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Calgary's Profiles of Success
published by the Calgary Sun
Barry Morrison & Manny Santos
The power of vision.
Together, Barry Morrison and Manny Santos form the successful partnership behind Beiramar Group, one of Calgary’s fastest growing land and real estate acquisition, syndication and development companies.
The company was born of Santos’ dream to one day create a land development company, a concept he learned, as a boy, from his grandfather. Santos’ family owned a vineyard near Porto, Portugal, where he grew up.
“My family wanted to develop part of the vineyard but didn’t have the money, so my grandfather decided to ask the townfolk to assist financially and in return they would share in the profits of the development.”
The response was unbelievable. The townfolk gave Santos’ grandfather money from their paycheques on a weekly basis and this enabled him to successfully develop the land.
He became the town hero, making money for his family and everyone who invested in development of the vineyard.
“That’s how I learned about land and real estate,” says Santos. “This has always been with me, and I’ve always wanted to do that — sort of in memory of my grandfather.”
Santos immigrated to Canada in 1969, landing in the dead of winter in Winnipeg a couple of days after a major snow-storm.
“It was incredible! I had never seen snow before that.”
In Winnipeg he had a variety of jobs, including realtor, insurance agent and homebuilder. He also began an investment club with a focus on real estate investments.
Santos came to Calgary as a spectator at the 1988 Olympics and the city has been home ever since. He worked as a realtor first and then a supplier of fireplaces to the new home building industry, where he first met Barry Morrison.
Morrison’s expertise is as a carpenter and entrepreneur, undertaking many ventures, including several building and land development companies before hooking up with Manny in 1996 and forming Beiramar Group. Morrison and Santos became friends through their mutual love of golf, a game they still play together once or twice a week.
Morrison also built Santos’ home through his company, Aspen Homes, in 1993 in Valley Ridge. Aspen Homes was one of the pioneer builders there and was the largest-volume builder in that community before Morrison decided to move into land development and housing with Springbank Links at Emerald Bay, a project that won the SAM award for best new subdivision in 1997.
“I started working on the concept of land and real estate syndication long before I came to Barry,” says Santos. “The nature of the business required a partnership built on trust, integrity, and friendship.”
“More than that, Manny realized through our relationship that we would be equal partners,” says Morrison. “I wanted a partner that I could also trust and who would be willing to work long hours especially at the start, since I was still heavily involved and directing the business of Aspen Homes.”
Beiramar Group has grown from a dream to where it is today. Beiramar has acquired more than 1,500 acres of land over the last five years, which it holds for future considerations.
“We’ve just begun our quest to be the best land and real estate syndication company in Calgary,” says Santos.
The two credit their success to the people, family, friends and business associates that have invested in the Beiramar vision, and also to the hard work of their sales and marketing team and staff.
“We have been blessed,” says Santos. “Our people are exceptional and they are our biggest asset.”
