Douglas Todd: What's with the British names for new luxury buildings?

In Metro, developers tends to choose English or Latinate names for luxury buildings … because it works with buyers, including those from Asia PNG


A contender for most striking name for a new Vancouver condominium building may be The Empire at the Park.

In the world of luxury housing, the names of tony apartment buildings are often considered the most effective way to market them to buyers, both local and global, who are looking for exclusivity and prestige.

Yet The Empire at the Park, also known as The Empire at Queen Elizabeth Park, could not be more reflective of British heritage, even colonialism. For a globalized, cosmopolitan city like Vancouver, it seems counterintuitive that the names of many new luxury buildings are often British, with others linked to Latin languages.

The Vancouver luxury market targets foreign buyers as much as it does domestic ones. And whatever developers are doing with English-sounding and Latinate names seems to be working. The stylish units of The Empire at the Park, at Cambie and 29th, which run in the $1.2 million to $1.6 million range, sold out quickly.

When it comes to marketing high-end British Columbia housing, is it possible the Britishness of the place is part of its brand appeal, even in a city where more than four out of 10 people have Asian roots? English and familiar Latin-based names are prevalent in most new costly condo buildings, including the many flying up along Cambie Street.

The Chelsea, named after a posh neighbourhood in London, is selling units for $3.3 million. A two-bedroom condo in the Cambie Collection’s Grayson building, built by the very British-sounding Pennyfarthing Development Corp., goes for about $1.5 million.

Mansion Global Magazine says the trend to using names as brands really took off in London in the 1990s, when “a lot of overseas money came into the city, and people were all of a sudden demanding luxury apartment buildings that didn’t previously exist.”

The name of London’s tony Lancaster building, for instance, plays on English heritage. One Hyde Park emphasized its uniqueness. The new Ritz-Carlton and Versace apartments in London capitalize on Western luxury brands, which helped make them the rage in the Middle East and Asia.

Many people in Asian countries value both the English language and Western products, says economic consultant Jean-Noel Kapferer. In his book, Abundant Rarity: The Key to Luxury Growth, Kapferer writes about how “Asian consumers feel safer buying prestigious Western brands with which individuals around them are familiar.”

Whether appealing to buyers in the West or East, access to green space also helps explain how the most popular name for North American buildings is “Park,” suggesting a special location with pastoral charm. Apartment Guide Magazine says “Park” has been used in the names of more than 1,400 apartment and condominium blocks, with “Village” clicking in at 1,200.

Promotional image for Empire at the Park condo complex, on Cambie near Queen Elizabeth Park Screen shot from Empire at the P / PNG

Vancouver’s luxury developers are crazy about the name “Park.” In addition to Empire at the Park, there is Park House, on 59th near Cambie, where prices run to $4 million a unit. Dwellings in Ivy in the Park, next to UBC at Wesbrook Village, go for as much as $3.7 million. A top spot at Balpark, near the Langara golf course, is $4 million.

“Oak” is also fashionable for expensive housing, says Apartment Guide. In that vein, Vancouver has Terraces at Oak Park, at 41st and Oak Street, where units cost $1.6 million. And Westbank Corp. continues to erect hundreds more elite condos at Oakridge, where some sell for $9.9 million.

There are more inventive names, however, including The ARC, from Concord Pacific. It’s marketing evokes the iconic Arc de Triomphe in Paris, even while the word also hints at the biblical story of Noah and the Earth’s creatures finding refuge in an ark. However the name is interpreted, The ARC’s False Creek condo units are selling for as much as $5.7 million.

In a province where activists and politicians often press for more places and buildings to be given traditional First Nations names, there are few new high-end buildings that do so.

The exception is Lelem, also known as Cedar Walk, which is on University Boulevard going toward the UBC campus, where the Musqueam Indian Band is marketing classy units for anywhere from $779,000 to $3.9 million, at an average price of $1,399 a square foot.

Indigenous names are not common among the pricey condominium complexes of Metro Vancouver, including for the thousands of stylish units going up on the University Endowment Lands. UBC is creating a “master-planned” community at Wesbrook Village with buildings called Eton (after the posh English school) and Ultima (a Latin superlative). Some upmarket complexes at UBC are named after famous Europeans, such as The Residences at Nobel Park, where the prices range from $2.9 million to $3.9 million.

Vancouver realtor Bryan Yan, who specializes in luxury homes for Regent Park Realty Inc. (named after a royal park in London), recognizes Western-sounding names and brands often come with a certain cachet in parts of the world, particularly as English evolves into a global lingua franca.

Yet Yan, who speaks six languages including Mandarin, Cantonese and German, also thinks condominium complexes in a global city like Vancouver get English names because “English is just a beautiful language.” Developers aim to capitalize on English or familiar European names, Yan says, that are easy for anyone, regardless of their mother tongue, to pronounce. He notes most Indigenous names are hard for many people to pronounce.

The popularity of English names is illustrated by the way a young woman in England is making millions of dollars helping Chinese parents come up with English names for their babies. Building on the fascination people have for Western culture, Beau Jessup has an online company that has helped give 600,000 Chinese children English names.

Yan is also among the many realtors and marketers aware that people from the West and East can be drawn to easy-to-pronounce but still exotic-sounding Italian, French and Latinate names. Like The Marquis, The Contessa or The Mirabel (all Vancouver buildings), which sound familiar to most.

The University of Hong Kong’s Stephen Matthews, of the linguistics department, has pointed out the allure of English for some in Asia goes back to colonial times “when it seemed desirable or prestigious to have an English name,” in part to show you can do business with foreigners. Now, however, Matthews says, “The English language in Hong Kong is no longer a symbol of British influence, but part of people’s identity.”

Allen Adamson, an American brand specialist, says a pronouncable, memorable and evocative building names will rapidly move a developer “to the 50-yard line when it comes to marketing a property.” And in Metro Vancouver, it’s clear an English or Latin name is helping many builders score touchdowns.

