Together.

Today, along with our employees, customers and communities, we are building a healthy, shared future. We believe that if you honour the land, it will honour you. This philosophy is the key to our unwavering commitment to safety and responsible work practises; providing the solid support for steady, dependable growth and a sustainable future.

and integrate them into current policies and future planning. Its consolidated acquisitions team proactively searches for and vets opportunities that best suits its collective offerings versus approaching it from a more traditional siloed or divisional viewpoint.

“We regularly evaluate options that range from a quarter section of land for developing communities for housing to infill pockets for commercial and multifamily units,” says Stewart Fraser, vicepresident of commercial, acquisitions and entitlements at Cantiro. “We look at our developments as building communities either horizontally or vertically in the case of some of our higher density mixed- use sites. We plan for how an area will function today and evolve over the next 25 to 50 years.”

Current Projects

Just one of Cantiro’s impressive projects under construction is West Block, a 3.5- acre redevelopment at the western-most corner of Glenora, a residential neighbourhood in Edmonton overlooking the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

“Bringing together residences, retail, and office space, the development brings the latest benefits of urban living to this historic neighbourhood,” explains Fraser. “Its vibrant community plaza integrates seamlessly with the surrounding community and the future light rail transit (LRT).”

The Urban Square is transforming this high-profile corner to become the new hub of activity in Glenora. Current tenants include three gourmet restaurants, a coffee shop, hair salon, nail salon, liquor store, butcher shop, clothing retailers, offices, and more.

“There are five building sites total,” says Fereday. “We’ve built Phase 1, which includes 100 West Block – a mixed-use tower with residential, services, retail, and dining – and 300 West Block – a separate three-storey mass timber office and retail building.”

The 16-storey luxury residential tower features 60 open-concept homes. Residents have access to an exclusive fitness centre, indoor/outdoor lounge area, multi-purpose flex room with catering kitchen, and even a ‘hotel suite’ to host guests from out of town. Two additional phases will also join the development in the upcoming years.

“We are in the process of re-zoning, design, and entitlement approvals for 200 West Block, a 60-unit mixed-use building with main floor retail facing West Block Drive, and 400 West Block, a 96-unit apartment building due to begin construction in the second quarter of 2024,” explains Fereday. “The final phase will be a mixed-use 25+ storey tower. We’re aiming to have this completed for when the LRT opens directly onto the Urban Square. We’ve been working with the City for several years on the LRT integration.”

Even with all of this success, Cantiro has had challenges that include supply issues caused by the global pandemic.

“We worked to streamline materials across product lines and pre-order in larger volumes to maximize availability and minimize costs,” says Fereday. “We also increased communication with customers to keep them up to date on any delays and what we were proactively doing to address them.”

With fluctuating interest rates and economic uncertainty, buyers also became wary in such an uncertain time. To help combat this, Cantiro implemented programs offering pricing guarantees and interest rate assistance.

WHAT’S NEXT?

As for what the near future holds for Cantiro, the company will continue working towards its purpose of creating environments for amazing lives to happen.

AWARD-WINNING COMPANY

60 open-concept homes.

“Edmonton is a great city and Alberta continues to be a strong market,” says Fereday. “We continue to pursue opportunities throughout the Edmonton region and have intentions to enter the Calgary market as well.”

Cantiro’s B.C. projects include Owl’s Nest Estates, a community launching this year along the shores of Kalamalka Lake, featuring 38 net-zero luxury residences, as well as townhomes in Penticton and Peachland.

Two new Cantiro developments are also coming to Kitchener, Ont., including a new 64-unit condominium project launching later this year and a 24-storey mixed-use tower featuring 231 purposebuilt rentals and main floor commercial space that will be completed in 2025. u

Multi-faceted real estate company Cantiro was recently awarded four of the top awards at the 2023 CHBA Edmonton Region Awards of Excellence (CHBA-ER AOE). This is a first in the industry that no other company has accomplished in the same year.

THESE AWARDS INCLUDE:

• Builder of the Year – Large Volume

• Best Community

OTHER AWARDS OF NOTE IN 2023 INCLUDE:

• Builder of the Year – Multi-Family

• Industry Leadership

• Best Townhouse Project: Cantiro Townhomes in ONE at Keswick, and the Cantiro Townhomes in Emerald Hills (finalist)

• Best Multi-Family Rental Project: CX

• Best Apartment Style over $250,000

• Best Townhouse $350,000 to $400,000: New York, and Berlin (finalist)

• West Block Penthouse (Best Net-Zero Home)

NOTABLE CHBA EDMONTON REGION AWARDS INCLUDE:

• Multi-Family Home Builder of the Year for 2021, 2022, and 2023

• Best Apartment Building: West Block Glenora for 2020, 2021, and 2022

• Best Community: The Hills at Charlesworth in SE Edmonton for 2022 and 2023

A celebrated Edmonton-based architect known for his innovative health-care designs retired last year after over three decades in the industry.

Jan Pierzchajlo was born and raised in Edmonton, and after gaining his undergrad and masters at the University of Manitoba, he moved back to the Alberta capital to be closer to his family. Pierzchajlo says that he knew from a young age that he would be an architect after his mother saw his talent in drawing.

“It was my mom’s fault. She told my oldest brother that he was going to be a doctor and I like to draw, so she told me I would be an architect. My younger brother was supposed to be a lawyer, but he became an engineer instead,” said Pierzchajlo. “My mom said you have some talents there and this is where your gifts are. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I took that route and she was right.”

After four years working for different architects across Alberta and in Winnipeg, as well as a year working in Berlin with his then-girlfriend, now wife, Pierzchajlo got a job at the Rockliff Group in Edmonton, which is now known as Rockliff Pierzchajlo Kroman (RPK). He later became a partner in the firm