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Great Gulf President Leaves Amid Massive Bombardier Land Bid

Great Gulf President Leaves Amid Massive Bombardier Land Bid

(Bloomberg) -- Christopher Wein, president of Great Gulf Homes Ltd., has left the company as it bids in the biggest land sale in Toronto this year.

Wein has been president of Great Gulf, one of North America’s largest residential builders, for the past five years. He recently updated his LinkedIn profile to say he is “taking a break” and “currently focusing on family” and “various Board obligations.” No successor has been announced.

Madeline Zito, a spokeswoman for Great Gulf, declined to comment on the circumstances of Wein’s departure or its impact on the company, saying only that “his employment with Great Gulf has ended.”

Wein didn’t respond to a LinkedIn message.

Wein’s departure comes as Great Gulf, in partnership with Dream Unlimited Corp., is a front-runner in the bidding for Bombardier Inc.’s 375-acre (152-hectare) site in Toronto. The other remaining bidders are Li Ka-shing’s CK Asset Holdings Ltd. and Montreal-based PSP Investments, according to the Globe and Mail. Simon Letendre, a Bombardier spokesman in Montreal, declined to comment on the sale process.

At the same time, Great Gulf’s commercial arm, First Gulf Development Corp., is seeking financing for the biggest office project in Canada, considering everything from an initial public offering to debt issuance to get the 12 million square feet of Toronto development off the ground. The site, known as East Harbour, is east of the financial district and neighbor to Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s proposed smart city.

Great Gulf has developed over 50,000 homes across 18 cities in North America and more than C$4 billion ($3.1 billion) in commercial assets.

--With assistance from Frederic Tomesco

To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Wong in Toronto at nwong133@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Taub at dtaub@bloomberg.net, Peter Jeffrey, David Scanlan

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.