and establish himself in one place, he returned to Nova Scotia and formed Riva Construction about four years ago. These days, Riva Construction balances a mix of custom home work for clients and multi-family development work for themselves. At any given time, Matthew estimates that the company has between six and eight custom homes under construction and roughly 20 multi-family units in various stages of delivery. When it comes to both their custom homes and multi-unit developments, the company primarily works within a one-hour radius of the Halifax Regional Municipality. They’ve ventured to the South Shore and occasionally further afield for one-off opportunities, but the team’s center of gravity remains Halifax and surrounding communities – a choice that supports consistency, responsiveness, and quality control. On the custom home side, Riva Construction gravitates to projects where craftsmanship and performance matter. Their homes typically range from around 2,200 square feet all the way up to 10,000. Square footage, however, is only part of their consideration – they also place a high value on energy efficiency, as previously mentioned. The company is willing to take on smaller homes if the client is interested in achieving a high standard of energy-efficiency. On the multi-unit side of the company, meanwhile, MARCH 2026
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTYzNTg=