THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA “What sets us apart from our competition is we try to make our buildings look and feel more modern, more sleek,” he says. “We want them to feel more like condos than apartment rentals. We want them to feel high-end – but we want to provide them at a lower rent than a typical highend unit.” Leon is also the founder and owner of Integra Building Systems, a development and building company that acquires most of the land and constructs most of the properties that Chanden Homes manages. Prior to starting both companies, Leon grew up around the building industry, as his father was a carpenter and framer. “From as young as I can remember, I was on job sites watching him work,” he recalls. After graduating high school, Leon worked as a framer himself for a while, before taking a detour and embarking on another career. About 25 years ago, however, he returned to the industry when he and his wife, Valerie, invested in “a little old bungalow,” which they turned into a rental property. When that went well, they slowly started buying more bungalows and renting them out. Eventually, they started building rental properties from the ground up, progressing from single homes, to duplexes, to four-plexes, to townhouses, and finally apartment blocks. “What sets us apart from our competition is we try to make our buildings look and feel more modern, more sleek,” he says. “We want them to feel more like condos than apartment rentals. We want them to feel highend – but we want to provide them at a lower rent than a typical highend unit.”
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