Energetic and Innovative Development
Progressive Real Estate Group is a verticallyintegrated, Winnipeg-based company that operates as a developer, general contractor, and property manager. Collectively, their focus is delivering high-quality multi-family apartments, commercial spaces, and mini-subdivisions. On every project, they strive to incorporate timeless design, functionality, and environmental sustainability, always in an effort to create superior value for their clients. According to Geoff Milnes, founder and president, the company is able to consistently achieve their goals largely due to their vertical integration: “Embracing our vertical integration model is the cornerstone of our commitment to optimizing every facet involved in the development and management of our multi-family and commercial assets,” Geoff explains. “Acting as the developer, general contractor, and property manager provides the flexibility needed to stay ahead in a dynamic industry.” “This coordination leads to streamlined operations, improved efficiency, and faster decision-making, ultimately contributing to timely project completion,” he continues. “This model not only bestows upon us a unique competitive advantage but, more importantly, allows us to deliver an enhanced living experience to our residents and maximize returns for our valued investors.” Geoff first founded Progressive Real Estate Group in 2009 alongside a business partner. In the early years, they focused on buying derelict single-family homes, renovating them, and then either selling them or renting them. When they started, Geoff and his partner did most of the construction work themselves but as the business grew they started developing relationships with PROGRESSIVE REAL ESTATE GROUP
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trades. Eventually, they came across a house with some “bonus land” next door, and rather than selling the land off they decided to build their first fourplex – “which went pretty well,” Geoff recalls. In the years since, Progressive Real Estate Group has progressed into building bigger and bigger projects. From that initial fourplex, they progressed into building an eight-unit project, then a 15-unit project, then a 20-unit project, then a 40-unit project – and today they build phased developments that can be anywhere from 40 units to over-200 units. Though their capabilities have evolves, the company also still does smaller projects. In terms of size and scope, Geoff says they now “do a little bit of everything.” “Our typical project, the kind we like to build, would be a four-to-six storey wood-frame multifamily building with 40-to-60 units,” he explains. “That’s our core business, but we’re not afraid to try new things.” Currently, for example, Progressive Real Estate Group is building 11 single-family homes within one community – a “mini-subdivision”, they call it. They are also doing a 17-unit walk-up building for a third-party developer – to date, they have mostly built for themselves, but they are now branching out and doing some construction management for others. Furthermore, in the past, they have done some mixed-use developments with commercial space, usually on the main floor. Regardless of the unit mix, most of the company’s PROGRESSIVE REAL ESTATE GROUP
developments are infill, meaning they take place in existing communities on previously unused or underutilized land. According to Geoff, “that comes with its own host of challenges and excitements,” but Progressive Real Estate Group is experienced at navigating those challenges and delivering some “really nice apartment buildings.” Again, Geoff credits the consistent quality of those buildings to the company’s vertical integration: “For the most part, we buy, we build, we own, and we manage all ourselves,” he says. “That means that from the outset, we make design decisions with the future in mind. We don’t just go with the basic options to save some money. We invest in high quality designs and high quality finishes. We spend a lot of time on the layouts to make sure they are super functional. We put a lot of effort into designing common spaces that will add to the tenant experience.” Because they intend to own and manage their buildings for a long time – and because they know the tenants are going to be their long-term clients – Geoff believes that Progressive Real Estate Group invests more in the tenant experience than a lot of other developers. “We actually give up some of the best-use real estate in our buildings for common spaces,” he says. “The top-corner unit that could get us the best rent, we’re not afraid to give that up for common space so it can be enjoyed by everyone in the building.” Kate Kennedy is the company’s director of operations, as well as their longest-tenured THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA
employee, having been there for approximately 12 years. She joined Progressive Real Estate Group right about when they built their first fourplex. She agrees with Geoff – “we really think the project through from start-to-finish, because we care about the people who are going to live there.” “We’re always asking ourselves ‘If we were going to live here, what would we want?’” she explains. “What would we want in the living room? What would we want in the kitchen? What would we want it to look like? How would we want it to be laid out?” “We’re very, very-specific in how we want these buildings to look and feel,” she adds. “The architect will send us a design and we’ll go over it a hundred times until it’s perfect. We’re very discerning in that sense. I think that’s what sets our buildings apart.” Progressive Real Estate Group is also very discerning when it comes to material selection. Geoff believes that also sets their buildings apart, and he cites their choice of internal doors as an example of that: “We could buy a hollow-core flimsy door, but then the first tenant that gets angry and punches it will put a hole through it, and then we have to take the door off, re-hang a new door, paint it, et cetera. That will lend up costing us more down the road in terms of maintenance and downtime. So instead we select solid-core doors. They are three-times the cost up-front, but the first tenant that gets mad and punches the door will damage Commercial and Industrial Concrete Experts From solid foundations to flawless flatwork — we deliver quality concrete work built to last. 204 330 6200 mardy@helixconcrete.com PROGRESSIVE REAL ESTATE GROUP
