Shindico Realty Inc. celebrates 50 years

For Sandy Shindleman, sometimes 1975 feels like it was yesterday.

The founder and chairman of Shindico Realty Inc. in Winnipeg had a chance to take stock Wednesday afternoon as the company celebrated its golden anniversary with staff, investors and other invited guests.

“It’s a blur,” Shindleman said of the last five decades. “Fifty years? I wasn’t counting… It’s just here.”

About 350 people were expected to attend the event, which included food trucks, a photo booth and games.

It was an opportunity for Shindleman to thank the people who have made his family’s company a success.

“The staff we have is the best we’ve ever had in the 50 years and the younger ones… rejuvenate me,” the 68-year-old said. “I think I have more gas in the tank than I did five years ago.”

Originally from Portage la Prairie, Shindleman became a licensed real estate broker at the age of 18. He started a brokerage in his hometown in 1973 and established Shindico when he moved operations to Winnipeg two years later.

Today, the company manages more than eight million square feet of property worth approximately $2.7 billion. It has more than 4,700 tenants and employs around 150 people. (100 of those employees are in Manitoba, and the rest are in Ontario and Arizona, Shindleman said.)

“We like building buildings, we like putting tenants in buildings, we like expanding the city’s tax base (and) we like to keep our people busy,” said Robert Shindleman, Sandy’s brother and the company’s executive vice-president.

At 73, the elder Shindleman shows no interest in retiring.

“I think we all should have a purpose in the morning, and I’ve got a place to get up and go to,” he said.

Michael Stronger has worked at Shindico for more than 25 years and finds that the Shindleman brothers live up to the company’s motto, “Succeeding by helping others succeed.”

“What led me to stay in this field and at the company is simply the incredible ability to learn from those around me,” said Stronger, senior vice-president, retail and investment.

In April, Portage la Prairie MLA Jeff Bereza honoured the Shindlemans with a private member’s statement in the Manitoba legislature.

He mentioned the brothers’ philanthropy and noted that the Shindleman Aquatic Centre in Portage la Prairie’s Stride Place recreation complex was created as a result of their generosity.

“They have built a billion-dollar empire throughout this world but they have never forgotten where home is,” Bereza said.

The celebration was held in a building Shindico recently finished constructing as part of its Plessis Business Park in the larger St. Boniface Industrial Park.

The company is currently developing 12.6 million square feet of property.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca