Your land, developed end to end.
A development deal doesn't pre-exist — the optimal building has to be created, not found. It is the joint solution of an interdependent stack — zoning, geotech, structure, design, permitting, the financing stack, unit mix, exit — too large to search by hand. We compute it, then develop it end to end for a development fee, on land you own.
The optimum is buried in a space no one can search by hand.
FIG. 01 / WHAT WE SEEEvery constraint moves every other one. Push the height and the structure changes; change the structure and the cost moves; move the cost and the financing stack — and the unit mix, and the exit — all shift with it. A person can only check a handful of combinations, so the search collapses early and the project lands far from what the parcel could have carried. Our systems read any HRM parcel in full and explore the stack the way a person can't.
Zoning capacity, permitted height, and the bonus envelope.
Heritage status and floodplain exposure.
Assessed value and the full sale history.
The complete permit and inspection record.
These records are only the inputs. The work is solving the whole stack at once — and arriving at the development the parcel was actually capable of.
You can price a handful of schemes — never the one the parcel deserves.
- The space is combinatorial — height, structure, unit mix, parking, phasing and the capital stack multiply into ~500,000,000 candidate buildings on a single parcel.
- There is no order to solve in — mix sets structure, structure sets cost, cost sets the financing, financing constrains the mix. The chain loops back on itself.
- Each scheme is weeks of senior consultant time through geotech, design and a pro forma — so a project tests three, maybe five, then commits.
You don't choose the best building the parcel can carry. You choose the best of the few you could afford to draw — a feasible scheme, not the optimal one.
The whole space, solved jointly — the optimum, not the best of a handful.
- Every coherent building evaluated against any HRM parcel in full — zoning, height, heritage, floodplain, bonus envelope, assessed value, sale history, the permit record.
- The loop is solved as one simultaneous system — mix, structure, cost and capital settle together, never in a sequence that strands the answer.
- Each scheme is priced against our database of every development in the city — real costs, not assumed ones.
- And the build with it — the right builder and trades for the scheme, selected against the record, not handed off.
You get the optimal development the parcel can support — then we develop it end to end, on land you own, with construction delivered by established builders.
We run the whole development — not a layer of it.
A consultant hands you a report and leaves. We compute the optimum, then develop it — feasibility through occupancy — for a development fee.
Feasibility
A complete underwriting of the site across zoning, program, cost and financing — with a clear go / no-go.
Entitlement
We navigate the approval path — development agreements, variances, the planning process — and price the timeline in dollars.
Capital structure
Debt and equity structured for the deal — including CMHC MLI Select, where we model the energy, accessibility and affordability points and structure to clear the program's borrower tests.
Delivery
Procurement and construction oversight through to occupancy — built by established builders we engage and manage.
The deal sets the ceiling. Delivery decides what you keep.
A computed deal is the ceiling — the most a project can return. What gets built is the floor, and the floor is who delivers it. We select the builder, the trades and the suppliers the way we computed the deal — against the record — then carry the project to a finished, profitable building.
Takeoff, procurement, quantity surveys, construction management, the engineering and inspection regime — the half of the stack where a return is kept or lost.
Every bid and schedule is priced against the record. The number that doesn't hold doesn't survive the model — so the floor is the honest figure, not the optimistic one.
We don't run crews. We choose the established builder with the record to deliver this build — drawn from the deepest on-the-record read of the province's largest GCs, developers and industry associations. The build risk sits with the proven party.
The first engagement is a fixed-fee feasibility study.
A complete underwriting of your site for a fixed fee — scoped as a defined percentage of project cost, and credited toward the development engagement if the project proceeds.
Full envelope, program, cost and financing structure — with a clear recommendation, proceed or not.
The systems do the assembly; the fee buys the judgment on top.
Proceed or not, the study is yours — lender- and board-ready, built to forward to a capital partner.
If it should proceed, we run it. If it shouldn't, we tell you — and you've saved months finding out.
Before you engage.
What's the difference between Helio and a general contractor?+
A general contractor builds what's already been designed and approved. Helio is the development company: it computes the optimal development a parcel can support across the full stack — feasibility, zoning, design, cost, capital, unit mix, exit — and carries the project end to end for a fee, with construction delivered by established builders.
What does a development feasibility study include, and how does an engagement start?+
It reads what a parcel can become: zoning capacity, permitted height, heritage and floodplain constraints, density bonus, assessed value and sale history, and the permit and inspection record — computed on Helio's systems and resolved into the optimal development the site can support. An engagement starts with a fixed-fee feasibility study, credited toward the development fee if the project proceeds.
Who develops a multifamily project end to end for an owner who isn't a developer?+
Helio does. It carries the project from feasibility through occupancy on land you keep, for a development fee, with construction delivered by established builders.
Can a non-profit develop affordable housing with Helio?+
Yes. Helio develops for capable non-profits — pairing end-to-end development with fluency in the funding programs, including CMHC MLI Select and the Affordable Housing Development Program.
Who actually builds the project, and how do you know they'll deliver?+
Helio doesn't run its own crews. It selects the builder, the trades and the suppliers the way it computes the deal — against the record — drawn from the deepest on-the-record read of the province's largest GCs, developers and industry associations. Every bid and schedule is priced against that record, so the delivered cost is the honest figure, not the optimistic one; the build risk sits with the proven builder; and Helio carries the project to a finished, profitable building.
How is Helio paid, and what does it cost?+
Helio is paid a development fee — a defined percentage of project cost — not equity in the building. An engagement begins with a fixed-fee feasibility study, credited toward the development fee if the project proceeds. You own the land and the finished building throughout.
How long does it take?+
A feasibility study is the first step and turns around quickly; entitlement and approvals run on the path the site requires; construction runs on the schedule its typology supports. The timeline is priced in dollars at feasibility, so the schedule is part of the underwriting, not a surprise.
What if the feasibility study says the project shouldn't proceed?+
Then Helio tells you — and you've saved months and a great deal of capital finding out early. The study is yours either way, lender- and board-ready. Helio only runs the projects that should be run.
Tell us about your site.
We engage owners and developers with a real project and a timeline. Each begins with a fixed-fee feasibility study.
- 01A short call to confirm the project, the site, and mutual fit.
- 02A fixed-fee feasibility study — a complete underwriting of your site, lender- and board-ready.
- 03If it should proceed, we run it end to end — the study fee credited toward the build.