Back L-R: Mike Wolsey, Chris Ohana, Patrick Adams, David Kent, Roger Kozun, Guy St. Germain. Front L-R: Tiffany Lorenz, Gina Hritcu, Kemala Skoric, Hongyu Liu, Mylene Magsino Photo Credit: Terry Bourque Photography
35 YEARS
The Nearctic Property Group Celebrates 35 Years By Nerissa McNaughton
D
avid Kent builds a respected Edmonton real estate development firm, one location at a time. Nearctic is an Edmonton-based property management and development firm with industrial, residential and commercial properties in its portfolio. Founded by David Kent in 1979, Nearctic is proud to celebrate 35 years of business. The man, and the journey, behind Nearctic are both fascinating and inspirational. At one point in his life, David Kent had all the odds stacked against him. That point was when he arrived from Fredericton, New Brunswick and got off the bus in Fort McMurray. In addition to it being a cold, unpleasant day, he had misjudged his stop and disembarked far from where he wanted to be. Unsettled, chilled, without prospects, with just $11.35 in his pocket and only coffee for breakfast, Kent took his first step forward – and set the momentum that would span the rest of his career. While those odds would have sent a lesser man back to the life he knew and loved back east, Kent simply took a deep breath, walked down the hill to where people were hiring and landed a pipeline building job that afternoon. For the next few years, Kent stayed in Fort McMurray, working as a labourer during the day and a bouncer at night, while also completing night courses on how to read plans. He was on the go 18 – 20 hours a day, seven days a week. His friends took bets on when he would collapse. Even though the heavy workload and lack of sleep would eventually force Kent to slow his pace, he beat the odds again, outlasting the bets placed by his friends and colleagues. Nearctic’s first property, and the base of their operations,
is Nearctic Plaza on the west side of Edmonton. This beautiful property and its collection of buildings showcases the hallmarks of each location in the Nearctic Group portfolio: clean, well-maintained, expertly landscaped with Alberta-based plants, and appealing outdoor gazebos for when the tenants or their clients need a little fresh air. In 1983, Kent made waves in the industry by purchasing Camrose’s Duggan Mall. “Alberta was in the doldrums of the National Energy Program,” Kent explains. “Everything was going backwards.” Despite the economy’s downturn, Nearctic dug the mall out of receivership and showed a profit in just eight months. “It needed to be reworked and turned around. I did that as a managing partner,” he explains. Duggan Mall isn’t the only time Kent has sent shockwaves of surprise rippling through the industry. When he set his sights on Nexus Business Park, it wasn’t just his colleagues questioning his decision. It was also his friends and family. Basically, they questioned his sanity. Kent, however, saw beyond the fact that the Park had no direction, that the tenants included a flea market and that others had written off the area as undesirable. Instead, Nearctic invested 3.5 million dollars into the property and turned it into a multiuse business park. The result was stunning. Expert craftsmanship inside and out is seen in the tiled main corridor, the indoor water feature, and the high class finishings. Professional tenants flocked to the new development. “Humbly, I would suggest being a contributor to that area,” says Kent with a modest smile.
Nearctic Group | 35 Years | Page 1