Aviawest

Most people don’t think upscale, luxury vacation when they see a campground and trailer park. But the Pearsons did.

In 1989, when the Pearsons first surveyed a spectacular section of waterfront property, called Pacific Shores, on the east coast of Vancouver Island just south of Parksville, they saw more than just the campground and trailer park for which it was being used. They saw opportunity about 15 acres of opportunity. So patriarch, Andrew Pearson, assembled five other partners and purchased the land with the intention of developing it into whole ownership, upscale resort condominiums.

By the summer of 1990, sales for these new condominiums were moving forward but they weren’t accelerating at the pace the partners had hoped. So, the Pearsons researched their options and discovered that turning the development into vacation ownership in perpetuity, may be a viable alternative. As it turns out, they were on to something in a big way!

Pacific Shores Resort launched the first sales of its new vacation ownership product in April 1991. The Pearson's were also pioneers in Fractional Ownership of Vacation homes. They launched a 1/10th interest in fee simple deeded real estate to test the waters in 1991. All 50 shares sold out very quickly and many of those original owners still enjoy 5 weeks per year at Pacific Shores.

By 1993, the Pearsons arranged to buy out the original five partners and acquired one new partner, a local construction company. However, while the new partnership was a good fit at the time, by the year 2000, the Pearsons felt it was necessary to exercise their option to buy their partner’s interest in the company, in order to be able to expand to other locations.

As the sole owners of Pacific Shores, the Pearsons were ready to start focusing on the big picture for the company. They envisioned a multi-destination, real-estate driven vacation club that would give purchasers greater flexibility than traditional vacation ownership product: single-night stays and a home group of properties from which to choose.

Their concept came to fruition in June 2002: Aviawest Resort Club was born.

Along the way, a strong culture of commitment was developing that continues to this day a commitment to the environment, a commitment to the hard-working people growing with Aviawest, and a commitment to getting the important things done the right way.

During the fall of 2004, the Pearsons re-entered the fractional real estate business. They conceived a purpose built property called Parkside Victoria Resort & Spa which boasts 126 vacation homes as quarter interests. This new property is located behind the Empress Hotel in downtown Victoria, BC and was completed in the Summer of 2009. Parkside is targeting LEED Platinum Green Building status, and recently won two Gold ARDY awards for site utilization and design.