Nelson M. Skalbania (born February 12, 1938) is a flamboyant Canadian businessman from Vancouver, British Columbia best known for signing a 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky to the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association. Events 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Vancouver (vænˈkuːvɚ is a coastal British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Wayne Douglas Gretzky, OC (born January 26 1961 is a retired Canadian professional Ice hockey player The Indianapolis Racers were a franchise in the former World Hockey Association from 1974-78 The World Hockey Association (French Association Mondiale de Hockey) was a professional Ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972
In 1961 Nelson Skalbania graduated from UBC with a Bachelors in Applied Science, then received his P. Eng. in 1962. He received a Masters of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 1964 at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California (specializing in Seismic engineering). The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private, Coeducational research university located in Pasadena Pasadena ( is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.
His initial profession as a very active consulting engineer in the early 1960s expanded into an extensive real estate career in parallel with the consulting business.
Married to his second wife Eleni (the owner and operator of the luxury Wedgewood Hotel in Vancouver), he has two daughters and two stepdaughters.
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Career Breakdown
Consulting businesses
President and majority owner of McKenzie Snowball & Skalbania, consulting engineers. Started as one-third owner of 3 man company in 1964, but by 1971 there were over 100 staff in four locations in structural, electrical, and mechanical engineering consulting.
Real Estate transactions
Skalbania is active in Real Estate primarily in the US and Canada. During the 10 year period from 1971 to 1981, he averaged over $500 million each year (over 1,000 transactions).
Some of the highlights include:
Purchased in 3 consecutive years: three packages of real estate from Genstar. The last package of real estate of $150 million included hotels, shopping centers, apartments, and raw land (from New York to Vancouver).
Purchased over a span of 10 years: 31 different Eaton's properties/stores across Canada from Victoria, B. Eaton's was once Canada 's largest Department store Retailer. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Victoria (vɪkˈtɔɹiə is the capital city of British Columbia. C. to Moncton, N. Moncton ( is a Canadian city located in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. B. The larger ones included a downtown Vancouver Store, (redeveloped, constructed $100M project downtown Winnipeg catalogue store, redeveloped into $50M retail complex, etc. Winnipeg (ˈwɪnɨpɛg is the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Manitoba, and 7th largest municipality in Canada with a population )
Bought and resold Omni complex in Atlanta, GA (hotel, two office towers, retail for $55M - his price $150M). He sold to Ted Turner. Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American Media proprietor and philanthropist.
Bought Circus World in Orlando, Fla from Mattel co. For other uses see Circus World (disambiguation. Circus World was a Theme park built north of Haines City Florida Orlando is a major City in central Florida, USA and is the County seat of Orange County Florida. Mattel Inc ( is the world's largest Toy importing company based on revenue , sold to Jim Monaghan and Harcourt Brace Johanovich (Sea World owners). Sea World is a Marine mammal park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Opera Square, San Francisco ($100M project, three towers, offices, retail, etc). The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city
Watergate Apartments (1,200 suite condo - $40M), Oakland, CA. Oakland (ˈoʊklənd founded in 1852 is the eighth-largest city in the U
Bankruptcy and decline
On December 16, 1982 Skalbania filed a proposal in Vancouver, British Columbia, under the Bankruptcy Act that called for his 125 unsecured creditors to allow him five years to repay $30. Vancouver (vænˈkuːvɚ is a coastal British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C 3 million in debts. High interest rates, a depressed real-estate market and millions lost on sports ventures such as the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League and the Calgary Boomers of the North American Soccer League, brought about the bankruptcy. The Montreal Alouettes ( French: les Alouettes de Montréal) are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Canadian Football League (CFL ( Ligue canadienne de football (LCF in The Calgary Boomers were a professional soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League during the 1981 season after which they folded North American Soccer League (NASL was a professional soccer League with teams in the United States of America (U
In 1997 the British Columbia Supreme Court sentenced him to one year in jail for stealing $100,000 from prospective real estate partner Gordon Gooch six years previous. The Supreme Court of British Columbia (SCBC is the superior trial court for the Canadian province of British Columbia
According to court documents, he used the money he had agreed to deposit in a trust account to pay a $50,000 debt to financier Sam Belzberg and for payments to his daughter and a brokerage firm.
Court records indicate that Mr. Gooch "got the run-around" before the money was repaid, with $4,000 more to compensate him for the delay and inconvenience.
After the intervention of prominent friends who provided the court with character references and testified on his behalf, Skalbania avoided a term in jail. Instead he spent nearly a year on parole wearing an electronic ankle bracelet that enabled provincial corrections officials to monitor his every move. The bracelet was removed in December, 1999.
It was a humiliating blow for a man who once vied for headline space with icons of Canadian professional sports.
