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John Thomson  

Here and there

The South Okanagan, Canyon Desert Resort is set to sell a collection of 20 Golf Villas, hugging the greens of the existing NK’MIP Canyon Golf Course.

With an attractive starting price of $299,000, the Golf Villas will mark the beginning of a master-planed resort. Bellstar Hotels & Resorts is currently accepting priority registration for its launch on September 28th.

In partnership with the Osoyoos Indian Band and Watermark Asset Management, Bellstar will develop and manage this project, reinforcing the appeal of the area’s wine country lifestyle and shaping the town of Oliver to deliver its first residential resort.

Canyon Desert will be Bellstar’s second venture with the Osoyoos Indian Band. This partnership, alongside the successful partnership with the Osoyoos Indian Band has received international acclaim though their Osoyoos-based property, Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa.

Bellstar’s vision for Canyon Desert Resort includes the South Okanagan’s first wine cave, a BC Wine Interpretive Centre and a Culinary Arts School, endorsing the resort’s position as a destination in its own right. Located on the edge of Lake Tuc-El-Nuit, the planned five-phase Canyon Desert Resort will transform the area into collections of golf villas, lakefront suites, meetings spaces, restaurant, wine bar, spa and Canyon Desert Inn.

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Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin will speak at the Vancouver Club on October 13.

Palin, author of Going Rogue, is one of six writers invited to Vancouver by the Bon Mot Book Club.

Palin's speaking fee is $75,000, according to one of the founders of the club, Leah Costello. She told the Georgia Straight by phone that Palin's fee would have exceeded $100,000 had she booked the event more recently.

There are only 18 tables in the room for these events. Individual tickets cost $500. For $8,000, patrons can purchase six tickets plus six VIP passes, which will enable them to attend receptions to meet the speakers.

Her contract calls for a private jet or first class tickets, a suite of rooms in the best hotel and ice water with bend straws.

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How about this for a deal? If you have $1 million to invest in a home on the lake this will interest you. Vancouver based Trasonli-Chetner have a 5.6 acre spec–built $25 million waterfront development in West Kelowna. The luxury 2,000 square foot homes were in the price range of $1.7 to $1.8 million just three years ago and they are now priced at just over $1 million.
Eleven of the 20 homes have sold and eight of the buyers are from Alberta.

Buyers who make a purchase now will receive a 21-foot ski boat, worth about $65,000 and a private mooring included in the price. Purchasers putting down thirty per cent have a grace period of year before they have to start making payment.


More John Thomson articles

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About the Author

John Thomson is the Okanagan's pre-eminent business columnist writing his column, Rumours and Things, for over 24 years. Plugged in to the valley's who's who, John keeps his readers coming back for more with his straight talk and optimistic perspective on where we are headed next.

When John is not writing his column, he runs a sixteen year old think tank called the Executive Roundtable and holds his popular "Thomson Presents" quarterly business speaker seminars.

Have a comment, question, or tip for John? 

E-mail John at
[email protected]
or send him a fax at 250-764-8255.

 



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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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