Sussex Realty opened the doors of its new offices on July 6, 1981. Since then, the building and the company that it houses have grown into a North Shore icon.
Everything about the building, from its peaked roof, dormer windows and Tudor-style exterior to the interior fitted with antiques and leaded glass, even a fireplace, was intended to convey the sense of home. Even the Sussex name was selected for that purpose. The new building announced Sussex Realty’s presence and its focus: finding homes for people on the North Shore.
The fact that the economy, and therefore the real estate market, was in a cyclical slump in the early ’80s did not deter the company’s founders, Lance Tracey and Jack Hamer-Jackson.
Jack’s brother, Ron, says “the partners hired good people and created a culture of trust and co-operation internally that meant good business out in the community.”
He should know. Ron and Jack’s parents, Vi and Roy Hamer-Jackson, ran a North Vancouver realty in the 1940s, and Ron’s son, like his father, is a Realtor with Sussex.
That particular real estate slump put the company’s future in jeopardy not long after the grand opening. In a bold and unprecedented move, the Sussex team, more than 55 people strong, came together as shareholders to keep the company’s doors open.
The Sussex archive – binders of newspaper clippings, promotional material, the company newsletter and albums of photographs – is a record of the company’s story.
Here is the demolition permit for the gas station that was on the property when Sussex acquired it. Here are photos of Sussex Realtors wielding sledgehammers on demolition day, photos of the building’s construction and its grand opening.
Here is the Vancouver Sun headline, “Employees Buy Faltering Real Estate Firm,” and the article that broke the story with the news that the group had “put up ‘many thousands of dollars each’ to form a new company that would buy the Sussex name and continue operating on the North Shore.” The story goes that the plan to keep Sussex afloat came together over a weekend and the purchase price was one dollar.
Four years later, the tide had turned and Sussex was at the forefront of a rising market cycle. The shareholder system, essentially an association of Realtors overseen by an elected board of directors and supported by a management and administration team, was working.
It’s all in the archive. Along with records of sky high sales figures and examples of creative promotions, here are the company’s community contributions, from the Harvest Project to sports camps, and the recycling bags Sussex introduced to the North Shore with the North Shore News as the company’s partner. Keeping pace with the business side, albums of photographs convey the sense of fun, good times and camaraderie within the company.
Anne Nealy grew up in North Vancouver and joined the company in 1985. “I was a wide-eyed whippersnapper walking into the hustle and bustle, phones ringing off the hook, people running up and down the stairs. The energy was electric and there was never a dull moment.”
Barry Cummings, another North Vancouverite, joined Sussex around the same time as Anne. “Sussex was an up-and-coming company. People wanted to work where they were treated as equals and felt included.”
Barry knows from experience that learning the real estate business can be a long haul when you’re starting out. A veteran of fluctuating market cycles over his years in the business, Barry learned from those who came before, like Sadru Mitha, the company’s surviving founding director.
Realtors like Mitha, Ron Hamer-Jackson and Barry Cummings contribute knowledge, context and perspective to the Sussex culture of trust and co-operation. They know the business and they know their community. As Cummings says, “We have been with the company and the community through critical periods of market activity. We know things newcomers to the business can’t know.” That is the value of experience and the importance of institutional memory.
Real estate, we know, is all about location. Reputation comes a close second. When it came time to sell in 2016, Sussex chose Royal LePage because it is 100 per cent Canadian owned. Royal LePage, in turn, acknowledged the value of the company’s reputation by retaining the Sussex name and its offices in the building that is its home.
Laura Anderson works with and for seniors on the North Shore. Contact her by phone at 778-279-2275 or email her at lander1@shaw.ca.
