Reflecting on the Past... Building into the Future - Crystal Creek Homes

Reflecting on the Past

Building into the Future

By Lisa Johnston 143

Justin and Michelle Bobier

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rystal Creek Homes’ tagline – a reflection of you – eloquently sums up the vision behind this award-winning company. Building homes that reflect the personalities and lifestyles of their clients has led to 10 years of success. The next decade promises to be just as exciting as the premier Calgary homebuilder expands its reach into the Edmonton community with the acquisition of Greenboro Homes.

Crystal Creek’s story began just over 10 years ago, when an injury sidelined Justin Bobier. Without an income or the ability to work for three months, Bobier decided to change his focus and his future. He had experience as a renovator and cabinet installer and was considering his options when a simple request changed the course of his career – his sister wanted him to build her a home. Bobier and his wife, Michelle, incorporated Crystal Creek Homes in 2004 and began construction on their first house later that year.

“My goal from the beginning has always been to build the best possible home for our clients to reflect both their individuality and their lifestyle,” says Bobier. “I felt we could be successful in offering this type of service to the Calgary community.” His intuition was correct. One house led to another and today Bobier sits as President of Crystal Creek Homes, a company that is actively building homes in both Calgary and Edmonton.

“My goal from the beginning has always been to build the best possible home for our clients to reflect both their individuality and their lifestyle.” ~ Justin Bobier Crystal Creek increased their presence in 2013 by acquiring Greenboro Homes, one of the most renowned homebuilders in Edmonton. During their prime, Greenboro was building close to 500 homes per year, but due to market conditions, the company was forced into creditor protection in 2012. Hundreds of homes were left incomplete in the Edmonton area with millions of dollars outstanding to creditors. Within a year of Crystal Creek taking ownership of the company, all the tradespeople were paid and 80 per cent of the homes on hold have now been completed – a huge accomplishment in a short period of time.

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Distinction Congratulations to Crystal Creek Homes on your

10th Anniversary!

It has been an honor to serve you.

Exceeding Customer Expectations since 2005

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Craftsmanship

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Tucked into a secluded ravine, Tusslewood Terrace Estates has already established itself as a desired northwest Calgary neighbourhood. While Crystal Creek Homes has built an assortment of homes in the thriving surrounding areas, they are beginning their first foray as both the developer and exclusive builder, and will feature a selection of ravine-situated estate homes.

The dynamic energy of Crystal Creek has revived a once-thriving company, and homebuilding continues at a brisk pace.

Within Calgary and nearby Airdrie, Crystal Creek Homes currently builds in six communities: Tusslewood Terrace Estates, Rock Lake Estates, Aspen Woods Estates, Currie Barracks, Cooper’s Crossing and Canals Landing.

Tucked into a secluded ravine, Tusslewood Terrace Estates has already established itself as a desired northwest Calgary neighbourhood. While Crystal Creek Homes has built an assortment of homes in the thriving surrounding areas, they are beginning their first foray as both the developer and exclusive builder, and will feature a selection of ravine-situated estate homes. Also located in the northwest is the new community of Rock Lake Es-

tates. Surrounded by ample community amenities, shopping, entertainment and activities, Rock Lake provides an active country lifestyle with all the conveniences of living in the city.

Across the river in southwest Calgary is Aspen Woods Estates, one of Canada’s bestselling communities. Desirable Aspen Woods offers single-family detached homes and is located close to several amenities including Westside Recreation Centre.

Closer to the downtown core in the southwest is the development at Currie Barracks. Located on the former military base with easy access to Crowchild Trail, the mixed-residential urban community reflects history and character. It is a popular choice for those seeking luxury homes in a new development within close proximity to the city’s core.

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Luxury In addition to building large, luxurious estate homes, Crystal Creek has also become renowned as a quality builder of infills, which have become another popular choice for those who want to live closer to the downtown core.

Crystal Creek Homes is also active in Cooper’s Crossing and Canals Landing – located in the bedroom community of Airdrie, just north of Calgary. Both popular communities cater to young professional families seeking a home close to schools, playgrounds and other amenities, but secluded from the daily bustle of big city life.

In addition to building large, luxurious estate homes, Crystal Creek has also become renowned as a quality builder of infills, which have become another popular choice for those who want to live closer to the downtown core. “Infills are inner-city projects where we build duplexes, multiplexes or single-family homes,” Bobier explains. “All are designed to maximize space without compromising on style. We’ve been doing this for a number of years and our first infill project won an Alberta Award of Excellence. Since that time, we have successfully continued to build in the inner city. Currently, we are working on a five-plex in Altadore, a duplex in the Parkdale area and two single-family infill units.”