Sports
Skalbania purchased the Edmonton Oilers of the WHA from Charles Allard in 1975. The Edmonton Oilers are a professional Ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The World Hockey Association (French Association Mondiale de Hockey) was a professional Ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 With debts in the range of $1. 6 million during the next season, he took on Peter Pocklington as a partner. Peter H Pocklington (b November 18, 1943, in London Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian Entrepreneur who has dabbled in Politics Pocklington gave Skalbania a vintage Rolls Royce Phaeton used in the film The Great Gatsby, a painting by Maurice Utrillo and a diamond ring worth about $150,000 that happened to be on his wife's finger. The Great Gatsby is a Novel by the American author F Scott Fitzgerald. Maurice Utrillo, born Maurice Valadon, ( 26 December 1883 - 5 November 1955) was a French painter who specialized The swap was worth about $700,000, according to Pocklington, who also agreed to take on half of the team’s debt. Several months before Skalbania held talks with the National Hockey League about a possible merger with the WHA. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America The World Hockey Association (French Association Mondiale de Hockey) was a professional Ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 After it became clear that no merger would happen by 1977, Skalbania had decided to sell his half of the Oilers to Pocklington.
He surfaced next with the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA, when be bought the club from Harold Ducote in 1977, after a dreadful season, and helped it avoid folding. The Indianapolis Racers were a franchise in the former World Hockey Association from 1974-78 The World Hockey Association (French Association Mondiale de Hockey) was a professional Ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 Skalbania tried to revitialize the club in 1978 by signing Sault Greyhounds star Wayne Gretzky to a personal services contract. The Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds (aka Soo Greyhounds) are a major Junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. Wayne Douglas Gretzky, OC (born January 26 1961 is a retired Canadian professional Ice hockey player However, this ploy failed to put enough fans in the stands, and Gretzky was sold to Edmonton for $800,000. This helped the Racers for a while but the faithful knew the end was near as Skalbania conceded defeat, folding the Racers on December 15, 1978.
In March of 1981, he purchased the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League from long-time owner Sam Berger. The Montreal Alouettes ( French: les Alouettes de Montréal) are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Canadian Football League (CFL ( Ligue canadienne de football (LCF in Samuel "Sam" Berger CM, FRSC, QC ( January 1, 1900 - July 24, 1992) was a Canadian owner Skalbania tried to continue the Montreal Alouettes glory years by hiring several very expensive American football stars (Vince Ferragamo, Billy Johnson, James Scott, David Overstreet,) but his bid failed miserably, as the team was dreadful. The Montreal Alouettes ( French: les Alouettes de Montréal) are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec. Vince Anthony Ferragamo (born April 24, 1954 in Torrance, California) was an American football Quarterback in the Billy Johnson may refer to Billy Johnson (American football (born 1952 football player (a James Scott may refer to James Scott 1st Duke of Monmouth (1649&ndash1685 noble recognized by some as James II of England James Scott (1671-1732 David Arthur Overstreet ( –) was a star Running back in the Canadian Football League. This was the beginning of a fatal decline for the team, which later became the Concordes and then folded. Fans, who were already bitterly disappointed, were infuriated by his remarks about his ownership: "Its not like I raped a nun. "
Skalbania had a short but very important tenure as leader of an ownership group that purchased the Atlanta Flames of the National Hockey League. The Atlanta Flames were a professional Ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from 1972 to 1980. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America He was instrumental in their move to Calgary. The Calgary Flames are a Professional Ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
He has also owned the Memphis Rogues of the North American Soccer League, which became the Calgary Boomers, and the Vancouver Canadians baseball team. The Memphis Rogues were a professional Soccer team in the former North American Soccer League. North American Soccer League (NASL was a professional soccer League with teams in the United States of America (U The Calgary Boomers were a professional soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League during the 1981 season after which they folded The Vancouver Canadians are a minor league Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia.
His final foray into professional sports was as owner of the British Columbia Lions of the CFL in 1996, but this attempt at a comeback fell through when he was forced to hand over control of the Lions to a receiver in August, 1996, only six months after he had taken on the ownership role. The Canadian Football League (CFL ( Ligue canadienne de football (LCF in
Present business
As of 2003, Skalbania has continued to work behind the scenes in Vancouver to finance real estate projects, including an $800-million ski and golf resort near Squamish, B. Vancouver (vænˈkuːvɚ is a coastal Squamish ( 2006 census population 14949 is a community in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of C. .
He is also involved in a New Mexico company researching ways to desalinate sea water using solar energy. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. He also has interests in Solar Energy Ltd. of Los Alamos, N. M. , a company he helped to reorganize in 1997, and whose shares are quoted on the Nasdaq Stock Market's unregulated over-the-counter bulletin board.
Real estate industry sources say Skalbania's usual practice is to create a syndicate of investors, even though he may not be an investor himself.
Skalbania retains a keen interest in sports, particularly the business side. Friends describe him as a very knowledgeable and "fun guy to be with. " But they also attribute his earlier financial troubles to a lack of patience. "Probably his biggest flaw is that he is way too quick, and maybe not thorough enough," one friend said. "He has just got a very, very quick mind. "
Reference
Peter Kennedy, Skalbania edges way back from sidelines, Toronto Globe and Mail (ReportonBusiness. com), November 17, 2003
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