Beyond the Bricks
Burton and Jack Winberg: Like father, like son
December 9, 2010
Tracy Hanes
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
In a sunny office in a modest commercial building, Jack Winberg is talking about the development business, but it's apparent that real estate is only one of his passions.
The large framed artwork along one wall and other memorabilia hint at his love for golf; the collection of photos along the windowsill of his wife and three children speak of his devotion to his family.
Speaking of family, through an adjoining door is the office of Burton Winberg, Jack's 86-year-old dad and his partner in the Rockport Group, who still regularly comes to work when he's not at his second home in Florida.
The elder Winberg pioneered the condo concept in Ontario; he registered Toronto's first condominium in 1969 (York Condominium Corp. 1, a townhouse complex in Rexdale). Rockport is still building townhouses today, as well midrise and highrise condominiums.
Plus they have added to their portfolio retail, commercial and industrial projects, self-storage units, residential rental and golf course estate communities. It's also developed a specialty in retirement and nursing homes.
Recently, Rockport launched its first condo project within Toronto city limits in years: Twenty One Clairtrell at Bayview and Sheppard Aves., a seven-storey boutique building which will raise the bar for the company in terms of upscale features and finishes.
“Townhomes are still a basic product for us, but over the past five years, we've built more retirement homes and lowrise 905 condos,” says Winberg. “We love little infill sites; it's a niche we've developed that we like and we've been successful at. We're very excited about Twenty One Clairtrell.”
As well as Clairtrell, Rockport recently launched phase two of Ridgewood, a midrise condominium in Aurora.
Burton Winberg was working in the family shoe business in the early 1950s and was 26 when his father died, leaving him financially responsible for his mother and two young brothers. He invested in first mortgages, including for a builder constructing six houses in Scarborough. When the builder got into financial trouble, Winberg took over and finished the houses, which was his early education, and by the early 1960s was a fulltime builder.
He started to build townhouses and on a trip to California became intrigued about a new concept called condominium.
When the new Condominium Act was introduced in Ontario, he was on board. The Act allowed for title to be given to each unit, allowing them to be sold individually while maintaining joint ownership of the common elements. It also allowed for greater density, which the senior Winberg saw as an opportunity to put home ownership within reach of more people.
“Dad felt townhouses were the key to affordable housing. He said a lot more people could afford Volkswagens than Cadillacs,” notes Jack.
Jack Winberg was born and raised in Toronto, went to Boston to study business, and then returned home to complete his law degree. He built a thriving career as a lawyer specializing in land use and development law with WeirFoulds Toronto. But by the mid 1980s,
“I had three kids and never saw them. I was working around the clock.”
He took a year away from law to have more time for his family and started helping his father in his business, where his legal background came in handy. “I left the law practice in 1988 to join my dad's business and never looked back.” (His brother and sister are also owners of Rockport, but not participants in the running of the business).
Winberg started working with the Urban Development Institute and served as chair from 1992 to 1994 and Canadian president from 1994 to 1996 and was involved in helping to rewrite the Planning Act.
The early '90s “were very dark times in the real estate world and it took everything to keep Rockport going,” he recalls. What saved the company, he says, was his father's acquisition of the Bolton Golf Course, which Rockport developed into the Greens Edge Estates.
About the same time, Winberg's love of golf and his business background came together, as he and some friends founded the ClubLink Corp., Canada's largest owner and manager of golf courses and resorts. He continues as a director, which is a publically traded company.
“ClubLink has 33 properties in Ontario now and has been a wonderful distraction for me,” says Winberg. “It one of the very few times I've been involved in creating a company from scratch and it turned out to be a fabulous experience.”
And working with his dad has also been rewarding, says Winberg. “My father is a wonderful sounding board and he has a great sense of business. His judgment is fundamentally right.”
For almost 20 years, Rockport has been developing a reputation as experts in housing for seniors, from active adult projects (award-winning On Bogart Pond in Newmarket) to long-term care residences (Kingsway Arms, City Centre in Pickering, Valley Vista in Vaughan), all designed to offer resort hotel-style living.
Rockport also redeveloped one of its own sites, Lemonwood, on Eglinton Ave. W., tearing down 88 old rental townhouses to build 75 new townhouses and a 206-unit retirement residence, Scarlett Heights (which sold for $58 million a year ago).
“We increased the density on site from 88 housing units to 283, all without any impact on the surrounding community,” Winberg notes. “We put in all new buildings. It's a showpiece.”
As someone who has weathered the ups and downs of the housing market over the past several decades, Winberg says Rockport will continue to concentrate on quality more so than quantity.
TWENTY ONE CLAIRTRELL
Location: Spring Garden Ave. and Clairtrell Rd., one block north and west of Bayview Village
Description: Seven-storey, 128-suite building designed by Kirkor Architects; interior design by Mike Niven Design Inc.
Suite sizes: 550 to 2,400 square feet, priced from the $300,000s to just over $1 million
Features: Nine or 10-foot ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, Euro-style kitchens, engineered hardwood flooring, Energy Star appliances, penthouses with private roof gardens
Amenities: Fitness room, guest suite, billiards room, eight-hour concierge, pet mud room, bicycle storage, sixth floor outdoor terrace with barbecue and lounge area
Sales office: 386 Sheppard Ave. East. www.twentyonecondos.com
RIDGEWOOD PHASE II
Location: John West Way and Wellington St., Aurora
Description: Six-storey, 145-unit condo set on 2.2 acres with extensive outdoor amenities.
Suite sizes: 610 to 1,264 square feet priced from $239,900 to $510,900 (excluding penthouses)
Features: Nine or 10-foot ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, Euro-style kitchens, Energy Star appliances
Amenities: Outdoor terrace, games room, spa with hot tub, fitness room, eight-hour concierge, pet mud room, outdoor saltwater pool, barbecue and kitchenette pavilion
Sales office: 205 John West Way, Aurora, 905-841-1004, www.rockportgroup.net/p/ridgewoodII/