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Globe and Mail
08-08-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
How one Vancouver family plans to live under three roofs on one property
Alison Lee's parents own a big house in Shaughnessy, a neighbourhood in Vancouver, where she and her siblings grew up. Ms. Lee lives in a bungalow in Oakridge with her husband and kids, and her brother lives downtown in a condo with his kids. The family plans to sell off their properties and converge in a multiunit strata property they are planning to build on a large lot they purchased in Kerrisdale. The Lee family decided a side-by-side duplex and a coach house will suit their needs, but they are still in the design stage. They will apply to the city to build the three legally separate units as a multiple conversion dwelling (MCD), so that Ms. Lee, her parents and her brother have their own homes but a shared outdoor courtyard where the family will gather. 'My brother is in a condo. My parents are in a house that's much too large for them. And my husband and I are in quite a small house that's a bit too small for our family,' said Ms. Lee. 'The reason we are doing this is because everything is so unaffordable, but I'm hoping we can make lemonade out of lemons and design a space comfortable for us and for my parents as they age, and that allows us to take care of our kids, and our parents when that time comes. Just to be able to make sure they are okay, to be around if they need help, it makes a lot of sense.' Across Vancouver, the low-density strata building, where multiple individuals own units within a single property, is gaining in popularity as boomers get older and their millennial kids look for better housing options. High-rise living doesn't suit their ground-oriented lifestyle, and the detached house is too pricey or too big. And it's taking hold in neighbourhoods where it was at one time, not so long ago, unthinkable to redevelop or convert a big house into a multiunit residence. Ideally, Ms. Lee's family would live in houses near each other, but that wasn't financially possible in pricey Kerrisdale, she says. So, she came up with the idea of a multiunit strata that would allow her family around 2,500 square feet, and her parents and brother 2,000 square feet each. They also want a lot big enough to allow for off-street parking. Rezoning Vancouver industrial lands will cost jobs and economy, planners say Their builder, Suraj Jhuty, said applying for a conversion is preferable to tearing down and building new, because starting from scratch would have meant being required to build four units on the 50-foot lot. The Lee family doesn't need the fourth unit, so they are applying as an MCD and retaining the façade of the character house. Applications for the multiunit strata model have been increasing in Vancouver neighbourhoods since the city prezoned single-family house neighbourhoods two years ago to allow three, four or six legally separate units. The building type is popular with small developers who have traditionally built duplexes. Mr. Jhuty is one of many builders developing their own properties to sell on the market or on behalf of clients such as Ms. Lee. Last month, city council approved a motion for staff to review extending the multiplex zoning to lots without lane access, or smaller lots. The review would also look at streamlining the approval process and perhaps follow Burnaby's example, which allows four floors, three above-grade. David Eger, real estate appraiser and vice-president of Western Canada for Altus Group Ltd., did the math on a fourplex on the west side of Vancouver, for a standard 50- by 120-foot lot. If the purchase price was $2.75-million, a builder could expect to earn a profit of around $173,000 per unit, he said. That would be based on a sale price of around $2-million per unit. He added that it would be difficult to find a west-side property below $3-million. He said in an e-mail: 'It may not be a grand slam, homerun in terms of making excessive profits, but it would create attractive and well-built homes for family members wishing to downsize and remain in the neighbourhood.' Mr. Eger, a long-time adviser to the development industry, said the multiplex isn't a panacea to the housing affordability crisis, but it does have its place, because of the high cost of construction and the complexity involved. 'I think the potential for building multiplexes on single-family lots should be more focused as an estate planning, family planning, early inheritance option, as opposed to a solution for creating a number of new affordable homes within the community,' he said, in an e-mail. If affordability is the goal, he advised assembling three single-family lots and constructing 40 to 50 multi-unit rental units with secured underground parking. Vancouver developers lay off staff, sell off assets as condo industry decline continues Real estate consultant Sam Sharma said that the lack of parking is one of the problems with the current multiplex zoning. He counts 1,691 strata multiplex units in process with the city right now, and of those, he said 790 do not have parking spaces. But the applications to construct the building type are across the city, with a few dozen in west side neighbourhoods Kerrisdale, Kitsilano, Dunbar, Shaughnessy and West Point Grey, and many more on the east side, in Hastings Sunrise, Kensington Cedar Cottage and Victoria Fraserview. Mr. Sharma's Amira Realty Consulting is helping his builder clients find properties. He specializes in small-scale developments in areas with a lot of demand and believes the new multiunit strata buildings will open up a housing market that was closed off because the properties were restricted to big, detached houses that few could afford. And the alternative ground-oriented duplex had become increasingly expensive, he said, because so few of them were getting built. The demand for ground-oriented small-scale strata is the fuel behind the multiplex, with 75 under construction right now, he said. The two demographics driving the trend are the downsizers who are living in oversized houses, and the young families in need of yard space and storage. 