Alberta-based firm leads the way
By Murdoch Macleod
Business Edge
Call it pride of craftsmanship or call it a passion for excellence – Apex Corp. wants to be known for being the best.
“What makes us tick is to be proud of what we do, to make the customer something they can be proud of,” says Bill Lefebre, vice-president of Apex Lifestyle Communities.
Whether it’s a lot for a builder from the development side, a starter or move-up home or a seniors’ residence, the theme is a quality shelter.
The company tries to be innovative and pro-active in the marketplace.
“Our philosophy is, when an Apex person says something, we do what we say we’ll do,” he says.
The philosophy seems to work. Apex has made a profit every year since it was founded in 1991.
Lefebre says Apex started as a public company and traded on the TSX until last year. In 40 quarters of record earnings, Apex wasn’t exactly treated well by the stock markets.
Being a public company provides shareholders with liquidity and the company with access to capital. If shares trade at a lot less than book value, a company won’t do well at either, he notes.
Apex was bought by Caisse de Depots of Quebec City and is now managed by Bentall Group from Vancouver. The division Lefebre oversees is one of four branches of Apex Corp. It builds multi-family housing and seniors’ residences ranging from three- or four-storey low-rises to concrete high-rises.
Apex Land, headed by Greg Lefebre, is the developer for subdivisions such as Citadel and the new Kincorra section of Symons Valley. Kincorra is a 300-acre subdivision named for the ancestral home of Brian Boru, the first Irish king.
Excel Homes, headed by Jim Moir, is the starter-home builder in the group. The company is a frequent recipient of the industry’s prestigious SAM awards, and builds about 450 houses a year in Calgary, says Bill Lefebre.
Centrex Homes, headed by Paul Bates, is a new division set up to build mid-market or move-up homes. “We should be doing probably 200 homes a year in the next short while,” he says.
Apex Lifestyle Communities’ current activities include two seniors’ housing projects, one at the new Col. Belcher site in Parkdale and the Harbours of Newport in Coventry Hills, as well as an apartment project, the Renaissance at North Hill Centre.
The first phase at the Renaissance is 95 per cent sold and occupied. The second is 60 per cent sold and will be occupied by the end of the year, Lefebre says.
The 175-suite lifestyle community at the Col. Belcher site will be occupied May 1, while the Harbours will also be occupied in May after a setback from fire last fall. The Col. Belcher project will be managed by Carewest and the Harbours project by Summit Care Corp., which owns the adjacent care centre.
Apex made history four years ago by teaming up with Carewest on Royal Park – the province’s first P3 (public-private partnership) in the long-term health field. Carewest operates 50 nursing home beds on the building’s main level in southwest Calgary, and Apex has 105 suites above.
Costs are shared, says Lefebre.
“We built this for the government at an affordable cost they hadn’t been able to meet before,” he notes.
Retrieved September 18, 2004 from
http://www.businessedge.ca/ViewNewsItem.aspx?NewsItemID