Olympia & York (also spelled as Olympia and York, abbreviated as O&Y) was once a major international property development firm based in Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes like Canary Wharf in London, the World Financial Center in New York City and First Canadian Place in Toronto. It went bankrupt in the early 1990s and was recreated to eventually become Olympia & York Properties.
Portfolio
A list of notable O&Y current and previous ownership properties:
- Canary Wharf, London
- World Financial Center, NYC (entire complex)
- First Canadian Place, Toronto - including Exchange Tower, First Bank Tower.
- Maritime Life Building, Toronto
- Rogers-AT&T Centre, Toronto
- Oakwood Apartments, Portland OR
- Commerce Place, Edmonton AB
- 425 Lexington Avenue, NYC
- Olympia Centre, Chicago, IL
- KOIN Center, Portland OR
- Blanchard Plaza, Seattle, WA
- University of Lethbridge Building, Lethbridge AB
- York Centre, Toronto
- 150 Ferrand Drive Ferrand Towers, Toronto
- Toronto Star Building, Toronto
- Global House, Toronto
- 40 St. Clair Avenue West, Toronto
- 2 St. Clair Avenue West, Toronto
- Queen's Quay Terminal, Toronto
- 237 Park Avenue, NYC
- Flemingdon Park Condominiums, Toronto (5 Vicora Linkway, 15 Vicora Linkway, 60 Pavane Linkway.)
- Glen Valley, Toronto (including 715 Don Mills Road, 725 Don Mills Road, 735 Don Mills Road)
- Place de Ville, Ottawa (including Phase III Place de Ville Tower E, Place de Ville Tower D)
- 55 Water Street, NYC
Olympia & York Properties Corporation owns 18 properties in 6 Canadian cities.
Pg. 268
"What was most striking about the Reichmanns' dealings in Olympia & York's embryonic stage was not that they invariably lived up to their end of a bargain but that they did not always hold their clients to the same standard. Often, *their word was not only their bond but an all-purpose warranty. Once Sirlin (Morley Sirlin - O&Y's early architect) was reviewing a plan for Delta Electronics, a local retail chain, with its president who insisted that he had been quoted a price that included a fieldstone lobby. Sirlinm who had designed a conventional lobby, telephoned Paul Reichmann. "I don't remmeber it that way," Reichmann replied, "but if he says I said he could have stone, then give him stone." Similarly, Wos (Frank Wos- O&Y's first construction supervisor) once was dispatched to make repairs to a long-completed building that had been flooded through no fault of Olympia & York's. "I didn't like it because I knew it was caused by the tenant's bad maintenance," Wos recalled. "I told Albert it was not our responsibility. He said, 'No, it's not, but it is my money. So go back and fix it.'"
*"Their edge was their integrity," he said. "They put themselves on the line and they lived on the line." "The Reichmanns very early on developed a lot of business just on that basis. If they shook on a deal, that was it. Their word was their bond."
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