Opulent Vancouver mansion could top $31 million

VANCOUVER — A 25,000-square-foot mansion being built in the affluent Point Grey area is likely to be the most expensive home in Vancouver when completed.

When all the mansion's add-ons are included — a 13,534-square-foot lap-pool, a 4,705-square-foot squash court and a 665-square-foot porch — the whole thing comes in at almost 45,000 square feet of development.

It is being built on a 1.7-acre property once owned by the flamboyant Nelson Skalbania, whose financial wheeling and dealing during a career as one of Vancouver's high flyers would inflict vertigo on most chartered accountants.

The person it is being built for isn't named in any of the public documents. The buyer bought the property in October 2005 for $8.7 million — cash.

West Vancouver real estate agent Elaine Andrews who acted for the buyer, said she couldn't disclose the person's name.

"I can't break client confidentiality," she said.

All that is known from the documents is that the property is owned by Pisonii Limited, a company with a Geneva post office box and a British Virgin Islands address.

However, the documents show that the upscale property now has an assessed value of $11.5 million, while the development permit taken out at city hall shows construction of the mansion and its bunker-like basement was estimated at $20 million when the permit was issued in December 2006.

This gives a total on-paper value of $31.5 million.

This would eclipse the value of Vancouver's current most expensive residence which has an assessed value of $26.9 million.

But what the property will actually be worth once this single family home — as the building permit describes it — is built, is anyone's guess said Andrews.

"You can put a value on land, but how do you value a house? A house is something that doesn't always suit everyone. Some people could pay more for it than what it cost to build; others might not want to pay as much," she said.

Vancouver real estate agent Spice Lucks said she expects the property to be the most expensive in the city by quite a bit.

"This will be the most opulent home in Vancouver in terms of size and grandiosity. The owner will have the biggest fishbowl in the city," she said.

According to the building permit, the house is listed as two-storey building, plus basement and a built-in three car garage.

The main floor will be 9,063 square feet, the second storey 5,917 square feet and the basement, 10,512 square feet.

Andrews said the property provides unmatched views of the Strait of Georgia, Bowen Island and Vancouver.

"It's a great piece of property."