'I always tell my builders, 'Don't do anything less than 1,400 or 1,500 square feet. Three bedrooms, two levels, if possible. And if you can, build a garage. A garage is storage. They want yards.' 'With the multiplex, you will get young families and animation on the streets, and that's what the west side is missing.' Ms. Lee, who is new to building a home, has advice for those homeowners who might be looking to transfer their equity into a multigenerational strata project. 'You need a very good relationship with all your family members, otherwise there is a lot of opportunities where there can be conflict,' she advised. 'Everyone has to be on the same page, and want to do this, because again, it is a lot of work, a lot of unknowns, and a lot of added stress, compared to something already built, where you don't have to make all the nitty gritty decisions.' How a Vancouver family multiplied their 'single-family' home As for the affordability of it, and whether it will be a good move for future resale, she said that remains an unknown. 'The numbers haven't shaken out yet. Our hope is that it will, and it should be, more affordable to do it this way – by how much, I'm not sure.' She wouldn't advise homeowners to take on such a complex project for an investment. It works better as a long-term family project. 'We would like for this place to be the home we stay at for a long time. We are not building this to develop and sell.'
The Independent
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Samsung heirs sell Seoul villa to pay South Korea's largest-ever inheritance tax bill
The heirs of late Samsung chair Lee Kun-hee have sold a luxury villa in Seoul 's Itaewon district for 22.8 billion won (£13m) – likely to help pay South Korea 's largest-ever inheritance tax bill of around 12 trillion won (£6.8bn). According to court registry records, the villa is jointly owned by Lee's widow, Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, and their three children – Lee Jae-yong, executive chairman of Samsung Electronics; Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla; and Lee Seo-hyun, head of Samsung C&T's fashion division. It was purchased in 2010 for 8.28 billion won and recently sold at a 175 per cent gain. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's official property transaction database, the sale was finalised on 13 June. The move is part of a broader effort by the Samsung family to liquidate assets, including high-value real estate and shares in group affiliates, in order to meet a staggering 12 trillion won (US$9 billion) inheritance tax, the largest in South Korea's history. Under a government-approved instalment plan, the heirs are allowed to pay the amount over six years. Since 2021, they have sold off company shares, secured loans using stock as collateral, and are now continuing to offload luxury properties. The buyer is reportedly a private-sector entrepreneur, though the property title has yet to be formally transferred, The Korea Herald reported. Set on a 1,073sqm plot with a total floor area of around 497sqm across three levels, the villa sits within an enclave of upscale residences colloquially known as 'Samsung family town'. The recent sale represents a 175 per cent increase in value, translating to roughly 70 million won per pyeong—a traditional Korean unit equal to 3.3sqm. Following Lee Kun-hee's death in October 2020, the property was formally divided among the heirs in May 2021 – his widow received a one-third share, while each of the three children inherited two-ninths. Though the villa was never publicly listed, reports suggest the family quietly began exploring a sale earlier this year. This isn't the family's first sale of prime Itaewon real estate. In 2023, they finalised the transfer of another nearby villa, also part of Lee's estate, which had been discreetly listed in 2021 with an asking price of 21 billion won. The deal closed the following year, although the final sale price was not disclosed. Like the most recent transaction, the property had originally been purchased by Lee in 2010. South Korea's inheritance tax, among the steepest in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), levies up to 50 per cent on inherited assets, rising to 60 per cent when business shares are transferred along with management control rights. In March this year, local media reported that South Korea will overhaul its inheritance tax system in 2028, replacing its estate-based model with an 'inheritance acquisition system' that taxes each heir individually – a shift aimed at improving fairness and aligning with OECD norms. The change, the reports said, addresses current disparities caused by taxing the total estate, where families with multiple heirs face higher tax burdens than single-heir households. The reform will also raise personal deductions, including a fivefold increase for children and a full exemption for spousal inheritances up to 1 billion won. The move is expected to cut annual inheritance tax revenue by 2 trillion won and halve the number of taxable estates.
