How Granite Homes is crafting some of Guelph’s most desirable homes

For more than 15 years Granite Homes has built a reputation as an industry leader an innovator, continuously striving to improve all aspects of their business; from building practices to customer service. They have established a strong foundation that anchors their philosophy with the goal line known as The Granite Advantage; A company ethos based on four distinctive key pillars- distinguished details, superior quality, renowned reputation, and their guarantee. President Josh Bellamy joins us to discuss the company’s people-first approach, dedication to high quality, and their award-winning customer service that will make you feel right at home.

To pick four pillars that each staff member in our office will adhere to and easily relate to when interacting with our customers. Our goal is to create memorable customer experiences at customer touch points throughout the build process.  We work hard to wow customers at every step.  In a competitive industry where the majority of the builders are doing the same thing, it’s really important to set ourselves apart.  We provide a consistent and compassionate build process for everyone of our customers, utilizing a team of skilled professionals that diligently strive to foster a relationship with our customers across all the product types that our team constructs. This varies from entry level products, move up or downsizing buyers and also from luxury modern towns through to spacious estate homes.

Collaborations are key. You mentioned your build process with clients, can you elaborate?

Our quality assurance starts on the day our customers meet our sales staff, whether they are just looking, or preparing to purchase. We feel that quality service should occur before the customer even chooses to sign a deal with us.  So quality assurance is a strong presence throughout the entire process.

We’ve worked with our building partners for many years. Having those long-lasting relationships is important – it means the contractors are aware of our high quality demands that are – and Granite Homes can trust them to deliver that quality.  We want to make sure that our trade partners, who are the lifeblood of our building process, are happy to be part of the process on site. We also want to only work with companies that are reputable and provide a high standard of work and quality.

What are some of your communities that will showcase Granite Homes four key pillars of distinguished details, superior quality, renowned reputation, and guarantee to clients?

Granite Homes has engaged in several outstanding community projects across southwestern Ontario in recent years. We conduct a lot of market research on where our potential buyers are coming from. One of the key things we try to do is create a community within a community; so often times when we have a new development, we want to create a product that is unique onto itself and we will create stunning exteriors, great amenity spaces, an eye-catching entry features to really captivate or capture the buyer or potential buyers by making them see what unique characteristics Granite Homes can bring to the market.

Gallery Towns feature spacious 2,100 square-feet of open concept layouts with nice-foot ceilings.  The three-storey, 93 unit townhomes community situated within a range of neighbourhood amenities is located in the south end of Guelph.  Characterized by stunning brick interiors. Expansive windows, and Maibec horizontal natural wood siding, Gallery Towns captures a modern and contemporary atmosphere with West Coast influences that ideally express the concept of modern urban living.

Gallery Towns – Guelph

The open concept floor plans and large windows allow for an abundance of natural light to fill the living spaces, and the hardwood flooring and granite countertops are just a couple of the high-end finishes you’ll discovery at Gallery Towns.

Usshers Creek brings an exclusive collection of 15 luxurious bungalows and two-story detached principal residences to a prestigious, mature enclave neighbourhood setting in the Village of Ariss, Ontario.  Situated on one acre a state lots, Usshers Creek homes combine natural stone and timber accents, complementing the exterior designs wild gourmet kitchens, oak Maple flooring, and dramatic open concept living spaces are found within the interiors.

The homes at Heritage Lane in historic Fergus, Ontario offer an ideal combination of form and function, with contemporary open concept floor plans that offer ample space for growing families and empty nesters. These two-story and bungalow designs have been expertly conceived to provide the homebuyer with everything they would ever want – distinctive floor plans, premium features and finishes, granite countertops, impressive master suites, large bedrooms and more.

Ussher’s Creek Model Home

Tell us about Granite Homes’ new design studio that guides clients through the process?

We recently opened the doors to a new 3000 square-foot design studio which is an adaptive reuse of an old CN Railing building on Edinburgh road in Guelph. The industrial feel studio was built with a focus on state-of-the-art modern amenities, including interactive displays, or gourmet working kitchen, multi-level options, and vertical display areas. Our design studio has tours every Tuesday after 5:00 PM, and Saturday at 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm, and he studio has recently been nominated for a design studio of the year award through the CHBA, one design studio of the year at the local level and was also a finalist at the OHBA.  The design studio provides a wonderful opportunity for homeowners to personalize their home to each of their own unique needs while feeling completely comfortable with their decisions. It has changed the focus of a design centre visit from meeting a pushy salesperson to becoming a personalized one-on-one design consultation with a design professional.

The design studio is part of a vision that continuously raises the bar when it comes to quality and customer service. So much so, that it has helped granite homes attain an AVID total buyer experience of 92.4%, which positions Granite Homes into the top 5% of home builders in North America.

The Granite Homes head office and Design Studio are located in the former CN Rail building, now transformed through an adaptive reuse project. Additionally, The Junction features two newly constructed buildings that host private offices, co-working spaces, and a popular brewpub.

The relationships between the builder, clients and community are vital to the sustainable philosophy. Is the team at Granite Homes ready to continue to lead the charge in Southwestern Ontario?

Absolutely.  As Granite Homes looks ahead, we can rely on our leaders in-depth knowledge and experience to ensure the success of every project it undertakes from start to finish. Obviously the opportunity for the traditional 50-foot single detached product is becoming more and more challenging. We are exploring a number of exciting mid-rise projects, smaller more urban focused projects, and we’re looking to expand into a multitude of cities surrounding the golden horseshoe and southwestern Ontario to provide a varied product offering an experience that many homeowners have not seen before. We want to be cutting edge with everything we do, whether it be additional product offerings, design studio selections, mixed-use office slash commercial space, or anything else to foster the work life balance critical to our staff.  That is what we want at Granite Homes, and that is what we are committed to.