WestStone Properties’ capabilities include commercial, industrial and retail construction. Its forte is in the multifamily and single-family residential market.

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Between high oil prices that spur the growth of exploration infrastructure in Alberta and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, the construction industry in western Canada is busier than ever. This boom has stretched the labor market thin, and the competition for skilled and experienced employees can be daunting.

However, WestStone Properties is ahead of the game in employee retention. It ensures that its employees – from superintendents to laborers – enjoy their workplace in order to keep its top people. “Through these busy times, we have created a construction site where people want to come to work,” says Aubrey Kelly, vice president of development and construction. “It is unheard of for any of our superintendents to be lured away by other companies because they are part and parcel to everything we do. They have a sense of pride and ownership. If you don’t have that, you aren’t able to compete in this demanding marketplace. WestStone is also very proactive in rewarding employees for superior performance, which in turn motivates the team.”

Although WestStone Properties’ capabilities include commercial, industrial and retail construction, its strength lies in multifamily and single-family residential development primarily in British Columbia and Arizona. Through WestStone Signature Homes, the company builds custom or spec single-family homes. The company says it has mastered the fine art of building homes with character, innovation, refinement and durability. This requires bold vision, skill and a reliance on outstanding employees, materials, tradesmen and suppliers.

Urban Village
The company combines all of these above noted skills in a master-planned community called Urban Village, which WestStone Properties is developing as part of the downtown birth of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. The nine-acre community is a six-phase project that involves the construction of five condominium towers and six low-rise buildings.

“Surrey’s population is surpassing Vancouver’s, yet it doesn’t have a downtown core,” President and CEO Dale Regehr says. “This is a transitional area, so we’re working with the city through some of the challenges to design a new downtown from an area of primarily old single-family homes.”  The mayor of Surrey, Diane Watts, recently announced her continued commitment to the development of downtown Surrey by relocating City Hall to the immediate vicinity. Plans are well underway and construction is slated to begin sometime this year.

Regehr says WestStone is the first developer to work in the University District that will be Surrey’s new downtown. The community will be located next to Central City built by Bing Thom Architects, which was given the Special Jury’s Award of World’s Best Overall Development, by the Le Marche International des Professionnels de l’Immobilier International Property Market in 2004. Central City houses the new Simon Fraser University Surrey Campus, business offices and a regional shopping center. Simon Fraser University is the second-largest university in British Columbia and presently has more than 5,000 students. Plans are unfolding to expand the university in the very near future. The continued development of this University District will have a positive economic impact on the entire area, drawing more development into this new evolving downtown core.

Urban Village is also located one block from a proposed new Transit Village for the area surrounding the Surrey Central SkyTrain station. WestStone says the Transit Village is a high-density development built around quality transit options. It also says that the key components include a pedestrian and bicycle friendly environment, as well as bus service and access to SkyTrain, which is British Columbia’s light rail mass transit system. The future for all successful developments in the lower mainland will be situated near these accessible transit areas as people become more environmentally conscious.

The company began Urban Village in 2007 with demolition of existing single-family homes that occupied the site. Phases one and two are now under construction, with phase three
about to begin excavation. To date, more than 50,000 cubic yards of excavation have been completed on phases one and two, and more than 76,000 cubic yards of earth will be removed for phase three.

The first two wood-frame low-rise buildings, Agenda and Element, sold out before construction began. Phase three involves the construction of Ultra, which is a futuristic 418-suite, 35-story concrete and glass high-rise plus a concrete low-rise that will have eight floor plans and two designer color schemes. The floor plans will include studios, one bedroom, one bedroom plus dens, and two bedroom floor plans. All suites will have polished concrete floors, stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, contemporary cabinetry, and in-suite storage and laundry.

Urban Village will be a “pedestrian-oriented” community, where people will live and have immediate access to either their workplace or public transportation. “We are creating a neighborhood that is environmentally friendly and self-sustaining, which will foster community development, thereby providing residents a higher quality of life,” WestStone adds.

