For the fifth year in a row Morrison Homes proved itself tops against its competitors, taking not only the coveted Builder of the Year and Large Volume, Customer Choice Grand SAM statues, but also going home from the April 8 gala evening with a gaggle of design awards under its decades-old tool belt.

The family-owned builder also cemented design honours for five of its custom addresses, in a range of price categories spanning from under $150,000, to nearly $1 million.

Five times proved the charm for McKinley Masters Custom Homes, who was named Builder of Merit for the fifth year running, along with carving out a Best Sales Centre (detached) and two more custom home design wins – one for an inner-city Tuscan-inspired farmhouse, and the other, a 10,000-square-foor Bearspaw mansion complete with a swimming pool and home theatre.

Ken Hubert, marketing director of McKinley Masters Custom Homes, says the repeated success of the company and commendation from its building peers is not only flattering, it also affirms the builder is making the grade with customers.

“Winning for five years in a row, that speaks volumes of our people,” says Hubert, adding that, despite the difficulty the market has seen retaining tradespeople, the builder’s crews have remained a constant. “One of our secrets is good quality and value and that has always been true.”

Six was the magic number for NuVista Homes, who kept its Customer Choice title for the sixth year in a row in the SAMs, beating out six other finalists to harness the coveted silver goose for Mid-Volume Builder.

Karen Hoes, sales manager at NuVista (a division of the Qualico Group), credits the builder’s solid success with customers to top-notch salespeople and site superintendents, and keeping an honest relationship with homebuyers.

“I think we just have a terrific team of people and there’s just terrific communication that goes on,” she says, adding this year may have been the toughest for staying on top with the shortage of tradespeople and spiking prices.

“We did go through a bit of an adjustment period because of how everything changed. But we were able to be very proactive and educate our customers about what was happening and nobody seems to mind as long as they know why things are happening – and you give them answers about that early on.”

Lask Homes also stacked up top marks with buyers in the Small-Volume category of the coveted Customer Choice contest. Lask President Lou Luini credits his family business’ win with employing the old adage “the customer is always right,” as well as keeping up with new technology, and having an excellent service department.

“It’s simply doing what we said we would do,” he explains. “We take an awful lot of time explaining to our customers what they’re getting and the process of getting it.”

Luini, who has seen much change since he entered the homebuilding biz back in 1957, feels the award is one of the most sought-after because it’s a true testament to customer satisfaction. “We don’t have any say whatsoever – it’s all based on surveys from the homes we register with the Alberta New Home Warranty Program, which is every one.”

Dennis Little, president and CEO of the Alberta New Home Warranty Program  (ANHWP), says builders who win or rank in the top three for the Customer Choice Awards – which is often a close race – just seem to “get it.”

“They understand what customer choice is all about. It’s not just service after the fact, it’s all the way through, and they have engaged their people to understand what it’s all about. I always say when a builder builds a home, he is selling two products – the home and the relationship, and in this market that relationship is going to be at least two years.”

Customer Choice scores are tallied based on how each builder rates with its homebuyers, gleaned from anonymous surveys sent to customers after their home purchase. This year’s awards were tallied as the result of 4,000-plus completed questionnaires.

Hawthorne Homes, multi-family arm of Carma Developers, knows the formula for keeping its customers happy judging by the results of last weekend’s awards – marking the second win for Customer Choice/Large-Volume Builder for the builder since 2000.

Speaking of good Carma, the developer blew the roof off its competition for award-winning neighbourhoods spanning from northwest to southeast – fast-growing Tuscany (Best-Selling Community), Auburn Bay (Best New Community), and tried and true McKenzie Towne, which was named Show Home Parade of the Year.

Bob Clark, vice-president of Calgary Land at Carma says creating award-winning communities comes down to master-planning areas people can call home at every stage of their homebuying lives. “It deals with how we like to develop our properties. We try to address all of our markets in each of our communities,” he says.

As for Auburn Bay, Clark says say the lake community was modelled after top-netting lake areas from across the country, such as the Muskokas, and designed to be a cottage-themed community with heavy landscaping, pathways and strong entrance features. “We wanted it to look like it had been carved out of a boreal forest – which is a challenge in the prairie of Alberta.”

And now a thriving community in the northwest, Clark also credits Tuscany’s win for Best-Selling Community with its planning and vision, and some good old-fashioned time.

“It’s done very well for the last couple of years, but it’s now reached a level of maturity,” he says, adding a commercial space, 15,000-square-foot community centre sitting on six acres and sporting skating rinks, tennis courts, and a massive gymnasium, as well as two schools set to open in the next year-and-a-half have fared well with residents.

Heritage Pointe Lake Development earned top developer honours with Community of the Year for The Lake at Heritage Pointe. Now in its 13th year and final phase, (and year five of the lake portion), Ted Stack of Heritage Pointe Lake Developments says the win was the result of years of hard work toward crafting a one-of-a-kind community.

“It’s reflective of the quality and amenities (of Heritage Pointe),” he says, citing the expanse of the exclusive, single-family home community combined with the lake and golf course amenities.

Crediting everyone from the marketing team, to the builder group, to area residents who have made the community a success, Stack says the developer’s reaction to the win was surprise. “I think you are always surprised. Obviously we were on the hunt since we were a finalist, but we are delighted – just over the moon.”

Stepper Custom Homes nailed five wins of a possible 13, including a Direct Mail win, best Sales Centre (attached), and three home design nods – one for a customer home, and one each for the family-builder’s Montreux and SaddleCrest showhomes.

“This was out first real attempt at the awards, so that is really a record for us,” says Chuck Stepper, marketing manager at Stepper, noting the builder also placed second in Builder of the Year ranking. “That just tells us there is more work to be done.”

For Industry Achievement, the Sterling Group shone with its Solar Homes concept for Drake Landing in Okotoks, taking home the hardware for Best New Idea. But the true winner, according to Keith Paget, manager of special projects and product development for Sterling, is the customer, with so many great building trends evolving.

“There were some other ideas that were also worthy – it is just sad that there are so many good ideas and they have to compete against each other,” says Paget, adding, “I am just hoping this is the first of many (solar communities). The ramifications of this project go much farther than just Calgary.”

Albi Homes hammered its competition in most of the races it held finalist spots, reaping kudos not only in four design categories and for top salesperson, but also taking a renovation win under the Albi Renova name.

And Ultimate Renovations and Additions once again lived up to its name, taking the Grand SAM/Renovator of the Year title for the fourth straight year, as well as getting the goose in two of three renovation contests.

Best-Selling Home this year went to Homes by Avi’s Downing model, while the top-netting multi-family address was Resiance Corporation’s Gateway Midtown.

Sabal Crafted Homes, Heartland Homes, Jaymack Homes, and Douglas Homes also proved themselves among the “best of the best” in the city’s single-family home design, with a win each in this year’s sought-after SAMs.   NL