Despite all these accomplishments, building in Calgary is not without its challenges. On the positive side, development has been rapid and the city is bursting at the seams. However, the pace has also limited the availability of land. Nevertheless, the

rewards for a successful company such as Crystal Creek Homes far outweigh the negatives. Bobier explains, “Knowing that you have helped a family build their dream home is very gratifying.

A happy customer at the end of the day is what we strive for and has led to continued growth over the past 10 years.”

It’s not surprising that Crystal Creek has enjoyed rapid success. Similar to the initial infill project, their first single-family show home was awarded the Best Estate Home in Alberta (2007).

“Winning that award early in our existence was a defining moment for our company in the sense that we were recognized by our peers for being the best in the industry in that category. Customer feedback in terms of its design was amazing, and to this day, that home is still being replicated in communities across Alberta due to its uniqueness and appeal,” says Bobier.

That award was the first of many. The industry was quick to recognize the young homebuilder and the value Crystal Creek added to Calgary. Some of the accolades have come from within the industry such as multiple annual awards from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA), while others have come from the customers they serve every day. Two years in succession, customers have presented Crystal Creek Homes with the Builder of Choice and New Home Buyers’ Choice awards.

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Here’s to building success.

Congratulations!

Crystal Creek Homes on your 10th Anniversary!

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For three years, Crystal Creek has been included on Alberta Venture’s prestigious list of top companies for growth and performance, receiving as high as a seventh place ranking. Last year, Crystal Creek Homes won not only CHBA’s Alberta Award of Excellence for Best Estate Home over $1,500,000, they also placed second in Canadian Business magazine’s fastest growing companies in Calgary.

This year, Bobier is a finalist in EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year awards, a fitting recognition for a man who refused to let anything – from an injury to taking on a failing company – hold him back. Entrepreneurs are risk takers and adventurers, qualities that aptly describe the man that decided to build his sister a house, and ultimately established an amazing company.

Bobier knows that thriving companies are a team effort and he is grateful to all those who aligned themselves with his vision.

“I have been very fortunate to attract top-notch industry professionals who want to be part of our company,” acknowledges Bobier. One of the foundation members of Crystal Creek Homes is Tyler Scarlett, who was instrumental in developing the business and is now leading the luxury home division. “As the company grew, we moved away from the luxury market, but recently decided to reignite this passion and give it a new name – Crystal Creek Luxury Homes – of which Tyler is now president.”

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“We are still growing. Crystal Creek Homes is looking to expand into different markets and take on a bigger role as a premier homebuilder. We will increase volume substantially and can only do that with the help of our developer partners.” ~ Justin Bobier Bobier also expresses gratitude to the other team members, trades, clients and suppliers who have been a part of Crystal Creek’s legacy for the past 10 years. “Crystal Creek is fortunate to have several strong lenders that assist with financing and an extremely strong trade base that contributes to our success. Two companies that have been strong supporters from the beginning are Ply Gem Windows (formerly Gienow Windows) and Sterling Bridge Mortgage Corp. Ply Gem was a supplier that really took us under their wing and helped us to be a top builder, while Sterling Bridge Mortgage Corp. was instrumental in our early growth.”

Satisfying clients is not the only goal of Crystal Creek Homes.

As a company, they are just as happy when they put a smile on a child’s face, which is why they support a number of charities.

As the Bobiers are parents of four children, they focus on initiatives for young people, including Kids Cancer Care and Kids Up Front charities. Other community involvement includes supporting neighbourhood playgrounds, instituting the Crystal Creek Homes Class Act scholarship, and volunteering to build and donate the new scoring tower for the Springbank Community High School football team.

If history is an indication of the future, Crystal Creek can expect to be just as successful in the next decade. They have recently taken their Calgary success story and expanded into Edmonton with the acquisition of Greenboro Homes. Bobier, who was born in Edmonton and built his first home in the city before founding Crystal Creek Homes, was well aware of Greenboro’s reputation as a leading homebuilder and saw the acquisition as a prime opportunity for Crystal Creek to expand into a new market.

“We are still growing,” concludes Bobier. “Crystal Creek Homes is looking to expand into different markets and take on a bigger role as a premier homebuilder. We will increase volume substantially and can only do that with the help of our developer partners.”

Crystal Creek Homes was built on a foundation of teamwork, experience, dedication and passion. The future holds nothing but promise for the young company. To learn more about Crystal Creek Homes, visit crystalcreekhomes.ca.

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Congratulations to Crystal Creek Homes!

We wish you many more years of success in the industry.

Congratulations to Crystal Creek Homes on 10 years in the industry!

Congratulations

to Justin Bobier and the team at Crystal Creek Homes on your 10th Anniversary!

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Wishing Crystal Creek Homes continued success!

Congratulations to Crystal Creek Homes!

We wish you continued success.

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Congratulations to Crystal Creek Homes on your 10th Anniversary! from all of us at

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Congratulations to Crystal Creek Homes on your 10th Anniversary!

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