Will #61 have an asterisk?

VANOC is poised to announce its 61st sponsor after the July 15 closed-door board meeting in its city hall-owned, east Vancouver headquarters. Like record-breaking New York Yankees' home run-hitter Roger Maris, a snowflake-shaped asterisk could be in play.

A VANOC news release said it is a company, that's about all we know. Many months ago I confirmed that developer Concord Pacific was in talks with VANOC. Concord vice-president of sales Grant Murray said so. When I asked VANOC deputy CEO Dave Cobb, he declined to talk about the negotiations.

Concord has land that VANOC needs in the vicinity of B.C. Place Stadium and GM Place. VANOC needs space for storage, staging, security and transportation. Concord is a real estate developer and cash is tight during a recession because building has slowed down. That's one of the reasons why Concord is renting space to Hockey Canada, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan for pavilions on its northeast False Creek property for Games-time. It's a privately owned live site, in competition with the City of Vancouver's.

So, could VANOC's newest sponsor be a straight in-kind deal involving no cash?

Concord would be the third major developer on the sponsor roster. Aquilini Investment Group, which owns the Vancouver Canucks and GM Place, and Millennium, developer of the troubled Vancouver Olympic Village, are also sponsors. Canadian Metropolitan Properties, which owns the Plaza of Nations, is in talks with VANOC, according to vice-president Daisen Gee-Wing. Gee-Wing, however, said the deal on the table is a straight client-supplier deal with no sponsorship involved.