New home industry shines in lead up to awards
Alberta has strong showing among national finalists
While we Albertans like to think we live in the best places, it turns out that the housing experts across the country agree that it includes some of the nation’s top communities.
The Canadian Home Builders’ Association has just released its list of finalists for the 2020 National Awards for Housing Excellence — more than 700 submissions from British Columbia to New Brunswick, voted on by almost 200 judges, narrowing the field to up to five finalists in each of 42 award categories. The awards celebrate the best in Canadian new homes, home renovations, community development and marketing.
Of the five finalists up for the Community Development Award, four are from the Calgary and Edmonton regions. In the Calgary region, Brookfield Residential’s Artesia, Macdonald Communities’ Watermark at Bearspaw and West Campus Development Trust’s University District are finalists, as is Brookfield Residential’s Lake Summerside in Edmonton. The fifth finalist in this category is also in the west, with Macdonald Lakeshore Properties’ Lakestone community in the Okanagan.
Of the 191 finalists in the annual awards, Alberta has a strong presence with more than a quarter of the nominations.
From the Edmonton region, Milestone Builder Group garnered the most finalist positions, numbering seven. Brookfield Residential has five and Vicky’s Homes has four. Accent Infills and North Pointe Homes each have two.
Leading the group from the Calgary region is Ultimate Homes and Renovations, with six finalist nods, and Brookfield Residential with three. Receiving two finalist nods each were Alloy Homes, Bayloch Homes, Deanmark Developments, Empire Custom Homes, and Sng-development Group. And receiving a single finalist position are Allenbrook Homes, Ashton Luxury Living, Homes by Dream, Lupi Luxury Homes, Macdonald Communities, Mckinley Masters Custom Homes, Prominent Homes, Reborn Renovations, Treehouse Developments, and West Campus Development Trust.
From Bow Island, about 60 kilometres west of Medicine Hat, Jasper Fine Homes is nominated as a finalist in one category,
This year, the new category of Entry-level Home Affordability Award was added to the categories representing the full spectrum of Canadian homes industry, including new builds and renovations, single family to high-rise, community development and marketing.
“Builders are always innovating to provide Canadians with housing options, and that includes getting increasingly creative to improve housing affordability for those who are trying to get into the market. We felt it was time to dedicate a category to those efforts, which can range from reducing the footprint of the home, to changing finishes, to incorporating a secondary suite for intergenerational families or rental income, to cost-effective energy efficiency features that don’t add to much cost to the purchase price but reduce operating costs — all while still producing homes that people are proud of and want to live in,” says CHBA CEO Kevin Lee in a news release.
Along with the 42 individual category awards, three major awards will also be presented at the ceremony April 3 in Banff, during CHBA’S Homebuilding Week in Canada. The Design Excellence Award, Renovation Excellence, and Marketing Excellence Award will each be presented to the home builder or renovator who has achieved the highest level of success in the respective new home, renovation, and marketing categories.
See chba.ca for the complete list of finalists.