JULY 2021 “The difference between us and some of our brother and sister developers is we take a more aggressive community approach at the very front end,” he says. “When we end up in front of a council, we already have a complete stakeholder engagement report done, before anyone’s even asked us to do one. We consider the community as a whole right from the beginning.” “That’s my take on why we’re different and why our buildings make sense. It’s because they’re designed for the communities, and practically by the community.” TLA’s community engagement typically starts with municipal planners. They ask them what they want to see out of a development, and just as importantly, what they don’t want to see. They also talk to the local chamber of commerce, with local elected officials, and with prospective neighbors. Troy admits neighbors are the trickiest stakeholder, but even those opposed to new development, in principle, can have useful criticism regarding factors like parking, landscaping, and streetscaping. TLA will take those comments into account when coming up with their design. “We get out there and we engage with everyone before we even finalize our concept plan,” he says. “I think that’s an incredibly important part of what we do.” According to Chris, it’s also incredibly important their projects are attainable. The company’s projects, so far, are all in Victoria’s Capital Regional District (CRD), and the goal with all of them is to give local buyers a more attainable option. “There are a lot of professionals who can’t afford a $1,000-persquare-foot condominium in downtown Victoria,” Chris says. “We want to provide those people with a really high-quality product in a great location – it might be a five or 10 minute drive from downtown, but it’s only a five or 10 minute drive from downtown – and we want them to be able to afford it.” “We want to keep our pricing below the average in the markets we’re in,” he adds. “That’s a target that we’ve set.” At the same time, TLA alsowants to provide value for money. They don’t believe ‘affordability’ is an antonym for ‘quality.’ They want to achieve both. “We fundamentally believe that anyone who is going to live in one of our projects should be proud of the home they’re living in,” Chris says. “And we want to be proud of the product we deliver.” “That really comes down to quality assurance and quality control,” he explains. “It’s about working with our vendors to make sure we’re getting a high-quality product while still hitting our price point. Then, throughout the construction process, it’s about working with our project managers and site supers, ensuring the installation of the product meets our quality expectations.” “At the end of the day, we’re not happy unless the person buying one of our condos or homes is absolutely happy,” he says. “Success for us is when a customer says ‘Look at this great house I’m living in.’” TLA also strives to keep customers happy after they move in. When there are issues, they seek to resolve them promptly. “I don’t care how good a builder you are, there’s always going to be a punch list on every building,” Troy says. “Buildings settle. A year in, you’re going to have the odd issue. We take care of all that. It’s important to us that our clients have a good experience.”
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