Southwest Properties
Halifax’s Southwest Properties Ltd. is moving into the hotel business.
The company is building a 133-room Marriott Residence Inn in Moncton and a 163-room Hampton Inn & Suites in Dartmouth. Partnering in the enterprise is New Castle Hotels & Resorts, who will operate the properties scheduled to open in June 2008 and spring 2009 respectively.
The hotels are two of the most recent initiatives by Southwest who developed and operate the award-winning Bishop’s Landing on the Halifax waterfront.
Founded in 1952 by Simon Spatz, Southwest is headed today by his son, Jim. The company’s more than 1,200 residential and commercial properties can be found in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Southwest also has a national presence as the largest shareholder of Premiere Executive Suites.
As Southwest continues to grow – in 2007 it realized over $30 million in revenue – the company has drawn upon resourcefulness, innovation and a familiar teaching: treat others as you would have them treat you.
It seems to be working. Southwest is a two-time finalist in the Better Business Bureau of the Maritime Provinces’ business ethics awards, and has been recognized by Progress as one of the 20 best places to work and one of the top 101 companies in Atlantic Canada.
Southwest also receives high marks in its annual customer service surveys with residential tenants. Southwest president and chief operating officer Gordon Laing says the company takes very seriously tenants’ feedback on what they’d like to see changed or improved.
Southwest’s more than 100 employees are essential to the company’s success. “They are the business,” Laing says. “We’re in a service business, so you’re only as good as the people that you have providing that service. They’re caring people, they’re action-oriented. When there’s an issue to be dealt with they deal with it with the comfort that we tell them that if you make a mistake, err on the side of the customer and you’ll be right.”
A case in point occurred when a truck making a delivery to one of Southwest’s apartments got stuck and blocked the parking lot. A resident needed to be at a doctor’s appointment and so the superintendent arranged for a cab at the building’s expense.
“To me that’s a great example of resourcefulness,” Laing says. “It was a small expense and it quickly solved the problem and took away a lot of anxiety for a resident.”
Resourcefulness and innovation are reflected in Southwest’s approach to business and the projects it takes on.
“We’re always looking at different and new ways to do things,” Laing says. “We’re not a company that likes the answer ‘no.’ It’s more about how can we do it and then we decide whether we will or not, but business decisions are shaped on how we can say ‘yes’.”
Southwest said “yes” when, with Office Interiors, it converted a former brewery in Dartmouth into Windmill Crossing. The property, which received recognition from the Eco-Efficiency Centre, houses Office Interiors’ operations as well as various tenants and a couple of warehouses.
“We took a building that had a completely different purpose, developed a vision and made some architectural changes to it, repositioned it and then, basically, saved it,” Laing says. “So there’s a an environmental story there as well in terms of a building that now doesn’t need to be torn down. It’s vibrant and full and part of a business community.”
Another example of visioning occurred when Southwest bought a 350,000 square foot office building in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Laing says what was previously considered an eyesore is now a dynamic space where people can work, exercise, and eat. Within a period of about 18 months, occupancy increased from 75 to 98 per cent.
Closer to home, Bishop’s Landing, which Laing calls “a vibrant mixed use residential/retail neighborhood,” continues to attract praise.
In 2007, the development, which has 40,000 square feet of retail space and 206 residential suites, received an award for excellence from the Urban Development Institute of Nova Scotia. In 2002, the year of its opening, Bishop’s Landing earned international recognition when it was chosen in a worldwide competition to receive an Excellence on the Waterfront Award.
Stephanie Bertossi is owner of two restaurants at Bishop’s Landing – Bish World Cuisine and now Pizzeria a Mano. A tenant from the outset, Bertossi recalls the Southwest team “moved literally heaven and earth to get us in here. We were the first tenants in and we had a date that we were going to open and they made it happen. It was amazing.”
The supportive relationship continues today. “They understand your vision, where you want to go with your business….I find, too, that if there’s any sort of problem or anything that comes up they’re always ready to help you solve it or solve it for you.”
Southwest Properties also played a problem-solving role when it assisted in Point Pleasant Park’s recovery after Hurricane Juan. The company sponsored a design competition seeking submissions on how to revitalize the park.
Community outreach is part of Southwest’s culture. “We certainly encourage our employees to become involved with whatever their passion is relative to helping others and we’ll support them in that,” Laing says.
Nova Scotia is also a location which has a lot to offer from a business perspective. Laing’s listing of advantages includes easy accessibility to the United States and European markets and the work ethic and quality of the province’s workforce, which is supported by a strong university and community college system.
Nova Scotia’s quality of life is also an asset in attracting employees. “You might not have the salaries that, say, you’d have in Toronto, but you have a whole different economic model in terms of housing prices. And then add to that the stress of commuting on the 401 at 8 o’clock in the morning….”
As Laing explains, in Nova Scotia the pace “can be as fast or as slow as you want it to be….Nova Scotia has something to offer every lifestyle.”
Feature story written by Marie Weeren
