Sarah Evans played a key role helping her company navigate through the global economic downturn soon after she helped sell US$700 million in real estate in a single day in 2006.
The project was the 38-storey Trump Tower Waikiki, which had 464 condominium units that could be operated as a hotel.
“That was the largest one-day sales success in the history of the U.S. as far as we’ve heard,” she said.
Those pre-sales took place at the top of the market, but closing the deals took place during the depths of the economic downturn.
“What was going on across North America was that projects in similar circumstances were closing 30% to 40% of the units,” she said. “We closed over 80%.”
Evans started her real estate career at Intrawest Corp. – the firm that her father, John Evans, helped build from being a startup. Her father left Intrawest long before his daughter started working at the company as a development manager.
During Evans’ seven years at Intrawest, she put together several deals, including as a large project in Mammoth Lakes, California. There, she helped create the village centre along with commercial and retail development.
“Starting in the development side of the real estate business and touching the construction side helped when I went into sales and marketing. I drew on that experience,” she said.
During the period of 2008 through 2010, Evans was brought into the senior management team to work with developers and buyers to manage closings and the challenges associated with a depressed real estate market.
Outside work, she has volunteered for organizations such as the Dr. Peter Centre and Arts Umbrella to help fundraising efforts. •
