QUEBEC FIRM BUILDS ON WESTWARD EXPANSION
Family-run construction company secures interesting projects
Pomerleau — a family-run construction company founded in 1964 by Herve Pomerleau in Saint- Georges de Beauce south of Quebec City — is now rated as one of Canada’s top 10 in volume. Today it is run by Herve’s sons, president and CEO Pierre and his brother, Francis, who serves as president and CEO of Canadian building operations.
A powerful force in Quebec and Ontario with more than 2,000 projects completed, the brothers decided to expand their horizons and venture into Western Canada.
They chose Calgary for the company’s western headquarters and, with the purchase of locally owned Westpro Construction in 2016, established an office here with both a building and civil division.
Cedric Labonte, who rose through the ranks from project co-ordinator to project director, was invited to relocate to Calgary and, with the encouragement of his wife and two children, jumped at the chance to become regional director of Pomerleau responsible for the firm’s business in Alberta and B.C.
Pomerleau had built projects for private clients in Alberta and was able to take on the completion of Westpro’s work here while retaining a number of its staff.
Since 2016, it has finished seven other buildings and is currently embarking on the Calgary office’s biggest project — Willow Square, a $110-million seniors housing project in Fort McMurray. A design-built project with S2 Architecture, it will provide supportive living, long-term care and memory care for residents of all ages.
Brian Corkum, principal of the Calgary architectural firm, says: “The design of the facility is based on the ‘social model’ of care, which focuses on improving the quality of life for each resident by optimizing functional independence, encouraging social interaction in a family-like group.”
The lobby was designed to be more of a living room, with fireplace, soft seating, fish tank and a place for families to gather. The elements that felt more institutional — such as the reception desk, security and administration offices — were placed in a more discreet manner.
Pomerleau was awarded the contract by Alberta Infrastructure, which will turn it over to Alberta Health Services in the fall of 2019.
Work started on the facility in March and construction is well underway, with the help of local trades in support of Pomerleau leadership and Calgary-based contractors.
Labonte says it is important to hire locally as much as possible to establish a trust relationship with a community. But Calgary companies will certainly benefit from the huge construction project, including Metro Glass which has been awarded a contract of more than $1 million to supply and install aluminum doors with openers, vents and curtain wall systems.
In the short time Labonte and Pomerleau have been settling into their expansion into the west, they have already secured a portfolio of interesting work.
Within the city it has completed the 12th Street bridge from Inglewood over the Bow River to the Calgary Zoo, Glenmore Trail pathway near the reservoir and worked on the wastewater lift station in Sunnyside and the Fish Creek pump station. It is also busy with sidewalk and lighting to enhance the 4th Street S.W. underpass.
Willow Square is the fourth seniors residence Pomerleau has worked on in the province and another currently underway is a $35-million, 180-bed facility in Sage Hills designed for a private company by IBI Group.
Elsewhere in Alberta, crews have been busy on projects in Meander River, Conklin, Westlock, Medicine Hat and at Miette Hot Springs in Jasper.
Its success has led Pomerleau to embark on an expansion to its Calgary office on 62nd Avenue S.W., doubling its size to 14,000 square feet to accommodate its 67 permanent employees.
NOTES:
Another large piece of property has been sold along 58th Avenue Southwest. PBA Land has acquired the 3.58-acre site bordering 4th Street Southeast from private Calgary owners with the assistance of Ryan Swelin and his capital markets team at Avison Young. Three buildings on the lots are occupied, and a fourth single-storey building on the north side is currently under contract to lease. Plans are to keep the mixed-use parcel as income property for the time being.