For 75 years, the Broccolini construction group has continued to evolve from a simple builder of single-family homes to a general contractor in the institutional, then industrial and commercial sector, before embarking on the erection of condo towers of more than 50 floors. The family business, explains Anthony Broccolini, third generation CEO, has always been able to adapt to changing market conditions.
Published at 6:00 a.m.
And this evolution continues today, since the Montreal company will soon launch into the construction of rental housing towers with a project near the Château Viger, in Old Montreal, and another which will adjoin the train station from the REM to Kirkland.
“The Old Port project will include two eight-story towers which will accommodate 500 housing units, while in Kirkland, we are considering launching a mixed residential rental and commercial project.
“Demand is still strong for housing, but rising prices and high interest rates have slowed the construction of new condos, which is why we are launching into rental housing. We have other land in the city center, but we have not yet decided on their use,” explains Anthony Broccolini in his offices at the Kirkland head office, in west Montreal.
It was in the suburbs of Montreal that Donato Broccolini, who had studied building engineering, had great success in the construction of single-family houses – La Prairie, LaSalle, Montreal-West…
His four sons joined him during the 1980s and expanded the scope of the company’s activities by launching into the construction of commercial, industrial and even institutional buildings such as churches and schools.
“In the early 2000s, they purchased 3 million square feet of land in Baie-D’Urfé, on which they built 12 industrial buildings. This is where we opened the way to this real estate activity which is still our main source of income today,” notes Anthony Broccolini.
It was in 2003 that Donato’s grandson officially joined the family business, although since the age of 14, he worked there every summer as a construction worker, before becoming assistant to the superintendent. .
“When I finished my studies in architectural technologies, I went to Ottawa as a project manager before becoming general manager of this region where we built Maison Telus in the city center in 2004, our first major project », Relates the CEO.
The strong expansion of the 2000s
It was with the construction project for Maison Telus in Ottawa that the Broccolini company realized that it could not finance each of the projects with its financial resources alone.
The company created its first real estate fund in 2007, a limited partnership to which many family fortunes subscribed.
“We raised 72 million with this first fund which would finance several future projects, including three office towers in Gatineau and Ottawa for the federal government. It is with this fund that we also financed L’Avenue, our first 50-story condo tower just opposite the Bell Centre,” says Anthony Broccolini.
It was he and his cousin Michael, today president of the real estate division and head of investments at Broccolini, who were responsible for the erection of this first residential tower.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Anthony Broccolini
The Avenue will be followed by several other brand projects, including 628 Saint-Jacques with its 35 floors of luxurious condos, Victoria sur le Parc with its 500 condos and 58 floors, right next to the new tower of the National Bank, which was also built by Broccolini, and soon, Le Sherbrooke, in the heart of the Golden Square Mile.
At the same time, the group continues its activities in the industrial sector, mainly in Quebec and Ontario, by constructing numerous buildings for the giants Amazon, IKEA, Best Buy, Canadian Tire, etc.
“The industrial sector generates nearly 70% of our annual revenues, which for three years have amounted to nearly 1 billion. Today there are 500 employees, 75% of whom work in our construction division,” explains the CEO.
The Broccolini platform is simple, he continues. There is an investment team that is responsible for land acquisition and project financing.
Then a development team sees to the design, the acquisition of customers or tenants, and relations with municipalities, while a construction team executes the projects.
Finally, a management team oversees the real estate portfolio which includes 20 million square feet, mainly industrial buildings, and 2,500 acres of land, many of which are located in the Toronto region.
“We are now at our eighth real estate fund. The last one we raised totaled 425 million. More than 90% of our investors who were there in the first fund are still with us for each new financing,” emphasizes Anthony Broccolini.
And this is not without reason, since Broccolini’s real estate funds display an average annual return of around 20%, a performance which commands a certain loyalty…
