ITC says once completed, arriVa 42 will be the tallest residential tower in downtown Calgary.

Premier Business Partners:

BKDI Architects Panorama Building Systems Ltd. Peter Ross Ltd. Professional Excavators Star Aluminum Railing Systems, Inc. C&T Reinforcing Steel Benson Industries Limited JW Building Consultants Jade Stone

Integrity. Trust. Commitment. ITC is no ordinary name and it says it’s no ordinary general contractor. ITC Construction Group (ITC) specializes in the construction of concrete residential high-rises in urban cores. ITC’s strategy is to focus on talented people, increasing their construction and business knowledge, and implementing that knowledge into exacting systems that are used to build concrete residential high-rises. This highly focused approached has led to the company’s reputation of being the industry leader in concrete residential high-rises and, in turn, its exponential growth.  

In September 2007, ITC was recognized by Business in Vancouver newspaper as one of BC’s Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies. “This growth is a testament to our commitment to our clients,” says Lloyd Tosoff, executive vice president and COO. “We build valuable relationships with our clients, use our knowledge to establish construction costs early in the design phase and reduce the risk in a project and ultimately deliver a high-quality product on time and on budget.”  

ITC is highly specialized, focusing only on concrete residential high-rises in urban cores. “Our competitors typically are involved with other types of construction, as well [e.g., commercial, residential, wood frames, industrial], but our specialization is one of our competitive advantages,” says Doug MacFarlane, vice president of business development.

“Our systems are built using the knowledge and best practices of years of building residential high-rises,” he adds. “As such, our people are trained using specific, focused approaches and we can monitor our projects to ensure we are delivering on our promises.”

Countless buildings mark the downtown skylines in Vancouver, Calgary, Portland, and soon, Seattle, as a testament to this successful formula.

Located in the picturesque Coal Harbour neighborhood at the foot of Stanley Park, Vancouver’s world-famous park, Laguna Parkside is one such landmark. Priced from $900,000 to $1.8 million, these luxury condominiums and villas have a spectacular view of Stanley Park, Lost Lagoon, the snowcapped North Shore mountains and the marina.

“Laguna Parkside was designed to provide continuity to [Vancouver’s] existing natural setting,” says Ali Tehrani, Prima Properties Ltd. “We paid special attention to the architectural design to ensure the spectacular landscape remains impressive.”

‘500-Mile Radius Strategy’
With the mission of continuing to emerge as a leader in the construction industry, ITC is pursuing what it calls its “500-mile radius” strategy.

“We wanted to be very strategic, yet conservative with our market entry; going into Calgary with a long-time client was the ideal approach,” MacFarlane says.

Qualex-Landmark Group hired ITC to build Stella, which is located at the west end of the Beltline. “We lived true to our value proposition, and completed the project on time and on budget. With the successful completion of this project, other projects with new clients have followed.”

The proximity of Calgary to Vancouver is also attractive.  “We can respond quickly from our head office and have our people on the ground in a matter of hours if necessary,” Tosoff says. “Proximity to the head office also allowed us to work remotely until it made sense for us to open an office there.” ITC opened an office in Calgary in July 2007.

With seven projects currently under construction and its first regional office in Calgary, ITC continues to grow its work force with hard-working talent in both Calgary and Vancouver. “We will service this market fully and ensure all our people continue to deliver on our value proposition,” says Grant Symon, vice president of regional operations in Alberta. “When we are confident that this market is running smoothly, we will tackle a new market.”  

Fortunately, there are a number of markets in geographic proximity that show long-term promise. ITC has entered the United States and completed a project in Portland. The next project will be a little closer to home and will start in spring 2008 in Seattle.
    
Filling Their (Cowboy) Boots
“Arriving on the scene with 25 years of relevant high-rise residential experience on the West Coast, [ITC is] poised to be an overnight success in Alberta’s booming economy,” says Stephen Bugbee, project architect, BKDI Architects.  

In Calgary, ITC’s presence is growing. All you have to do is drive up Calgary’s Beltline (a region just south of downtown Calgary bounded by 17th Avenue, 14th Street West and the Elbow River) to see the impact ITC is making on the city’s red-hot residential high-rise market.

“The arriVa towers are the ITC-built exclamation point on the beltline,” the company says. “The vision [for arriVa 42] was a collaborative creation of architects BKDI and developer Torode Residential, which was borne from a confidence in Alberta’s economic future, a demand for new residential growth and the opportunity to revitalize an ailing region of the inner city,” according to Bugbee.  

When asked about the impetus to build a project like arriVa, John Torode, president of TORODE Group of Com-panies, replied, “It was the opportunity to buy a full city block that was close to downtown … being on the east side of downtown Calgary, arriVa offers spectacular views of the downtown skyline and the Rocky Mountains.”

Once completed, arriVa 42 will be the tallest residential tower in downtown Calgary. The complete project will consist of three towers with commercial and rental space and preserves two historical buildings – Victoria Park’s Sandstone School and Bungalow School.

As the first major high-rise development in the Victoria Park area of Calgary’s Beltline district, it will provide the impetus for future urban renewal in the area.

Focus on People and Technology
“It is our vision to have every member of our team fulfilled with the sense that they are valued for the strengths they bring and for the individual contribution each one makes toward the success of our projects,” Tosoff says.

A key to ensuring its people are set up for success is using technology to ensure information is readily available to all employees.

As one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies for five years running, ITC has the track record of an industry leader in how it approaches the market, utilizes technology, and trains and develops its people. To this end, there is a sophisticated infrastructure to manage day-to-day operations; this custom-built knowledge management tool is called ITCnet.

Within ITCnet, an e-learning component contains training modules complete with videos, templates and work examples that provide staff with comprehensive details on how ITC systems are used to ensure quality results on all projects.

“There’s a reason ITC has been accredited with the Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies award,” says Ivan Harmatny, director, Lower Mainland Steel Group. “As well as having an administrative infrastructure second to none, the people are affable and approachable … it’s a genuine pleasure to do business with them.”

When asked what makes ITC a winner, Daryl Johannesen, partner, Deloitte, and regional leader of the Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies program, states: “The leadership of ITC truly wants people to learn and do well here and this is evident through its e-learning program, its transparency through such systems as ITCnet, a comprehensive career development program and its health and wellness program.”

“We are committed to building a quality company with exceptional results,” President and CEO Peter Rezansoff says. “If you look at the other winning construction companies, they are much larger than ITC and have more resources to run their business. Winning the Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies award in 2003 was an exceptional accomplishment and we’ve worked hard to maintain our status for five years. It demonstrates that ITC is living up to our vision of managing our business to exacting standards through the hard work of committed, knowledgeable people.”

In keeping with the not-so-ordinary, this construction company is not just about building high-rises; ITC is about people – people working together and making a difference through common interest.

ITC is involved with many philanthropic activities within the community. Projects range from hot lunch programs for children who come from low-income families to organizing major fundraising campaigns to build a new playground for a local elementary school.

“We take great pride in building our high-rises, but we take even greater pride in the fact our employees are also focused on contributing to the communities we are living in,” Tosoff says. “We focus on educating the youth and, hopefully, someday they will be building our high-rises.