Wednesday, 13 December 2017

Five Woodstock home construction companies are the Builders Group

Subdivisions with streets named after birds, or monikers like Alberni, Normandy and Anzio were all part of their canvas

Geerlinks, Goodman, Deroo and Reyneveld all part of a respected home construction cooperative 

By Mark Schadenberg
I’ve been a full-time Realtor since January of 1999 and a lot has changed in that time in real estate circles both in trends and policies.
The map of the City of Woodstock has also changed considerably as our entrance signs now promote a population of 41,000.
One consistent theme or name in this time span, however, locally has been the name: The Builders Group.

When I began my career, there were still a few blank lots on Crow and Neutral on the west side of Lansdowne, and on the east side of that avenue there was the beginnings of Heron, Blue Jay and Oriole streets.
I don’t know the exact day The Builders Group was established, but it should be considered a significant moment in the growth of Woodstock in residential subdivisions. Could they possibly be celebrating a 20-year birthday of their win-win-win-win-win-win cooperative in 2017? It truly is an affiliation of excellent local home builders with a strong philosophy of quality and craftsmanship.
I will certainly not forget the contributions of the late developer Albert Hargreaves here, but if you see a formal amalgamation among four builders (today it’s actually five construction companies) continue for a duration of two decades anyone should be impressed. It’s not just building homes, it’s approving subdivision plans, installing storm sewers and water, utilities, concrete curbs, asphalt streets, and don’t forget the street lights. The City of Woodstock engineering department of inspectors and site plan approvers has truly been fortunate to have this crew of neighbourhood creators.   
The Builders Group are Oxford Builders (George Geerlinks), John Goodman Homes, Karl Reyneveld, Deroo Bros Ventures (Rick and Henry), and Marc Deroo Fine Homes.







The vast majority of homes in the so-called bird sanctuary (Also: Cardinal, Finch, Falcon, Hummingbird, Kingfisher and Parrott) neighbourhood and the military themed streets (Spitfire, Normandy, Halifax, Dieppe, Juno, Anzio, Alberni, Moro, etc) were all constructed by these five companies. They have earned their successes.
The condos on Heron’s Landing and at Anzio/Spitfire were both built by VanEl based in Brantford, but with our aging demographics it was John Goodman who constructed the city’s most recent project of 1-level condos with a complex fronting on Munnoch.
There is a Builder of Sport category in the Woodstock Sports Wall Of Fame, so there likewise should be a Builder Of Woodstock category to recognize the accomplishments of the Builders Group at City Hall.
I will also not forget the efforts of other Woodstock-based builders such as Heritage, John Hurley, Tru-Built, and Ray Losee. I recently chatted with the owner of a construction company who operated as Champagne a few years ago and his work can be seen on streets like Indian, Haida and Algonquin. Woodstock has a strong framework of carpenters, plumbers, HVAC crews, electricians, and brick layers. I think I’ve known brick layer Bill Poort since I was about 10 years old.
Out-of-town builders have also been aplenty and continue to expand Woodstock subdivisions like the Neighbourhoods of Devonshire (Claysam and Finoro), Sally Creek (Sun Light, Breymark and Trevalli) and Havelock Corners.
As a Realtor, I’m not supposed to advertise listings of other offices without permission, but you can certainly shuffle through the links below and contact me if you would like to buy a home in the Woodstock area – brand new or residential resale.
The summary though when you look at a city map is to applaud The Builders Group. I must add that there key contribution might be the fact that each street features unique and attractive homes as it’s never a cookie cutter collection of identical houses.  


Deroo Ventures are also concentrating on Boot Hill west off Mill Street.
Plans continue to build on the former site of Ecole Ste. Marguerite Bourgeoys on Huron Street.
A new conglomeration of building lots has appeared east off County Rd 11 in the west end of the city, and you will see the Builders Group there as well.
I love Woodstock and thereby enjoy promoting everything Woodstock.
Alberni connects Alberni to . . . Alberni



Country Road 11 
Just south of Canada's Outdoor Farm Show park


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Dedicated to Woodstock and Oxford County

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
Independently Owned & Operated, Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

2 comments:

  1. Wonderful blog! Your post is very useful and informative. Thank you so much for sharing such an informative post with us. Keep sharing.

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