Nelson Skalbania
| Nelson Skalbania | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 12, 1938 Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Alma mater |
University of British Columbia California Institute of Technology |
| Occupation | Businessman, Sports Franchise Owner, Engineer |
Nelson M. Skalbania (born February 12, 1938) is a businessman from Vancouver, British Columbia best known for high-profile flipping of real estate and sports teams, and then going into bankruptcy.
In 1961, Skalbania graduated from University of British Columbia with a bachelor's degree in applied science, then received his Professional Engineering certification in 1962. He received a master's degree in civil engineering in 1964 at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California (specializing in seismic engineering).
His initial profession as a consulting engineer in the early 1960s expanded into real estate and sports club flipping in parallel with the consulting business.
In December 1998, Nelson Skalbania was put in jail for a 12-month sentence for theft. Skalbania illegally used money from an investor to cover debts in his real estate firm. [1]
Career
Consulting businesses
President and majority owner of McKenzie Snowball & Skalbania, consulting engineers. Started as one-third owenr of a three-man company in 1964 and by 1971 there were over 100 employees in four locations in structural, electrical, and mechanical engineering consulting. Skalbania closed the practice in 1981 before going into bankruptcy[2]
Real Estate and Services Transactions
Active in flipping real estate primarily in the US and Canada, including:
- Bought and resold property from Genstar and 31 different Eaton's properties/stores across Canada
- Bought and resold Omni Complex in Atlanta, Georgia, Circus World in Orlando, and Opera Square, San Francisco
- Bought and resold Watergate Apartments, Oakland, California.
Sports
Skalbania bought and sold or folded sports teams, notably:
- Purchased the Edmonton Oilers of the WHA from Charles Allard in 1973. sold to Peter Pocklington in 1977.
- Purchased the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA from Harold Ducote in 1977. The Racers folded on December 15, 1978.
- Purchased the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League from Sam Berger in 1981. The team became the Concordes and then folded. Fans were infuriated by his remarks "It's not like I raped a nun."
- Purchased and sold the Memphis Rogues of the North American Soccer League, which became the Calgary Boomers.
- Purchased and sold the Vancouver Canadians baseball team.
- Purchased the BC Lions of the CFL in 1996, but was forced into receivership.
- Part of a consortium that picked up and moved the Atlanta Flames, which became the Calgary Flames.
- Partial ownership of Vancouver Whitecaps from 1980-1989
References
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