Family feud: Callahan brothers' $42M bid snags Kelowna trailer park
A family feud over a trailer park on prime Kelowna land appears to have been settled.
BC Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo ruled May 15, that Douglas, Bruce, and Robert Callahan had submitted the winning bid, giving them ownership of the "Crown Jewel" of their late father's real estate empire.
The brothers' $42,621,112 bid for the Shasta Mobile Home Park was $2.4-million lower than a bid put in by Ted Callahan, but the Justice ruled it was in the company's best interest.
While most people accept the highest bidder when selling real estate, the four Callahan brothers have been at loggerheads over the Shasta Mobile Home Park for the past decade, and let a judge decide who would be the final owner.
The legal action has pitted Ted, who owns the Argus Group, which includes Hotel Eldorado, against his three brothers, Douglas, Bruce and Robert, who own the Callahan Property Group.
The four brothers inherited the prime development site from their late father, Lloyd, and in 2015 Douglas, Bruce and Robert decided to liquidate the park, but Ted stopped it in court.
Five years later, the brothers kicked Ted off the Board and passed a motion to liquidate the assets.
The issue dragged through the courts until a ruling came down to sell the property.
A Justice once said it was an "impossible dream" that the brothers would cooperate over the site, pointing out there had been 20 years of acrimony.
The Lakeshore Road land was valued at between $35 and $40 million, and the sale was to be done in a sealed bid process.
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Six bids were received: one from Ted and two by companies Ted owns, two by companies owned by the brothers, and one from an unrelated company, Infinity Properties.
The highest bid was from the brothers at $46,621,112, but had the condition of a $15-million promissory note and a term that the sale would include "all intellectual property," including the name Shasta Mobile Home Park.
Another bid from the brothers was for $42,621,112, with no promissory note but still a term about the intellectual property.
Ted's bid through his firm Shasta Properties was for $45-million but with several conditions.
He also argued that his brothers' condition to include the intellectual property went against the terms of the bidding process.
"He submits that there is an ongoing dispute regarding the brothers’ use of the name 'Shasta' and that this Court ought not to put its imprimatur upon that dispute by approving a bid containing the... term," the decision reads.
However, Justice Loo dismissed the argument.
The judge said if the brothers end up in court fighting over the right to use the Shasta name, the fact that it was a term in the land sale wouldn't affect a lawsuit over the copyright.
Ultimately, Justice Loo chose the brothers' bid and approved the sale of the lad to them for $42.6 million.
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