Charter Building Company

Canadian based Charter Building Company has been recognized for excellence in residential and commercial development for more than forty years.  President, Don Ward has been involved in the home building business since 1966, primarily in the Niagara region.  His development activities expanded to commercial projects in the Metropolitan Toronto and Southern Ontario areas.

Charter has managed and constructed numerous design-build projects including new shopping centers, corporate campuses, retail stores, shopping center renovations, recreational facilities, major restaurants, office complexes and industrial centers where the resulting developments have withstood the tests of time.  Architectural integrity and environmental awareness never go out of fashion!

Taro Planning & Development Inc.
Over the past 20 years, Taro Planning & Development has designed and developed a number of apartment and multiple attached unit condominiums, low-density suburban communities. These developments are infamous for integrating mixed densities of housing in community plans with environmentally sustainable measures including parkland development and environmental preservation techniques. Two projects are located in some very sensitive settings overlooking the Royal Henley Regatta World Rowing Course and along the shores of Lake Ontario.

As a result of these sustainable community designs, the group received a number of awards including “Project of the Year” and a series of home design awards sponsored by the Niagara Home Builder’s Association.On the land development side, Ken Gonyou, a former City Planner, joined the team in 1986 to overview and manage the design, approvals and development program for a number of emerging community development projects throughout the Niagara area. This development group today is focusing on two new sustainable development projects in the Guanacaste Region of Costa Rica, where community plans have been designed and developed for mixed housing components.

These projects include low density multiple-attached units, single-detached units on large lots, common area amenities, complete underground servicing provisions including sewage treatment plants and environmental preservation areas to blend in with and complement the natural features of the surrounding terrain.

Don Ward and Ken Gonyou are both Canadian citizens, residing in the Niagara Region of Ontario and commuting frequently to Costa Rica, where they enjoy working along with local, professional associates and contractors on their new community developments, Rancho Villa Real and El Tesoro. They still maintain their long-time professional philosophy that, “We continue to be as excited and proud of our projects, long after completion, as we were upon our initial vision.”