Keith Beedie Story Somethingsomething Toto Bbuilduild Onon the Keith Beedie Story 5
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SOMETHINGSOMETHING TTOO BBUILDUILD OONN THE KEITH BEEDIE STORY SOMETHINGSOMETHING TTOO BBUILDUILD OONN THE KEITH BEEDIE STORY 5 TO MY DAD Text copyright © 2010 by The Beedie Group For many years, I tried to convince my dad to get his story down on paper. Design copyright © by Echo Memoirs I am thrilled that he fi nally agreed and you now have a copy of his memoir First edition: 2010 in your hands. As you will read, Keith Beedie constructed his fi rst building in 1945 at the age of 19 – a modest hand-built structure of 1,200 square feet. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner Today, the company he started right aft er his service in the RCAF is the whatsoever without the prior written permission of The Beedie Group. largest landlord of industrial space in B.C., with over seven million square WRITTEN, DESIGNED AND PRODUCED BY: feet in its portfolio. Echo Memoirs Ltd. 302 - 70 East 2nd Avenue But this story is more than just a record of my dad’s accomplishments. Vancouver, BC It is also a window into the man behind the company – what shaped him V5T 1B1 CANADA as a child, his roles as father and husband and his insights into the tough Visit our website at: www.echomemoirs.com times he weathered. Writing, designing and producing distinctive company history and personal Finally, as much as this book is a tribute to my dad and his legacy, it is also biography books since 1999. an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of the many employees and clients who are such a vital pillar of this story. Our growth and success Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Information would not have been possible without their hard work, loyalty and trust. Lesley McKnight, 1974 – To my dad, you have been an amazing father and mentor. Th ank you for Something To Build On: The Keith Beedie Story/Lesley McKnight. ISBN 978-0-9781811-7-8. showing me what it looks like to relentlessly follow a dream. CREATIVE DIRECTOR John Wellwood Ryan Beedie WRITER Lesley McKnight DESIGNERS Paola van Turennout PHOTO RESEARCHERS Heather McLean, John Wellwood PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Kate Moore COPYEDITOR Lesley Cameron PROOFREADERS Marial Shea, Norma Larson Printed and bound in Canada. PROLOGUE PPuttingutting DOWN CONTENTS tthehe HHammerammer PROLOGUE: PUTTING DOWN THE HAMMER 7 PART ONE: LAYING THE FOUNDATION 11 1 A BEEDIE IS BORN 12 2 LEARNING THE HARD WAY 28 3 HOME AND AWAY 38 4 SETTING UP SHOP 47 5 BUILDING ON BUILDING 58 6 GOING IT ALONE 68 7 LETTING IN THE ENTREPRENEUR 78 PART TWO: BUILT TO LAST 87 8 IF IT WASNʼT FOR BAD LUCK, IʼD HAVE NO LUCK AT ALL 88 9 IT TAKES A VILLAGE 99 10 LIVING THE DREAM 108 11 LOOKING UP 116 12 GREENER PASTURES 130 13 BUILDERS KEEPERS 143 14 RAISING THE STEAKS 155 15 LAND MAN 166 16 UP, DOWN, UP 178 17 AN EYE ON THE HORIZON 194 ABOVE: Caption for this photo goes here. Caption for this photo goes here. Caption for this photo goes here. THE KEITH BEEDIE STORY 8 PROLOGUE: PUTTING DOWN THE HAMMER 9 WEST VANCOUVER, 1952 The view from the construction site was spectacular, but Keith He wasn’t a contractor. He wasn’t being paid to run a site, and no one wasn’t enjoying it. He didn’t see the cloud-covered mountains or the had told him to take over. He and Charlie were just two guys doing some work for Taygen Construction. He wasn’t used to dealing with sub-trades whitecaps on Burrard Inlet. He was crouched, head down, frantically or ordering materials. But before he knew it, he had people at the job site pounding nails into a deck. It was two blows of the hammer for a coming to him for direction, counting on him 1¼-inch nail and three blows for a 3½-inch one. Keith barely noticed to cover project details and do the ordering that his hammer was marking double time compared to those of the for everyone. If he didn’t, they all lost time. others working around him. The pace of his hammer matched the He felt responsible for everyone getting a full day’s work in. It was becoming clear that With startling clarity he saw speed of his thoughts. He had a lot on his mind. if he didn’t make sure things were running smoothly, no one else was going to worry that he was holding the Keith paused. He looked up for a