Best Community Development of the Year
By Anna Guy
It’s hard to imagine a better way to celebrate 60 years of home construction and land development than receiving the Best Community Development of the Year Award from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association for 2017.
If you’re not in the industry, a little background: The Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) awards are akin to the Oscars of the building industry, and Best Community Development of the Year is akin to the Best Picture award. It’s a very prestigious accolade bestowed by a panel of one’s peers. The award—given for the Welland’s Residences at Hunters Pointe project— recognizes commitment to innovative technology (particularly in the green realm), and excellence in builds, construction, and design. But perhaps more importantly to Ed and Rob Lucchetta, co-principles of Lucchetta Homes, the award takes into account testimonials and feedback from the people who live in the homes and communities. In a way, that is the only vote that matters.
Humbled and Honoured
“We were beyond humbled and honoured to have won best in Canada,” says Rob. Out of 1,000 entries, the team was narrowed down to the Top 5 Finalists, “and just to be recognized amongst the best of the best in Canada was incredible. Simply going to the conference in St. John’s, NL, and to be in the midst everything innovative in the industry, and discussing in-depth what homeowners are looking for, was a really invigorating experience.”
To best serve their customer, Lucchetta Homes understands the importance of first knowing who they are, and what they want and need. The Hunter Pointe customer, for example, is focused on the Baby Boomer market. “It is an active adult lifestyle community,” says Kim Kopyl, Director of Sales and Marketing. “We feel we have met their needs the best as far as a resort style development offering world class services and amenities.”
Indeed, located in the Niagara region near the beautiful Welland River, the community is rich with amenities and activities such as cycling routes, tennis courts, a wonderful garden in the backyard, a saltwater swimming pool, a state-of-the-art fitness centre, not to mention the 30 social clubs, meeting rooms and a library.
“We have really built—or have been told by our clients that we have built—a development for them to live their best life,” says Kim, adding, “They deserve to now, because their life has been about raising their kids, the commute, the family, and now its really about them. They have the time to enjoy things possibly they couldn’t have before. Our guests absolutely love our luxury quality, amidst being a part of this wonderful award-winning community.”
60th Anniversary
Lucchetta Homes considers the local community it works with as well. Giving back to charity also a big part of the Lucchetta team. To mark the company’s 60th anniversary, the team is hosting a charity BBQ this summer for residents. All proceeds go directly towards Wellspring Niagara, a centre that offers a variety of supportive care programs, at no cost, for cancer patients, their families and their caregivers.
A Proud Legacy
Rob and Ed are second-generation principals of Lucchetta Homes, carrying on the tradition established by their father, Ugo Lucchetta, in the 1960s. “Our father was a furniture maker in Europe, and came to Canada in the 1950s with nothing but a hope and a dream and borrowed suitcase,” says Ed. Ugo worked in the construction industry as cabinet maker at first, then was involved in various parts of home building, then started the company with his brothers.
Ugo’s vision was for the highest quality combined with the utmost attention to the exceptional and customer service—an ambition that is still driving the company to success. There are many home building companies, and many ways to conduct one’s company. Lucchetta Homes takes the Old-World mentality of doing something once, and doing it right; of taking the time to produce a long-lasting, well-built, well-appointed product; of giving people the most value for their investment. Taking the baton from their father, Rob and Ed have injected their own values into the company—always pushing the envelope in terms of environmental sustainability in their builds.
The Niagara Home Builder’s Association also awarded Lucchetta Homes with the Most Outstanding Production Home Over 2,500 square feet, Best Website, and Excellence in Green. This is along side a collection of awards and nominations recently garnered by Lucchetta Homes including Energy Star Builder of the Year Finalist, and national recognition for building Canada’s first Net Zero Ready Qualified Home under the CHBA guidelines.
“Our homes are leading-edge technology and we are always trying to be ahead of the industry,” says Rob. “We pride ourselves on that, and ultimately that is what [our work] is all about, being leaders in our industry, and building a better product for our customer.”
Industry-leading environmental standards
In July 2016, Lucchetta Homes received the designation as the first Net Zero Ready Qualified Home, in Canada under the CHBA’s Net Zero Energy Labelling Program Pilot. The Net Zero labelling is meant to “[advance] innovation in our industry and providing excellent options for homebuyers, while at the same time protecting affordability,” says CHBA CEO Kevin Lee. “This Program will help to meet the housing aspirations of Canadians, and renew Canadian leadership in high performance housing.”
“The Net Zero Ready home will ultimately pay for itself, because we will be utility free at some stage and to be at the forefront of this is becoming more important to everyone,” says Kim. “People are downsizing because they want to get rid of certain costs. Cost is always of importance at every stage, and possibly even more so at retirement.” Considering a Lucchetta Net Zero Blanket is 80 per cent more energy efficient than a standard OBC code built home blanket, the company has achieved their vision.
