New owners have big plans for ‘factory-built' housing company
Doug Kuyvenhoven has watched over 7000 homes being built inside the Royal Homes factory in Wingham, a business his father started 54 years ago.
But, Kuyvenhoven and his partners recently decided it was time to find new owners.
'We had some tough years, and we had some good years. But we were getting to that age where it was time to transition the business. We're all still healthy, and we wanted to see this transition happen while we were healthy, so that we could help the new owners, carry on,' says Kuyvenhoven.
Sid Kerrigan, is one of those new owners, who is ready to build on Royal Homes factory built housing model. Right now, Royal Homes builds about 100, largely custom homes, in their Wingham factory, each year, but Kerrigan envisions building 500 to 1000 smaller, modular homes each year, closer to 1000 to 1500 square feet each, inside Royal's expansive Wingham facility.
Royal Homes
Doug Kuyvenhoven, former owner, and Sid Kerrigan, new owner, stand on the factory floor of Royal Homes in Wingham, Ont. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)
'That's not really available in the marketplace right now. So, we believe we can create an ability to bring that type of more repeatable housing, at scale, to market. And you can imagine as you do, more at scale, more repeatable, more cost efficient, we can pass those savings on to the customer,' says Kerrigan.
He believes the ability to build homes in weeks, not months, will set Royal apart, as Ontario requires as many as 2 million new homes within the next 5 to 10 years. In the United States, factory built housing makes up 5-10% of the new housing market, says Kerrigan. In Ontario, it's less than 1% percent.
'I really believe if there's any market in the world that should be focusing more on prefab factory built housing, it's Ontario,' says Kerrigan.
To meet Kerrigan's 500 to 1000 homes per year goal, there's going to have be jobs, and a lot of them, added to Royal Homes. There's currently 100 Royal Homes employees, Kerrigan expects to double that in short order, and says building a second, and possibly third factory, isn't out of the question.
'That'll be growth in terms of employment hiring. That'd be growth in terms of technology. Anything we can do to create, high quality homes, at speed, and at scale. And, yeah, there's a very strong possibility of that happening, going forward,' says Kerrigan.
That's music to Doug Kuyvenhoven's ears. He really wanted to see his father's business, not only stay in Wingham, but grow in Wingham.
'In all my years here, 50 plus years at Royal Homes, we haven't had this kind of talk in the media about modular housing. So, I think the time has really come. There's a huge housing need, so there's a real opportunity for the new owners to really take this place, take Royal Homes, and really run with it,' says Kuyvenhoven.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
23 minutes ago
- CTV News
CSEC to host hiring fair Monday afternoon at Saddledome
Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. are holding a hiring fair Monday and Tuesday at the Saddledome. Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. (CSEC) are hosting a hiring fair Monday. The parent company of the Calgary Flames are looking for security operations personnel and conversion team members (quick service cooks, line cooks, 50/50 staff) for its venue operations. These positions support events for the Flames, Wranglers, Hitmen, Riggers and Stampeders. The event takes place between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday. Bring a resume to enter at the west side of the Saddledome through the Telus Club. CSEC says that they're hiring on the spot. For information, go here.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Nova Scotia Power temporarily shut off power in part of Cape Breton to carry out repairs
A power outage affecting over 3,000 customers in the Whycocomagh area of Cape Breton was expanded for two hours at noon AT on Sunday as Nova Scotia Power carried out repairs. But as of 3:30 p.m. AT Sunday the utility's outage map showed that power had been restored to all affected areas. On Saturday night, over 9,000 customers were affected by the outage, which also included Chéticamp, Inverness, Mabou and Baddeck. Sunday's planned outage included customers in the areas that previously had their power restored. In a post on X, the utility said the additional outage was being done to ensure power could be safely restored to all areas. At one point, Sunday more than 11,000 customers were without electricity. Asked what the cause of the initial outage was, a Nova Scotia Power spokesperson said the company is focused on restoring power. Bonny MacIsaac, warden for the Municipality of the County of Inverness, said the outage coincided with the busy Inverness Gathering weekend. She said some businesses had to close as a result of the outage and haven't reopened. This includes the only grocery store in the community of Inverness, said MacIsaac.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
$500K lotto win a ‘big blessing' for Vancouver woman
Rowena Ibusca is shown in this photo provided by the B.C. Lotto Corporation. A Vancouver woman burst into tears after receiving life-changing news in a drug store earlier this month. Rowena Ibusca won a $500,000 LottoMax jackpot in the July 11 draw, splitting the Maxmillions prize with another lucky ticket holder in Ontario, according to a statement from the B.C. Lottery Corporation. 'When I scanned, I first thought it said $500, but then I scanned it again and just started crying. The first thing I said was, 'Is this true?'' Ibusca told the BCLC. When she went home and told her daughter, the tears of joy kept on flowing. 'We were both jumping and crying,' Ibusca said, recalling the moment she shared the news. Ibusca told the BCLC she still hasn't decided what to do with the windfall but described it as a 'big blessing' and a 'big help.' The odds of winning the Maxmillions prize are 3 in 99,884,400. Ibusca bought the winning ticket at the Point Grey Pharmacy on West 10th Avenue.
