Arbutus Properties

5 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 capitalizes on the desirability of the area – widely considered one of the premier locations in the city that continues to interest potential buyers. With a mix of townhomes, small single family dwellings, estate-sized lots, as well as plenty of greenery and parks for families to enjoy, Arbutus properties has worked diligently to create a tight-knit community feel in the Meadows that comes from the overall vision of a traditionally planned neighborhood. Built in carefully planned phases, the Meadows is close to 65% completed, representing already 300 to 400 homes that have been constructed and are now occupied. Both Totland and Minakakis agree that some of the economic spinoffs from the pandemic have derailed many developers from moving forward with planned projects. “When COVID hit there were a lot of developers that decided to stop and wait and see what was going to happen. Then there was the other handful that was committed and decided to plow through. We were one of the groups that decided to plow through and see what would happen,” Minakakis recalls. “That decision turned out to be a success in our opinion because, contrary to what some people thought was going to happen, demand spike in sales actually rose and this enabled us to continue and we didn’t have a drop in sales for very long.” Supply chain issues did, however, cause Arbutus Properties some concern and forced the company to be both adaptable, flexible, and pivot to meet the challenge. “We had to get our thinking caps on and collectively come together to figure out other alternatives for a lot of different methods – from framing materials to being creative with suppliers by expanding our network and tapping into other provinces for materials,” Totland says. Despite these challenges, demand for the type of houses that Arbutus Properties is known for did not wane.