Each residence will be “wired” with a package of fiber-optic services for the home that provides telecommunications, entertainment and security functions. The entire community will have blanket wireless coverage, as well.

Kelly says the overall village will cost close to $1 billion (Canadian) to construct, but will bring far in excess of $1 billion in revenues once completed.  

Construction Challenges
Kelly says competition over personnel is an ongoing challenge on almost all projects, but it is particularly daunting for a project the size of Urban Village. However, WestStone has adapted to the labor shortage by introducing more automated construction processes that require fewer people to operate.

For Urban Village, WestStone has implemented tower cranes even on low-rise buildings, which addresses the labor shortage problem.

IKEA Relationship
WestStone Properties was the first developer in Western Canada to form a relationship with IKEA. An arrangement for Agenda and Element at Urban Village was made whereby all units will have Dream Kitchens By IKEA. In addition, homeowners will receive substantial gift cards to help furnish their homes.

Allure in South Surrey
WestStone is also building Allure, a luxury townhome community in South Surrey, British Columbia, which consists of 53 townhouse homes ranging from the low $400,000’s to $630,000. Approximately 40 percent of the homes have been sold, and construction is expected to be completed this fall.

Each three-story home consists of three bedrooms, a two-car garage with private remote access, and all residents have use of a two-story amenity building. These luxurious townhomes with nine- foot ceilings are available in seven floor plans and two designer color schemes. The master bedrooms have vaulted ceilings, and crown molding adorns the formal living area.

The spacious kitchens boast high-end stainless steel appliances, quartz kitchen countertops, and custom cabinetry with under-mount lighting. The spa-inspired bathrooms have pebble stone flooring in showers and soaker tub surrounds, as well as above counter basin sinks in the powder rooms. A central vacuum system, laundry area with washers and dryers, engineered hardwood flooring and carpeting are included in the purchase of all homes.

Top Management
Regehr, the founder and principal of WestStone, began his career constructing single-family homes in Abbotsford and eventually founded Lancelot Homes. He moved into multifamily buildings three years later and renamed the business WestStone Properties.

Today, Regehr has more than 2,500 homes in various development and building stages in the Fraser Valley. His entrepreneurial spirit has helped him achieve a healthy portfolio of business holdings in 15 companies, all related to the building industry, the company says.

Regehr was nominated for the 2006 and 2007 Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and was named the 2006 Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40. More significantly, Regehr recently donated $1 million to Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus’ Close To Home Campaign.

As vice president of development and construction, Kelly is focused on ensuring WestStone’s projects move through the municipal process in a timely manner, and keeping the projects on budget and on time. Kelly joined WestStone after a six-year stay in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he served as a project manager for several private charitable foundations. “[While in Mexico], he designed and managed housing construction for churches and community infrastructure projects for the underprivileged,” the company says. “[He] gained a lot of his experience that he utilized in Mexico from Redekop Properties, where he was a project manager for seven years.”

Robert Dominick, vice president of sales and acquisitions, joined WestStone in 2005 as general manager of sales, where his main focus was to develop an in-house sales team. He successfully implemented this by taking over sales from the company’s first multifamily property, The Brixton. He also sold out the company’s second multifamily project, the Sonnet, before the completion of construction, and he has fully pre-sold the Agenda and Element at Urban Village. Dominick has worked in the real estate industry for the past 20 years with some of the most highly-respected real estate developers in the country.

Michelle Mackay, vice president of marketing, joined WestStone in 2006 and has been responsible for successfully launching six projects on time and under budget, which in turn has been a contributing factor in WestStone’s sales success. Her marketing and real estate expertise has been honed over the past 20 years through owning her own real estate marketing consulting company, working with R Group Communications and Impark, one of the world’s largest international parking companies.

Mackay has had the opportunity of strategizing for some of the largest developers in both Canada and the U.S., providing her with a great degree of knowledge and insight into real estate marketing.