Mattamy and Great Gulf named as GTA Homebuilders of the Year, Hugh Heron wins Lifetime Achievement Award.
The GTA’s home building and land development industry recognized its top builders, projects and marketing initiatives at the 38th annual BILD Awards on Friday, May 4, 2018.More than 1,300 industry professionals attended the event, which honoured achievements in planning, design, sales, marketing and city building in 51 categories. A group of 30 expert judges from across North America determined the winners from more than 900 submitted entries.A highlight of the evening was the presentation of BILD’s Lifetime Achievement Award to Hugh Heron, principal and co-founder of Heron Homes. This recognition is the association’s highest honour and was presented to Heron for his 50 years of leadership in the building and land development industry.HOMEBUILDERS OF THE YEARTaking home the night’s most prestigious awards for Homebuilders of the Year were Mattamy Homes for Lowrise and Great Gulf for Mid/Highrise.The Homebuilder of the Year titles recognize the builders who set the standard for the rest of the industry through their professionalism and dedication to excellence.The winners are leaders committed to quality, caring for their customers and contribution to their community. A key component of the judging process is a customer satisfaction survey completed by the builders’ purchasers.The Great Gulf Group has been in business for over 40 years and includes Great Gulf, Ashton Woods, First Gulf, H+ME Technology, and Tucker HiRise. It has grown into one of North America’s premier real estate organizations. They have built their reputation by continually seeking to marry design, technology and experience in exciting new ways.Mattamy Homes is the largest privately owned homebuilder in North America with a nearly 40-year history of operations across the United States and Canada. The company started in 1978, building one home in Burlington. Today they have over 90,000 homeowners in hundreds of master-planned communities. Mattamy is continually in touch with each homeowner from the first touchpoint at their sales centre, to when a purchaser moves in, to long after they have settled into their new home.
Hugh Heron
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDFor the past 50 years, Hugh Heron has been a “builder” in every sense of the word in the province of Ontario. Today, he is one of the most active and influential professionals in the new home industry, as well as an avid media spokesperson for the building and land development industry in the GTA.In 1967, Heron came to Canada and got his first job with Costain, a company that he had worked for in Scotland. In 1979, Hugh went off on his own to co-found Heron Homes with a group that he is still in business with today. Heron’s building entities has gone on to build over 8,000 homes in 50 communities across Ontario and has built over 1,000,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.“For 50 years Hugh has given back to the industry that gave so much to him and his family,” said Wilkes. “He has served in leadership positions at some of the industry’s most important institutions, including chair of the Ontario New Home Warranty Program, past president of both the Greater Toronto and Ontario Home Builders’ Associations, and former senior board member of Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation (CMHC).”Heron is also well known for his community and charity work, establishing the Mikey Network in memory of Michael Salem, a partner at Herity who died of cardiac arrest on a golf course in June 2002. The Mikey Network helps place Mikeys (public access defibrillators) in schools, workplaces and public access areas across Canada. These defibrillators have been used to save 39 lives to date and many more to come.“Hugh Heron’s goal has always been to make the new homebuyer feel comfortable during the building process,” said Wilkes. “Hugh has always made the journey of new homeownership a positive experience. When someone buys a home from Hugh and moves in, he makes sure they feel ‘Home at Last,’ ”' said Wilkes with a smile.TOP AWARDSThe People’s Choice Award, determined by members of the public through online voting, was awarded to CentreCourt Developments and SmartCentres for their Transit City development in Vaughan.“People’s Choice is a unique award because it is the public that decide the winner,” said BILD president and CEO Dave Wilkes. “Nearly 6,000 people voted for projects that competed for the best in city building that demonstrated how the industry is providing a wide range of housing options for GTA homebuyers.”For community building, BILD has two categories for outstanding projects that embody the province’s smart growth principles: Best New Community (Planned/Under Development) for a project currently planned or under construction; and Best New Community (Built) which recognizes a completed project.The Daniels Corporation won Best New Community (Planned/Under Development) for Lighthouse Tower East, located at Lower Jarvis Street and Queens Quay East. For its work on Harbour Plaza and One York, Menkes Development won the award for Best New Community (Built).The Berkley by Arista Homes took home the award for Best Innovative Home Design, which recognizes cutting-edge design in lowrise homes that increase buying choices for entry-level consumers.Best Innovative Suite Design went to Collecdev’s Unit E8, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit that maximizes living space.Curated Properties and Windmill Developments won the award for the Best Midrise Building Design for The Plant, which seeks to bring new standards of sustainability and urban agriculture to Queen West.For their outstanding leadership in the implementation of green building practices, Dunshire Developments was named Green Builder of the Year, Lowise, and Tridel was named Green Builder of Year, Mid/Highrise.The Project of the Year, Lowrise title went to TACC Developments, Arista Homes Limited, DECO Homes, Fieldgate Homes and OPUS Homes for their Richlands development in Richmond Hill, while Curated Properties and Windmill Developments’ The Plant was selected as the Mid/Highrise Project of the Year.The award for Best Overall Marketing Campaign went to the team of Graywood Developments and Community for their campaign for Peter & Adelaide.The Stephen Dupuis Humanitarian Award was given to The Daniels Corporation and the Riley Brethour Leadership Award was given to Andrea DeGasperis-Ronco of OPUS Homes.For a full list of winners, go to bildawards.ca.
More than 1,300 industry professionals attended the event, which honoured achievements in planning, design, sales, marketing and city building in 51 categories. A group of 30 expert judges from across North America determined the winners from more than 900 submitted entries.A highlight of the evening was the presentation of BILD’s Lifetime Achievement Award to Hugh Heron, principal and co-founder of Heron Homes. This recognition is the association’s highest honour and was presented to Heron for his 50 years of leadership in the building and land development industry.HOMEBUILDERS OF THE YEARTaking home the night’s most prestigious awards for Homebuilders of the Year were Mattamy Homes for Lowrise and Great Gulf for Mid/Highrise.The Homebuilder of the Year titles recognize the builders who set the standard for the rest of the industry through their professionalism and dedication to excellence.The winners are leaders committed to quality, caring for their customers and contribution to their community. A key component of the judging process is a customer satisfaction survey completed by the builders’ purchasers.The Great Gulf Group has been in business for over 40 years and includes Great Gulf, Ashton Woods, First Gulf, H+ME Technology, and Tucker HiRise. It has grown into one of North America’s premier real estate organizations. They have built their reputation by continually seeking to marry design, technology and experience in exciting new ways.Mattamy Homes is the largest privately owned homebuilder in North America with a nearly 40-year history of operations across the United States and Canada. The company started in 1978, building one home in Burlington. Today they have over 90,000 homeowners in hundreds of master-planned communities. Mattamy is continually in touch with each homeowner from the first touchpoint at their sales centre, to when a purchaser moves in, to long after they have settled into their new home.