Claridge Homes’ Bill Malhotra on journey from immigrant to real estate icon

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Bill Malhotra is one of a handful of Canada’s self-made billionaires, who founded the Ottawa-based developing company Claridge Homes, and, more recently, making headlines as part of the potential new ownership group of the Ottawa Senators hockey team.

He is also an example of the contribution Canadian immigrant entrepreneurs make to the country’s economy.

Here, Malhotra details his experience of leaving India at the age of 22, jumping in to the unknown to join his brother Ashok Malhotra at engineering firm Robert Halsall and Associates. He also shares how his father’s work in India made a connection with an important Canadian, ultimately helping with Bill Malhotra’s immigration.

Malhotra’s father’s steadfast belief in him helped him get to where he is today, he says, even when he was left financing one of his first deals on his own when his partner had to pull out.

Claridge builds projects, including condos, rentals retirement homes with assisted living facilities and hotel buildings in Ottawa and, for the past 19 years, in Florida. The company also engages in land development, construction of single-family homes and town homes, and property management for retirement homes and rentals.

The firm, which has recently finished the tallest building in Ottawa, called Claridge Icon with a height of 469 ft., is now in the hands of a second generation, and Malhotra discusses how the generations worked through their differences to end up with a well-functioning succession process.

And it was the second, and even a third, generation, he says, who were key to his seeking to invest in the Ottawa Senators.

There is also the Malhotra Family Foundation, which raises funds for causes including food banks, health initiatives and youth services.

What is the story of how you came to Canada?

“I was in India during engineering school and my brother [Ashok Malhotra] was working with a company in Ottawa – he’s still with the same company some 60 years later; [now] a senior principal at WSP Canada.

In my final year of engineering school, he sent me a letter saying, ‘If you’d like to join us, let us know.’ They were offering me a structural engineering job designing buildings. It was a very good offer and I decided to accept it.

I had to get my immigration from the Canadian embassy. My father, Narinder Nath Malhotra, knew the Prime Minister’s son at the time, Geoffrey Pearson, who was the ambassador there. My father knew him well because my father used to run a college, and he had Pearson as a guest speaker.

We went to the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi and within about 15 minutes Pearson gave me a little slip and said, ‘Here’s your medical.’ So, he was very trusting. The only question he asked me was, ‘Will you marry a Canadian girl, or will you go back to India and marry an Indian girl?’

Shortly afterwards, my brother contacted me to say they were going through a little bit of a recession, and could I hold off for about 12 months or so. So, I got a job at Engineering Consultants India Ltd., and began working.

Finally, my brother contacted me again and said they were working on some projects, so I arrived a few weeks after in October of 1971.

My brother and my sister-in-law, Anjou Malhotra, picked me up from the airport, and the next day I knew I had to work. […] What really helped me was having worked in Engineering Consultants India that time after school, right before I came to Canada. So, when I came here. I could hit the ground running. I got my P.Eng. designation in 1974.”

Can you describe your relationship with your family in this part of the world?

“We’re a very close-knit family. Right now, we are three brothers left. One brother was an accountant who lived in Chicago, Rajender Nath Malhotra – he died five years ago. I have another brother in Chicago, Rabinder Nath Malhotra; he’s a mechanical engineer, and he’s been retired for the last 10 years or so.

And then there’s my brother here with me in Ottawa. … He’s a civil engineer, too; he was a big influence on me my whole life. He’s eight years older than me; he’s 81 years old and still working.

Mom, Shakuntala Malhotra, and Dad moved around 1992 to Chicago. We were always very, very close.”

What brought you to establish Claridge Homes?

“I was the chief structural engineer, in charge of all the buildings [for the city of Ottawa] … from 1976 to 1986.

I wanted to do more. I wanted out. When you’re working for the city, you’re always constrained. It’s a political environment, so you can’t be seen as being too good or too much trouble. Don’t rock the boat either way.”

That was the year, then, 1986, that you founded Claridge. And you named it after the hotel in New Delhi near where Gandhi was assassinated?

