Randy Remington Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
H
aving spent over 40 years in Alberta’s development industry, there are few more deserving of the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award than Randy Remington. His company, Remington Development Corporation (RDC), has designed and built over 150 projects in the last 23 years, from industrial and office spaces to design build and retail. It is also provides commercial leasing and sales opportunities to numerous clients. This success was built, like all of his developments, from the ground up. “In 1977, I started a company with a friend doing some small general construction jobs that led to a couple design build opportunities in Lethbridge,” Remington recalls. “Within two years, our business was growing quickly, and we opened up an office in Calgary. The rest, as they say, is history.” Started in 1994, RDC is today renowned for its abilities to pioneer new construction solutions. For example, in the 1990s, it deployed precast construction solutions (which Remington pioneered in the 1970s) to bring industrial sites to market more quickly than with conventional processes. It’s also a leader in transforming blighted land into thriving business parks and communities, having fully developed 30 brownfield sites in the past 20 years alone. RDC was also Alberta’s first private developer to design and construct a LEED Gold Certified building (Quarry Park West). The RDC team provides clients – who run the gamut from private family businesses and non-profits to publicly-traded Fortune 500 companies – with planning, architecture and design, construction and property management expertise. It continually outperforms standards achieved by others, establishing new benchmarks for success. The keys to that success? “I was taught by my dad that you can’t replace hard work and creativity,” Remington explains. “Couple this with a little bit of luck and you have a recipe for success.” He cau-
tions that the market can work for or against you, and admits it’s worked for him more often than against. “I’ve also been fortunate enough to hire extremely good people,” he says. “Very knowledgeable, confident people who are stars in what they do. We work as a team on our projects – everyone is a vital part of that team, and we are all driven and have the same vision for the future of our company and our developments.” The company’s values of commitment, integrity and stewardship have guided it since inception, providing the foundation for all of the company’s endeavours. “Most importantly, I would never have been able to survive and thrive without the support of my wife, Donna, who did more than her share to raise our family and allow me to focus on the growth of our business,” he says. A self-described perfectionist, Remington admits to being determined and somewhat stubborn. “But I always try to be fair,” he adds. “Calgary will always be my home,” he reflects. “We have a very talented group of people working in our industry here. In terms of a place to do commercial real estate development – we need to be better! At times our business can be extremely frustrating as there are many moving parts that all need to come together at the right time. We live in one of the best cities in North America and need to be more nimble and responsive to attract the best companies in the world. The development community together with the approving authority need to come together to be more competitive.” Proud of all he’s achieved thus far, Remington has no plans to slow down. “I am honored to be recognized by my peers for the work we have done to date,” he says, “but to be honest, I am not crazy about the name of the award as it infers that my career/life may be complete. Hopefully this is not the case, as I still have many things I want to accomplish.”
NAIOP Calgary Annual Real Estate Excellence (REX) Awards • 2