Alberta stands tall ahead of housing awards
In a record breaking year for Canada's national residential housing awards, Alberta homebuilders and developers are showing they're a force to be reckoned with.
As the Canadian Home Builders' Association National Awards for Housing Excellence released the list of this year's finalists, Alberta's contingent secured spots in just under two-thirds of the 48 award categories.
In fact, Alberta is guaranteed to walk away with at least one award at the May event in Saint John, N.B., as two Calgary builders — Alliston at Home with two finalist spots and Douglas Homes with the other three — secured the entire Best Entry Level Home category.
Calgary builders and developers are leading the Alberta charge, with more than 40 finalist spots. Edmonton builders and developers received 14 finalist slots while builders in Lethbridge and Red Deer could also become winners on the national stage.
“This year was our largest awards competition ever,” said CHBA National CEO Kevin Lee. “We received entries from small family-run businesses who build and renovate just a few homes a year, and from larger companies who are building the neighbourhoods that Canadians live in. The calibre of entries is a testament to the work and skills that are needed in the residential construction industry. This year's finalists should be very proud of what they have accomplished on the national stage.”
BEST PLACE TO LIVE
Alberta will be looking to continue its dominance of the Best New Community and Best Growing Community categories. It has swept both for the last three years on the national level.
Last year, Edmonton's eco-friendly district of Blatchford, and its southwest neighbourhood of Chappelle Gardens, respectively, took those honours.
This year, Dream Unlimited's Elan in Beaumont, and Jayman Living's Southfork, in Leduc, with both communities in the vicinity of the Edmonton International Airport, are vying for the Best New Community Award and are up against three Ontario communities.
In the Best Growing Community award segment, Alberta has four of the five finalist slots. Calgary's Alpine Park (from Dream Unlimited), Currie (Canada Lands Co.), and Harmony (Bordeaux Developments and Qualico Communities) are joined by Edmonton's The Hills at Charlesworth from Cantiro. They're up against Allegro, in Markham, Ont., from Geranium.
MORE FINALISTS
More than 22 Calgary builders and developers landed finalist spots.
Jayman Built led the way with six placings while Ultimate Renovations (Calgary) followed with five. Calgary also did well in the renovation segment with its renovators named in eight of the 12 categories.
Other Calgary builders, developers and renovators up for awards include Alloy Homes, Ashton Luxury Living, Brookfield Residential, Calgreen Homes, Crystal Creek Homes, Deanmark Developments, Empire Custom Homes, Rarebuilt Homes, Reborn Renovations, Rockwood Custom Homes, Rusch Design, Sterling Homes, Trico Homes, Westcreek Developments, and Van Manna Homes.
In Edmonton, Vicky's Homes leads the way with five finalist placings. Four of those are in the Best New Home Spaces part of the event, the other for Best Interior Decorating (Model/show Home). One of the four other finalists in that category is Jayman (Edmonton).
Additional Edmonton finalists are Benjamin Matthew Contracting, Justin Gray Homes, T5mconnect and Urbanage Homes.
Lethbridge's CADO Developments and Stranville Living, along with Red Deer's Sorento Custom Homes, round out the Alberta finalists list.
More than 900 entries were submitted from across the country, making each of the 48 categories highly competitive, CHBA National officials said. Entries were judged by nearly 300 volunteer industry experts. They reviewed project descriptions, images and other supporting information such as floor plans included in the submission packages.
Awards categories consist of New Home Awards (16 awards), New Home Spaces Awards (four), Net Zero Home Awards (two), Home Renovation Awards (12), Community Development Awards (two) and Marketing Awards (12).
The awards will be presented on May 10, during the CHBA'S Home Building Week in Canada. In addition to the 48 awards, three major awards will also be presented. The Design Excellence Award, Renovation Excellence Award and Marketing Excellence Award will each be presented to the homebuilder or renovator who has achieved the best overall standing in the respective new home, renovation and marketing categories.
The CHBA'S national organization is the voice of the residential construction industry in Canada, representing some 8,500 member firms across the country. Its membership spans new homebuilders, renovators, developers, trade contractors, building material manufacturers and suppliers, lenders, and other professionals in the housing sector.