Latest news with #SidKerrigan
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
New owners have big plans for ‘factory-built' housing company
Royal Homes was recently sold. The new owners have lofty plans to more than double production, moving towards more modular, 'repeatable' home construction in Wingham, Ont., on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (Scott Miller/CTV News Windsor) 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.
Cision Canada
02-07-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Royal Homes Acquired by New Management Group; Housing Production at Wingham Plant Set to Multiply
WINGHAM, ON, July 2, 2025 /CNW/ - Royal Homes Limited, Ontario's longest established housing manufacturer, has been acquired by a management group led by industry veteran Sid Kerrigan, the long-time President of Brookfield Residential's Ontario housing division. After 55 years developing an immensely respected housing brand, producing and delivering high-quality custom homes out of its 115,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Wingham, Ontario, the Royal Homes franchise now enters a bold new chapter aimed at addressing Ontario's growing housing crisis. "Our market needs a faster, more efficient way to construct and deliver new homes, and Royal Homes will play a lead role in driving that innovation forward", said Kerrigan. "Though we will remain focused on delivering the highest-quality custom homes, our plant has significant available productive capacity, so we will partially pivot towards more repeatable housing designs, across a range of built-forms. "We will expand our dealer network throughout Ontario and build upon our many valued relationships with municipalities and First Nations communities in order to fast-track housing supply to those areas with the highest need". To scale up the business, the Wingham manufacturing facility will see a significant financial investment that is expected to create hundreds of new jobs over the next three to five years - strengthening both the Company and the local economy. " Royal Homes is an integral part of the Wingham community. We are committed to growing our investment and productive output in Wingham while generating high quality jobs and meaningful housing solutions," Kerrigan added. Financing for this acquisition was led by BDC, BDC Capital and CIBC. Founded in 1971, Royal Homes is a factory home builder based in Wingham, Ontario. Known for precision-built custom homes, the business has won numerous housing awards over the years, is registered with both HCRA and Tarion, and has built and delivered thousands of homes to families across the province.