moment, but not to admire the view. about it. Keith felt that responsibility keenly. All he could see swimming in front of his eyes was a mental list of never- But the problem was fi nding the time to do wrong tool. He didnʼt need a ending details: he had to make sure the right supplies were coming, that both jobs: that of the absentee contractor as the sub-trades were organized, that no time would be lost while waiting well as the one he’d been hired to do. for building materials to arrive on the work site. Th ere were dozens of hammer, he needed a phone. things he had to get done that day to make sure that work could start on Keith looked down at his hand gripping the schedule the next day, never mind the rest of the week. hammer, took a breath and stopped. With startling clarity he saw that he was holding Th e thought of the ballooning list fi lled him with anxiety. Keith had the wrong tool. He didn’t need a hammer, he only signed a contract to do framing and maybe a bit of fi nishing work. needed a phone. He was using his muscles But things had rapidly spun out of control. He’d barely seen the general when he needed to use his brain. contractor since starting. Lowering his head again, Keith willed the nails to sink into the deck faster. He had to get to a phone. He had at “I don’t have time for this,” Keith thought to least half a dozen pressing calls to make if this project was going to stay himself. “No more carpentry work for me.” on schedule. His hammer became a blur in front of his eyes. He tried He looked at the hammer in his hand and to remember how he’d gotten to this point. put it down on the deck. With one simple gesture Keith welcomed a new future. It had started a couple of years earlier when Keith met Charlie Metcalfe, when Charlie was contracted to roof Keith’s new Somewhere along house. Th at turned into he and Charlie working on a few jobs for other people. Th en he’d met a couple of guys who were the way on this building houses on the North Shore and he and Charlie signed on to do some framing. Th e money was good, since they could job, the rules had fi nish about a house a week at $400 per home. Th at meant they each got $200, which wasn’t bad. Pretty soon, framing evolved changed. into doing a bit of fi nishing. One thing led to another. Somewhere along the way on this job, though, the rules had changed. Keith and Charlie showed up one day to fi nd that they didn’t have the materials they needed to do the day’s work. Th e contractor Keith Beedie’s photo taken had forgotten to place the order. Instead of giving up the day’s pay, for the passport he got Keith went ahead and ordered the things they needed and carried on. when he was planning to move to California with his young family, 1952. THE KEITH BEEDIE STORY 10 PROLOGUE: BURNABY, 2008 PART LAYING THE ONE FOUNDATION BURNABY, 2008 Keith Beedie’s offi ce walls are lined with photographs and architectural renderings of several buildings that The Beedie Group has worked on recently. Some structures are completed, some are under construction and some are still conceptual. The pictures aren’t in frames. They are simply pinned up, so they can be removed quickly to make room for shots of new projects as they get underway. If Keith were to hang a picture of every building he has ever built, his offi ce would be wallpapered by layer upon layer of drawings. Th e pictures would range from houses and warehouses, to industrial parks and a forthcoming massive community “I just put one development. Millions of square feet of completed buildings. foot in front of Th e Beedie Group’s huge development portfolio is the result of more than fi ve decades of Keith’s hard work, skilful risk- the other and this taking and ambitious vision. It is the culmination of a life’s work. But the path was not always clear. Keith didn’t start is where it led.” with a trust fund to buy his fi rst property. He didn’t study business at university, or mentor under a real estate mogul. “I never had a grand plan,” says Keith. “I just put one foot in A large wall map at Th e Beedie front of the other and this is where it led.” Growing up, Keith never Group offi ces, covered in imagined himself behind the desk he is at now. He didn’t picture himself coloured push pins, shows the locations of many Beedie surrounded by pictures of buildings he had built.