AXIOM TOPS OFF HALF OF TWO-TOWER PROJECT
Vancouver-based firm has become major local force since opening office here in 2012
Last Friday, representatives of the owner, the management firm and construction company braved some cold weather to celebrate the topping off of the 36-storey apartment block that forms part of the two-tower project at the corner of 10th Avenue and 5th Street S.W.
The complex that will be managed by Quad Real Property Group on completion sits on the land formerly occupied for so long by Alberta Boot Co. A great location just a short block from the core under 5th Street underpass — that is scheduled to be upgraded — it will provide 305 units in the 36-storey apartment tower and 390 suites in the 33-storey long-term stay Marriott Residence Inn brand.
It has also meant employment for some 300 construction workers per day, and Axiom Builders Inc. project manager Champston Le says that more than 2,000 have worked at the site since construction began in November 2015.
Axiom is a Vancouver-based company under the Bosa Property Group umbrella that made the decision to open an office in Calgary in 2012. Le, who relocated from the coast, and operations manager Keith Playle, who moved here from Edmonton, were the first of the company’s employees in Calgary. Today, it has a permanent staff of 50, with its office in One Properties’ Versus tower on 10th Avenue S.W.
It was a right decision as Axiom has been very busy in this market since its first contract to build the Drake in 2013; Grosvenor’s first foray into the residential market here of 135 condominium and townhouses off 17th Avenue S.W.
Playle says the firm that has a 57-year history proudly had three generations of the construction family at the topping-off ceremony and has always specialized in the construction of residential towers.
Its work can be seen throughout Vancouver, including award-winning projects such as Metro Place, Jameson Tower and The Prescott, and its success in Calgary has already made its mark on our skyline.
Axiom was successful in earning the job of building the 638 units housed in The Guardian two-tower complex in Victoria Park as its second project and, besides completing the apartment tower and hotel, is currently building Park Point.
Qualex-Landmark is the developer of Park Point, also a Vancouver company that made the decision to expand into the Calgary market and has built some of our finest residential properties. Park Point has been well received by buyers who have a choice of 287 suites and two-storey ground level townhomes in the 34-storey tower on 12th Avenue S.W. overlooking Central Memorial Park.
Axiom has already completed more than 6,500 units in Vancouver and Calgary and continues to win contracts both here and in Edmonton.
Three towers are planned by One Properties to be built by Axiom on Macleod Trail between 12th and 13th avenues S.E. And another Calgary construction job awarded to Axiom is an exciting residential project by Avi Urban at 17th Avenue just to the west of La Chaumiere Restaurant and Rouleauville Square.
Axiom and its developer clients are busy changing our skyline and creating jobs at a time when they are certainly welcomed.
The first post-baccalaureate certificate programs at the University of Calgary’s faculty of environmental design were introduced at a launch event with Calgary police Chief Roger Chafin.
Tom Keenan, professor and director of the post-baccalaureate program, says the programs, Designing Smart and Secure Communities and Built and Landscape Heritage, will allow practising professionals to combine theory with real-world experience and learn how to design authentic, people-centred communities.
These programs, now taking applications, are tailored to a mid-career professional in the design and planning industries.
Bryan de Lottinville, founder and CEO of Benevity, a Calgarybased global leader in online workplace giving, matching, volunteering and community investment software, has announced a strategic investment in the company by General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm.
Benevity has a client base comprised of more than 300 global brands, with software available in 17 languages to more than four million users around the world. This fiscal year, it will process over a billion dollars of donations and 10 million hours of volunteering time to more than 100,000 charities.