Arab News
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Bruce Lee Club closes archive doors citing operating costs
In a statement, the club wrote that the social movement followed by the Covid-19 pandemic had 'severely disrupted' plans for the archive'We anticipated a recovery, yet reality fell short'HONG KONG: Bruce Lee aficionados gathered at a Hong Kong mini-museum dedicated to the legendary martial artist to bid farewell to the site on Tuesday, as operating expenses forced the itinerant archive to close once Bruce Lee Club, which was founded by the Lee family, had put a collection of about 2,000 artefacts, including decades-old magazines and a large sculpture showing the superstar's iconic moves, on display in the bustling Yau Ma Tei neighborhood in 2001. But a rent increase shut the project in years and a move to industrial Kwun Tong later, the club began welcoming visitors to see the collection again just before democracy protests roiled the city, dampening a statement, the club wrote that the social movement followed by the Covid-19 pandemic had 'severely disrupted' plans for the archive.'We anticipated a recovery, yet reality fell short,' it said. 'The accumulated expenses over these six years have compelled us to rethink how to most effectively utilize our resources to sustain the flame of Bruce Lee's spirit.'It added that it will 'explore new ways' to engage with the public, but for now, ahead of what would have been Lee's 85th birthday, it is shutting least temporarily, all the assorted ephemera related to the Hong Kong icon will be boxed up and in San Francisco in 1940, Bruce Lee was raised in British-run Hong Kong and had an early brush with fame as a child actor. He later became one of the first Asian men to achieve Hollywood stardom before his death at the age of the unassuming Kwun Tong archive on Tuesday, visitor and martial arts coach Andy Tong called it a 'great pity' to lose the place.'(Lee) helped build the image of the Chinese and overseas Chinese in the Western world,' Tong, 46, the superstar is widely beloved and celebrated in the city, with frequent retrospectives and exhibitions staged, fans have struggled to ensure organized and systematic 2004, petitioners successfully managed to get a bronze statue of Lee installed on Hong Kong's famed harborfront, but a campaign to revitalize his former residence failed to spare it from demolition in Lee Club's chairman W Wong said the Hong Kong government lacks long-term and continuous planning for preserving Lee's he added the Club 'will never give up' their dedication to championing Lee's spirit.'Although Bruce has passed away, his spirit continues to inspire people of all kinds,' Lee's 76-year-old brother Robert Lee told AFP.'I believe, rather than hope, the spirit of Bruce Lee will forever remain here (in Hong Kong).'Bruce Lee aficionados gathered at a Hong Kong mini-museum dedicated to the legendary martial artist to bid farewell to the site on Tuesday, as operating expenses forced the itinerant archive to close once again. (AFP/File)
Independent Singapore
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Independent Singapore
How Hong Kong tycoon Lee Shau Kee's ‘hundred-billion daughter-in-law,' Cathy Chui, is solidifying her position of power within the billionaire family
HONG KONG: Cathy Chui used to be an actress, but now she's famous in social circles and a prominent figure in one of Hong Kong's richest families. She's married to Martin Lee, and her father-in-law was the late Lee Shau Kee, who was a huge deal in the property business, as reported by VnExpress. She was with her husband at the funeral for his father, the 97-year-old Mr. Lee, on Apr 28. Most people think her husband is going to take over the family business. Chui is the only daughter-in-law in the Lee family. Their 2006 wedding was a massive event—the media even called it 'the wedding of the century,' because of its size. Tabloids called Chui a 'baby machine' because she had four kids close together. Dimsum Daily said that when women marry into super-rich families in Hong Kong, there's this unspoken understanding that having children is seen as a way to potentially secure billions of dollars in the future. According to the South China Morning Post, Chui secured her spot in the family by accepting some over-the-top presents. We're talking about a HK$50 