to take the famed Douglas Lake Ranch off the hands of bankrupt American telecom giant WorldCom Inc. now that the company appears to have seized control of the property from Bernard Ebbers, said Vancouver real-estate consultant Rudy Nielsen.
“I’ve got three buyers who have been looking at it really seriously,” said Nielsen, owner of the property firm NIHO Land and Cattle Co.
Wyng Chow, The Vancouver Sun, May 1, 2002
As Edmonton-born telecommunications tycoon Bernie Ebbers tries to extract himself from his personal and his company’s financial woes, look for him to sell his flagship British Columbia property — the famed Douglas Lake Ranch.
While the sprawling 66,371 hectare (164,000 acres) ranch isn’t officially on the market, it is known that Ebbers, the towering, charismatic CEO in cowboy boots, has been testing the waters as he liquidates assets to cover debts running in the hundreds of million dollars.
Alan Daniels, The Vancouver Sun, March 28, 2002
One of British Columbia’s most spectacular privately-owned properties, the 1,000-acre Firlands Ranch, overlooking the Columbia Valley Wetlands near Radium Hot Springs, goes on the auction block Friday.
The main residence is a 4,000 square feet, five-bedroom log house built three years ago at a cost of more than $1 million. The beauty is in the details: a built-in wine bar made from 100-year-old barn wood;
Susan Balcom, The Vancouver Sun, January 20, 2000
Buying recreational land used to be something people did in their retirement. Couples dreamed of quitting their jobs, selling their homes, and escaping to a simpler life in the country. But the dreams waited until the magic age of 65. Now, thanks to more flexible work schedules and telecommuting, 20-year-olds are shopping for property in the country, both as an investment, and to enjoy now on weekend get-aways.
The Vancouver Sun, June 17, 1995
The foyer looks like a Cariboo bunkhouse: leather chairs, a Stetson hanging from a steer’s horn, cowhides tacked to the wall and horseshoes for doorhandles.
It is from here at the 6th Street offices of NIHO Land & Cattle Company in New Westminster, that Rudy Nielsen runs his empire like some shrewd cattle baron from the 1880’s.
But don’t be fooled by the rustic entrance and the blue jeans- out back is a set of computer,