Boardwalk offering military personnel quality apartments with a discount

With humble beginnings, Boardwalk strives to provide quality apartments to rent.

Back in 1984, brothers Sam and Van Kolias began Boardwalk with a loan from their parents, bought a small 16 unit property in Calgary, fixed it, and then sold it. From there, Boardwalk continued to grow to operate in four provinces with over 225 communities.

Boardwalk is the leading owner and operator of multi-family residential buildings in Canada, with hundreds of rental communities in various cities across Canada. They have a portfolio of more than 200 rental apartment and townhouse buildings across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec, totalling over 30,000 suites, 55,000 residents, and 30 million net rentable square feet.

Their rental apartments and townhouses come in a wide breadth of shapes, sizes, and sets of amenities. First responders and medical professionals receive five per cent off all available suites across Canada when they renew or sign a new lease. This discount applies to doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers, paramedics, firefighters, and active military personnel.

Boyd Belisle, media relations, says, “We have a passion for building better communities and providing the most amazing customer service, product quality and experience so that our Resident Members truly feel a sense of belonging and feel cared for in their homes. We see every new day as an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those we serve.”

Sam, the CEO, graduated as a civil engineer in the 80s from the University of Calgary but had trouble getting a job in a very tough economic market, so he followed in his parents’ footprints, serving Resident Members with multi-family residential homes.

His brother Van, senior vice president of quality control, began working directly with his brother out of high school. His wife Melissa is chief design officer, and his daughter Samantha is an active board member at Boardwalk.

Their rental apartments and townhouses come in a wide breadth of shapes, sizes, and sets of amenities. First responders and medical professionals receive five per cent off all available suites across Canada when they renew or sign a new lease. This discount applies to doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers, paramedics, firefighters, and active military personnel.

In 2012, Boardwalk commenced its very first development project by building on excess land owned by the Trust.

Boardwalk received a rent subsidy grant from the Province of Alberta for approximately half the development project cost and, in return, committed to providing 54 of the 109 units as affordable housing at a rate 10 percent below CMHC market rents for 20 years.

Belisle says Boardwalk is inspired by their entire Team of Associates who help them redefine Boardwalk Family Forever (BFF).

“We would like to continue providing amazing customer service in high-quality communities to Resident Members in all cities in which we operate as well as those in other regions as we continue to diversify geographically our portfolio,” he added.

Belisle says, “Our purpose is simply to bring everyone home to a joyful place where love always lives.”

He continued, “We love our people-centered culture where our Associates lead us all with a huge passion for creating memorable experiences for our Resident Members where they live in their homes and communities.”

Boardwalk values a culture that puts people first, both their Associates and their Resident Members. They do this by staying committed to a vision of mutual respect and ensuring everyone has a place to belong and call home.

For more information visit Baordwalk’s website here.