million (S$8.65 million) education fund, land valued at a crazy HK$1.82 billion, a super fancy yacht costing HK$110 million, and a whole mansion to top it all off. With all those incredible presents, it's no surprise that the media began referring to her as the 'hundred-billion daughter-in-law'! When Lee passed away, his massive 72.5% ownership in Henderson Land Development, a property company worth a staggering HK$78.2 billion, was split between his two sons, Peter and Martin. In addition, he had a bunch of other valuable stuff, like big chunks of shares in this energy company, Towngas, and some related businesses. A Chinese news site, QQ, figured all that extra stuff was worth around HK$66 billion. - Advertisement - Bigger roles Chui is now 43 years old, and it sounds like she's taking on even bigger roles in investments and the family business, according to the Malaysia newspaper Sin Chew Daily. Insiders say Chui used some of those super fancy properties her late father-in-law gifted her to get a loan. And not just any loan—we're talking about a massive HK$5 billion! Apparently, she's planning to use all that cash for a real estate development in the UK, specifically for retired people. So, in addition to managing the family's money, Chui is also thinking ahead about her kids' futures in the business. Chui's eldest daughter is doing an internship at Henderson Land, the family's main company, while her 15-year-old daughter is studying at the University of Cambridge. Involving family It also sounds like Chui is making sure her family is involved, as she's arranged for her father to join the board of directors at Henderson Land. - Advertisement - Chui's not just concerned with the business side of things; she's also working hard to maintain her place among the elite in other ways. Jayne Stars reported that Chui may not post much on social media, but she helps out the family's businesses and charity events. She's also got these fancy titles like chairperson and event ambassador, which basically means she's a respected figurehead at important events, and she's definitely rubbing shoulders with the who's who of Hong Kong society—she's considered a key player in the elite circles, alongside other prominent women like Guo Jingjing (the amazing Olympic diver who married a businessman) and Kimbee Chan (the wife of Joseph Lau, who's like one of the five richest people in Hong Kong!). 163 says that Chui getting out there and doing her thing hasn't just made her more well-known. What's even more significant is that it's helped people link the 'Lee family' name directly with her own identity. It's like she's become a representative of the family in many ways. When people see her in these public roles, they also think of the Lee family as responsible and having strong leadership. It's like she's become a symbol for the whole family in many ways. Before marriage Apparently, before Martin married Chui, he was said to have been involved with a flight attendant, and they even had a child together. The story shows how his father stepped in to end that relationship. For almost 30 years, this flight attendant has been talked about as Martin's secret mistress. Some people even say Chui knows about this whole situation but has chosen not to speak publicly. Just last year, Chui was spotted with her 20-year-old daughter carrying this high-end designer purse. It was rumored to be even pricier than any of Chui's handbags! You'd think the matriarch would have the most extravagant accessories, but maybe the younger generation has even more expensive taste. There were reports that Martin and the former flight attendant had actually moved into a place near the Lee family's main property, but now, it seems the focus has shifted to someone else—a lingerie model named Chrissie Chau, who's being seen as a bigger 'threat' to Chui. 163 reported that Chrissie Chau was photographed going into a suite on the penthouse level of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong for three nights straight, and get this— the Lee family, you know, Chui's in-laws, actually own that hotel! Sources on Weibo say that ever since Chrissie Chau got involved with Martin, she's made a big career switch from modeling to the business world. Apparently, she now holds shares in several companies overseas and has also been investing in real estate.
