CHBA Edmonton Region salutes best of the best in home construction
Carrington, Homes by Avi, Kimberley win big at gala
The spotlight was on Edmonton area homebuilders on March 15 when a soldout crowd of 1,700 people gathered at the Shaw Conference Centre for the 34th annual Awards of Excellence in Housing Gala.
Hosted by the Canadian Home Builders Association —Edmonton Region (CHBAER), the awards pay tribute to the best in home building, neighbourhoods, sales and marketing ideas, and outstanding products in the housing industry in the Edmonton region.
More than 60 awards were handed out during the night where optimism and enthusiasm for the housing industry rang loud and clear.
Homes by Avi was crowned builder of the year for large volume (over 100 homes per year), while Kimberley Homes secured builder of the year for small volume (under 100 homes a year) for the fourth straight year.
Builder of the year for multifamily homes was awarded to Carrington Communities. Home Style Construction received top award for renovator of the year.
Homes by Avi, one of the leading builders in the city, has been on a roll of late, most recently winning 2013 builder of the year for the province.
“This is a very good start to 2014,” said Alice Mateyko, president of Homes by Avi, single-family division.
“The year started out healthy and it looks like it will be a good year. We have an unbelievable group of people who are passionate and work hard. We set a high standard for what we do and this award is recognition of that.”
Kimberley Homes is no stranger to winning the top prize. This is their fifth trip to the stage in six years to receive builder of the year for small volume.
Stephen Ruggiero, Kimberley’s president, said it’s very humbling to be recognized year after year.
“It’s our 25th anniversary, so this award is really special,” he said. “And this year was the hardest to win. I think it was the most number of entries ever seen and more builders and more competition, so this is really special.”
Winning builder of the year for multi-family is the icing on the cake for Carrington Communities, celebrating its 40th anniversary in business.
“We started 40 years ago, and we’ve grown up with the city,” says Jarret Sheath, vicepresident of the Carrington Group of Companies.
“We’ve built close to 13,000 units over the years, and this award is recognition of the teamwork and dedication we have to building homes here in Edmonton. The city continues to grow and we’re excited and optimistic to be growing along with it.”
For Cal Tebb, president of Home Style Construction, the first time is a charm. The firm, which won renovator of the year, has been in business for 26 years but had never entered its work in the housing awards.
“We decided to finally submit our work this year,” he says. “To come away with this award is big. We think we do great work so it’s fantastic to be recognized this way.”
Dan Brazinha, president of CHBA-Edmonton and owner of Look Home Master Builder, was impressed with the number and quality of entries for this year’s awards. “The bar gets raised every year. It’s a competitive marketplace and it really pushes our peers to improve.”
He does see a change coming to the housing industry in Edmonton over the next months.
“Housing prices are going to jump so my advice is to get in now. There is going to be a higher demand for housing because of the number of people moving here in the next five to 10 years. Labour shortages plus rising costs for land and products are going to lead to higher prices for the consumer.”