There鈥檚 no way a developer can come in with grand plans and a long-term vision for a neighbourhood and make it a success without buying into the community.
鈥淚t won鈥檛 feel right, it won鈥檛 sit right,鈥� said Ken Mariash, founder of Focus Equities, master developer of Bayview and the Roundhouse lands on Songhees.
Investing in the community has been Mariash鈥檚 modus operandi wherever he has built. Be it industrial lands in Calgary or Edmonton or sweeping residential projects in Victoria, he believes you have to be part of the city.
That has driven Mariash and his wife and business partner, Patricia, to give generously to a variety of causes, charities, sports organizations and community-development initiatives wherever they have built and lived.
鈥淚f you mean what you say, giving back is all part of it, you can鈥檛 avoid it,鈥� said Mariash. 鈥淚t鈥檚 seamless with what your [construction] activities are. You have to feel and touch and join up [with a community] and you have to do it in a big way.鈥�
Mariash, whose grand plan is to develop 20 acres on Songhees, has been as good as his word in Victoria.
Bayview has been instrumental in supporting Victoria Symphony Splash, the Bayview Place Cardtronics Open golf tournament and a number of sports teams.
They have thrown events, cut cheques and offered all kinds of help to organizations as varied as the United Nations Association of sa国际传媒, Victoria Women鈥檚 Transition House, Island Chef鈥檚 Collaborative, the sa国际传媒 Cancer Foundation, United Way, Boys and Girls Clubs and the David Foster Foundation.
There are more than two dozen other charities, causes and events the company has been involved with since Mariash started work on Bayview 15 years ago.
鈥淲e give in a big way, and we听can do that because of the [size听of] projects we do,鈥� Mariash said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking big bucks, but we are talking about [building out over] 20 years, and if you don鈥檛 join up with that city you won鈥檛 be able to pull that off. It won鈥檛 feel right or sit right.鈥�
Mariash, who considers the term philanthropy a little 鈥渃hoice鈥� for his tastes 鈥� he prefers giving, helping or assisting 鈥� said he believes it鈥檚 important to put down roots in the communities in which he builds.
A sample of the causes Bayview and the Mariash family have been involved with in Greater Victoria:
Health and justice
鈥� United Nations Association of sa国际传媒
鈥� Victoria Women鈥檚 Transition House
鈥� Centre for Urban Innovation
鈥� Healing Cities Institute
鈥� Island Chef鈥檚 Collaborative
鈥� sa国际传媒 Cancer Foundation
鈥� United Way of Greater Victoria
鈥� YMCA-YWCA
鈥� The Salvation Army
鈥� Community Micro Lending
鈥� Soldier On
鈥� Victoria Society for Children with Autism
鈥� Boys and Girls Club of Greater Victoria
鈥� The David Foster Foundation
听
Arts and athletics
鈥� Professional Golf Association of听sa国际传媒 events dating back to 2007.
鈥� The Victoria Golf Club
鈥� The Victoria Highlanders 鈥� PCL听soccer
鈥� The Victoria Cougars 鈥� junior听hockey
鈥� Gorge Swimfest
鈥� The Canadian College of Performing Arts
鈥� Victoria Symphony Splash
鈥� The Royal and McPherson Theatres Society
鈥� Interarts
听
Community development
鈥� The Urban Development Institute
鈥� The Island Corridor Foundation
鈥� Victoria Chamber of Commerce
鈥� Prodigy Group
鈥� Canadian Youth Business Foundation
鈥� Camosun College
