Jeff Paikin, one of two people to be celebrated at the Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Entrepreneur Award event

By Pepper Parr

October 20th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The Burlington business community has always wanted to recognize and celebrate those who put their time, talents and aspirations back into the community.

The task was at one point done by the Economic Development Corporation – it is now in the hands of the Chamber of Commerce.

This year two men will be recognized at the Distinguished Entrepreneur Award Dinner taking place at the Burlington Convention Centre. The event is a sold out occasion – 531 people are going to gather to celebrate and enjoy a menu that one seldom sees in this city – a combination of Jewish and Italian food.

Jeff Paikin will be the 2021 recipient, Conrad Zurini will be the 2022 recipient.

Today I want to tell you about Jeff Paikin born in Hamilton, into a Reformed Jewish family where mother Marnie was more than a force of nature and at one point the president of the Anna Herskwitz Chapter of Hadassah.

With Marnie for a mother and Larry as a father the two boys, Jeff and Steve, were wonderfully positioned to do well.

The family decision to send both boys to Hillfield Strathallan for both their elementary and secondary years so that they would both be exposed to French at a young age was another decision that positioned both men for strong futures. Jeff will admit that his French has slipped a bit.

Jeff’s brother, Steve Paikin, has done the TVO program Agenda for at least a decade. The two men are close. Steve will be speaking at the Award dinner.

Growing up and deciding what you are going to be – what you really want to do with your life and how you might leave your own mark, is an issue every young person faces.

Jeff graduated from Mount Allison University in New Brunswick where he studied business and was the kicker on the university football team. The attraction to Mount A didn’t have a lot to do with getting an education – Jeff was a star football kicker.

Doug Mitchell, who was a starting center on the 1972 Grey Cup champion Tiger Cats, was running the football team at Mount Allison and convinced Jeff this was a great place to get an education.

A degree in Business from university took Jeff home where he worked for the family business selling rebar to the development industry. Jeff will tell you that the rebar in the Skydome came from the family steel operation – Ennis-Paikin Steel.

Jeff puts his early impression of the construction industry this way: “When I saw the high-end cars in my clients’ parking lots I found myself thinking I could do what these men are doing. I could build homes, create community and help make homes for people and maybe drive one of those fancy cars as well.

New Horizon Homes was formed in 1993 – the focus was on building high-quality single-family residences. It was while working on a townhome development on Headon Road in Burlington that Jeff met Joe Giacomodonato.

The two men recognized that their shared vision—“build it right and they will come”—could be made real by uniting their complementary skills for the long term. That was in 1997

They started out as New Horizon Homes and grew into New Horizon Development Group, when they started focusing on condo buildings about 15years ago -2007

The two built about 300 single family residences.

Homes wasn’t the only thing Jeff built. He was among the critical point persons behind getting the Bulldogs to Hamilton.

A group of about 20 put up the money to buy the farm team franchise from the Edmonton Oilers. Don Robertson had convinced the Edmonton Oilers to sell to a Hamilton group. Edmonton and Montreal were co affiliates with the Bulldogs.

That was in 2002

Ron Foxcroft chaired the large ownership group that included Paikin.

In 2002 Paikin convinced Michael Andlauer to invest in the team. He eventually took 100% ownership and moved the NHL farm team to Laval, Quebec where they are known as the Laval Rockets.

Foxcroft later played a major role in introducing George Gillett Jr., the man who helped turn Canadiens into a billion-dollar team, to Michael Andlauer to get him approved by the NHL as an owner and governor.

When Paikin had his office in Hamilton you could see a hockey stick leaning up against his office wall.

It was now very clear that Jeff Paikin could make things happen.

 

 

Getting to the point where the project became a building site took a long time. First saw the light to day in 1985. Jeff Paikin and his partner Jo Joe Giacomodonato. put shovels in the ground in 2018 . He moved into his unit in 2021

In 2013 Mayrose-Tycon Limited selected Mady Development Corporation to build the new Burlington waterfront hotel and residential condo.  Mayrose-Tycon principal Matt Jaecklein introduced the Mady Development Corporation as the primary builder for the new mixed-use waterfront development at Burlington’s Bridgewater site.

At the time Bridgewater development wasn’t yet a hole in the ground. Jeff and his wife took part in a sales presentation, liked what they heard and bought.

In 2015 the Bridgewater development on Lakeshore Road was in trouble. The owners of the land had to exercise a “reputation risk” clause in the agreement and went looking for a new builder.
Jeff Paikin at that time shared equal ownership of a unit with John Mehlenbacher who was with the Condo Store, the firm hired to sell Bridgewater Condominiums.

Mehlenbacher called Jeff and talked to him, asking how he felt about actually building the three buildings that had been approved. After confirming with his partner and the construction team that this was doable, Jeff excitedly confirmed. He and Mehlenbacher agreed Jeff could purchase the second half of the unit now that New Horizon could build his own house, so John purchased another unit in the building as did Jeff.

Jeff now lives at Bridgewater and his daughter lives in the second unit.

In early 2022 Jeff lost his wife, Andrea, a nurse, to cancer after a four year battle.

In the early days of growing New Horizon Jeff explained “every project was leveraged to the hilt. We were always one development away from failing”

They were in that stage for a couple of years and slowly grew to the point where they had enough in the way of assets that they could survive as a corporate entity if a development did not meet projections.

“We then got to the point where we would survive if two developments ran into problems adding that developers do run into serious problems for a variety of reasons. Markets change, the economy changes resulting in changes in interest rate – which is exactly where the development industry is today.

There are risks at every level along with pressure to build housing that doesn’t have substantial margins at a time when costs are volatile making it difficult to price units and then build them and show a profit, both to ensure banks will finance projects and leaving funds to move on to a new project.

Jeff gives huge credit to the Molinaros who built a string of condominiums along Lakeshore Road that paved the way for the high rise developments Burlington is currently experiencing, revitalizing downtown Burlington with their efforts.

The Molinaros were not at all certain that what they were building would sell. Their first development at Maple and Lakeshore Road was a unique blend of town houses and a high rise that was a first for the city in that area.

Buntins Wharf, Harbour View, the Baxter and 360 on Pearl were the development base that today has a number of projects with shovels in the ground or in the planning approval stage.

Jeff is now well established as a successful developer with enough in the way of property holdings to allow him to think as far forward as a decade – he has begun to bring members of his family and members of partner Joe Giacomodonato’s family into the company.

Jeff’s daughter completed a Bachelor of Business Administration at Bishop’s University and joined the New Horizon team in 2018 to oversee their sales and marketing division.

Natasha oversees all the touch points that New Horizon has with their potential and current clients, including sales and marketing, the décor center, interim occupancy, closing and after-closing services.

Jeff has continued to draw on the lessons and examples of his parents about the concept of giving back

Philanthropy at any level is a lesson learned in the Paikin household – he has yet to determine where he wants to continue to direct his support and resources.

If his parents are the example he follows expect to see help given where it is most needed; perhaps in medicine, maybe in the arts or even education.