“Yes, yes that’s true. The Claridge name was picked to market single family homes, townhomes and condos in Ottawa. Now, Claridge has over 600 active companies doing business in Canada and United States for the last 37 years.”

Did you turn to advisors of any kind as you developed and strengthened your business?

“No businessman or self-made man starts with a magnitude [of funds]. There is some way you have to have some capital.

In my case, I had a house which was paid up to $140,000 at the time. I went to TD Bank, and I said, ‘What can I get? I want to do a project.’ And they said, ‘We’ll give you 75 per cent as a line of credit.’ That’s how I got my seed money, and one thing led to another and another.

You can call it luck, or you can call it vision. If somebody said to me, ‘Bill, can you repeat it?’ I don’t know if I could.”

Can you talk about your father, and his effect on you?

“My dad, he was a professor who ran a private school, S.N. Das Gupta College in New Delhi. All our life he showed us how important education was. He believed in that very firmly. When I got the appointment letter to come to Canada, I think he was the happiest. He encouraged me, he said, ‘Go, go, go.’

When he was alive, he always used to say, ‘You’ve done very well.’ It’s emotional remembering it. But then he would say, ‘I’m more successful than you.’ I would say, ‘Why?’ He’d say, ‘I have four sons, you only have two.’

But he worked very hard and was successful. He dressed very well, always had a nice car, and so on. Even in the 1950s and 60s. We were brought up in a fairly affluent manner. We had a driver driving our lunches to the school.

But once you get your degree, you still want to be successful in life, and when I came to Canada, I didn’t want to be a failure.”

What was the experience like of setting up your life here?

“To be honest, the other thing was that I had a place to go when I arrived in Canada. My brother and sister-in-law really looked after me. I was not looking for an apartment the first day. I stayed with them for almost two years. It was a pleasant transition.

If you came here with no job, had to live in a basement somewhere, it would be something you hated. But still, it was a big shock for me. The weather … I arrived October 11, 1971, and on November 5, it snowed.”

Can you recall an especially challenging time?

“I started looking for a business in 1982, and I bought an old, really rundown building in downtown Ottawa.

I got the drawings done, and at the time I didn’t know the construction process itself, even though I am a structural engineer. The construction process is a different thing.

This is 40-something years ago. I had a friend who was going to come in on the deal 50-50. A month before we were supposed to put the money down and close, my friend said he didn’t have the money. So, I had to close it myself, and go alone.

I finished the building and I put an ad in the paper. I rented it out in two hours.”

What advice would you offer those who want to set up their own business?

“It depends on the individual – how badly you need it, what is your vision, and how much pressure can you take?

At my time, I was making about $80,000 a year, which was a big salary at the time. But I had small kids. What happens if it doesn’t work? I mean, 99 per cent of builders fail the first time.

Of course, my wife, Romina Malhotra, and I talked, and we decided if it failed, I would go back to what we knew, and I would get the same type of job.

We also didn’t have a mortgage, and we had that nest money from a line of credit. But if I had nothing, and I had a big mortgage, I probably wouldn’t have done it.”

In terms of succession, can you talk about your sons, Neil and Shawn Malhotra?

“Those boys have already taken over Claridge, and they will 100-per-cent own Claridge on my death.

Neil has been working with us for 23 years, and Shawn 21 years. They’re both smart, brilliant.

Neil [graduated] from Western University, and Shawn [graduated] from McGill. They have run the company for the last 15 years, while I’m busy with the business [developing] in Florida.”

Were there any challenges along the way in teaching them the ropes?

“Very much so. We have our differences. In the beginning it was more; now it’s evened out.

In the beginning, the boys felt they didn’t have enough power. But they were young and had no experience, so I was involved with overseeing everything.

But now it’s different. We still talk and look at things together.”

And now? Do you feel confident in your sons?

Absolutely. I trust those guys 100 per cent. In fact, as you might have seen in the news, we are part of the potential new ownership of the Ottawa Senators, and that was the idea of my sons and my grandsons.

I can’t say more about it now, but this was all Neil and Shawn and my grandsons. It’s nice to do this as part of a civic duty, to have local guys [interested in] investing in Ottawa’s team.”

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

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