The Urban Escapes Story
1998
The Idea – Father and Son
Jim and Tyler Lorencz began their building team in 1998 by building their family home while Tyler was in College working towards his Business Diploma.
1999
Founding
Jim Decided that it was time for a career change. He began with building homes in the country with the idea of getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city. He bought an Acreage lot and simply built a house. This project quickly turned into a custom build.
1999
The Snowball
While Jim was building homes, helped by his son, Tyler, more and more people were seeing their work and hired them for more projects. The snowball rolled for the next 3 summers through friends and family.
2004
The Partnership
During the early life of Urban Escapes, Tyler was in college and didn’t take the business too seriously. This was until he and his father officially became business partners in 2004.
2003 - 2005
We were recognized by our Community
Home Builder of the Year Customer Choice Awards
2004 - 2011
Life is good
Urban Escapes builds 3 of the Dream Homes for the Dream Home Lotteries and were hired for a number of high profile custom build projects in the Grande Prairie area.
2011
Jim Steps Back
Tyler becomes the sole owner as his dad steps back into semi-retirement. He is still around and you may see him on the job site from time to time.
2013
Urban escapes gets a new look
We rebranded, getting a new logo and website
2014 - 2015
We were recognized by our community again!
Home Builder of the Year Customer Choice Award.
2022
Branching Out
We expand our website to include our Restoration and Renovation offerings.