their hand more than the door.” “And there are other benefits,” he adds. “Solidcore doors better quality, they look better, they’re better for sound. So that’s a very simple example of how we invest in quality and how we’re pretty picky when it comes to the things we’re putting in our units.” When selecting materials, Kate adds that they also prioritize sustainability. She points out that all of their buildings are built above basic energy code requirements, that they have implemented electric car chargers at all of their apartment complexes, and they are a recognized builder for energy efficiency by Efficiency Manitoba. “We were doing LED pot lights before they were a thing,” she elaborates. “We use tri-pane windows, double-insulated walls; we add gypcrete to every floor level. We go above and beyond the standard to ensure we’re being sustainable and that the tenant experience is so much better.” As was previously mentioned, Progressive Real Estate Group is also now branching out and doing some building for third party developers. Geoff believes those clients like working with them because of their experience as a developer themselves – and in particular, because of their specific experience and expertise in the multifamily sector. “When you’re looking to build a multi-family apartment, lot of the other options you have are general contractors who are more generalists in construction,” Geoff says. “I’m not saying those contractors are not great at what they do; I’m just saying they build everything from power plants to dams to government buildings to industrial warehouses. Whereas with us, the client is hiring a company that truly knows the ins-and-outs of multi-family building in particular. The clients who hire us are the clients who want that expertise.” In addition, Progressive Real Estate Group has built relationships with some of the very best designers, engineers, subcontractors, and material suppliers in Winnipeg – which means the quality of their buildings is always very high. That sets them apart as a builder for other developers and as a developer themselves. “We work with some of the best professionals in our industry,” Geoff says. “We have great relationships with our suppliers and our trades. We ask a lot of them and they deliver.” Most of the company’s trade relationships, Geoff explains, are repeat and longstanding. Projectover-project, he estimates they use “north of 80 per cent” of the same subcontractors. “We get to know how they operate, they get to know our systems, and they get to know each other,” he says. “They develop a good camaraderie and synergy; they do a good job together, so we like to work with them over and over. We’ll try some new people on occasion, and that’s how we develop new relationships, but for the most part I would say we have a core group that we like to stick with.” THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA
A lot coming up Recently, Progressive Real Estate Group completed delivery of one of their landmark projects to date, which is called The Edison. That was a 227-unit luxury apartment complex situated on a five-plus-acre site within a neighbourhood in North Kildonan, and was delivered over five phases spanning several years. According to Geoff, it was actually the company’s “first big build,” and they are very proud and excited to have completed all five phases. They see it as a great demonstration of how far the company has come and what they are capable of moving forward. In addition, the company also recently completed their own “forever office space” in Crescent Wood. That space is part of a 5,000-squarefoot mixed use facility, with commercial space on the main floor, office space on the next two floors, and residential units above. They collaborated on that with their architect, who also shares some of PROGRESSIVE REAL ESTATE GROUP
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the office space. Kate describes the finished result as “stunning” and Geoff calls it “awesome.” More recently, the company also Group completed the second phase of their Parkview Terrace apartment complex, which will be their largest project to date with an ultimate unit count of over 400. Phases three and four of that project are underway right now. Beyond that, Progressive Real Estate Group has a lot of land holdings and thus “a lot of stuff coming up.” “When I look at my development board, I see that we have over 600 units that we’re projected to build in the next four-to-five years,” Geoff says. “Our future looks very bright. We have a lot of stuff in the pipeline. A lot of it is our own and some of it is for others.” In order to deliver all those units, Kate says Progressive Real Estate Group will grow, but in a careful and considered way. She says they have so far been “really cautious” about growing the company to date in order to avoid burning out their staff and potentially compromising quality, but they are now looking to expand their team. “I think staying somewhere between 20-to-30 people is a nice spot,” she says. “At that size, everyone still knows everyone. You can maintain a family atmosphere. That’s what we want to do.” Lastly, Geoff says that no matter how big the company grows, they want to continue innovating. He believes that’s been a major driver of their success and he wants to see that continue: “We’re always looking for better ways to do things,” he says. “We’re not satisfied with the status quo. We’re looking for new opportunities all the time. For example, we were probably one of the first companies to adopt a resident portal, where the resident could log in and book everything from an elevator to a multi-purpose room to a repair call. We did that in order to improve our tenant experience. We were also one of the first energysmart builders in the province. We did that to reduce our carbon footprint and environmental impact.” “We want to continue being the first at things, and we want to continue delivering really high quality results for our clients,” he concludes. “We’re a young, energetic, innovative group and we want to do work that shows that.” COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL DESIGN BUILD TECHNICAL 1320 Loudoun Rd, Winnipeg, R3S 1A4 204-896-3446 office@powertec.ca powertec.ca PROGRESSIVE REAL ESTATE GROUP
THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA For more on Progressive Real Estate Group, their values, their capabilities, and their past and present developments – and to get in touch with their expert team, including Geoff and Kate – visit https://www.progressiverealestate.ca/
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