that buying a single-family home at a depressed price was only the beginning of the opportunity. Converting that property into a duplex, triplex, or fourplex meant they could recover their investment while also putting more rental units into an already supply-starved market – and Henry and his team were perfectly positioned to help them. The passage of Bill 23 in January 2023 accelerated things further. The provincial legislation allowed up to three units on every property within urban boundaries as of right, cutting through much of the red tape that had previously slowed conversion projects. “Suddenly we could add more units without cutting through so much red tape,” Henry recalls. “Our investors started saying, ‘Let’s do this – let’s start building.’” From there, Rojas Empire of Design’s projects grew steadily in size, from three- and four-unit conversions to projects of five, 10, 15, 20 units and beyond. Scaling up wasn’t difficult, Henry explains, because their formula remained largely the same regardless of scale. “Once you get to about five units, it’s sort of the same recipe – it’s just a bigger shell of a building.” Today, Rojas Empire of Design works across the full spectrum of multi-unit residential, from modest basement suite additions all the way up to large-scale building conversions. Henry remains highly active in the field, traveling across Ontario – from Windsor to Ottawa – serving one of the broadest service territories of any architectural JUNE 2026
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