American billionaire Donald Trump expanded his Canadian interests Wednesday with the announcement that he will lend his name to the new Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver.

Nearly 18 months after the opening of the Trump International Hotel and Tower Toronto, Canada's tallest residential building at 65 stories, the 360-million-Canadian-dollar (350.1-million-U.S.-dollar) Vancouver project will feature a 63-story tower on Georgia Street, the city's main downtown thoroughfare.

The tower, to be built in a unique twisting design created by the late Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, will include 147 hotel rooms and 218 luxury residences.

With the hotel set to become part of the Trump Hotel Collection when the building opens in the summer of 2016 and the residences to be managed by the Trump Organization, Trump himself is investing no money into the project.

It is being built by the Vancouver-based Holborn Group and co-developer TA Global Bhd, one of Malaysia's largest property developers.

Tiah Joo Kim, CEO and president of the Holborn Group and deputy CEO of TA Global Bhd, declined to reveal how much the Trump Organization is receiving for its participation.

In a soft real estate market where luxury properties sales in Vancouver were down 29 percent in the first quarter of the year compared with a year earlier, according to realtor organization RE/MAX, Tiah, heir to a Malaysian investment banking and stockbroking fortune, was confident the project would attract buyers at home and abroad.

While prices for the residences that range from 60 to 408 square meters won't be available until the fall when pre-sales begin, the project will include a Mar-a-Lago Spa, a new line of spas by Trump's daughter Ivanka, a signature restaurant, Vancouver's first "pool bar nightclub," and a banquet and conference center, among others. Endi

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