In 1988, Haider Dhanani took the first steps toward building his future by founding Bri-mor Property Management, a name inspired by “bricks and mortar” as a tribute to the industry he was entering. While he worked to establish his place in real estate, his wife, Fatima, balanced her job as a secretary with raising their two children, Aleem and Saifa. When Haider passed unexpectedly in 1990, the Dhanani family’s world was turned upside down, and Fatima was left with a difficult choice: to return to the familiar life of being a secretary or to carry forward Haider’s vision for the sake of their children’s future. Determined to honor Haider’s legacy and provide new opportunities for Aleem and Saifa, Fatima chose to continue building the business he had dreamed of.
“My late husband embodied generosity, kindness, and unwavering integrity in every aspect of his life – whether in his personal relationships, his business, or his service to the community,” reflects Bri-mor owner Fatima Dhanani. “With a determined heart and a desire to honor his legacy, I took on the property management company, despite having no experience in real estate. It was my faith, belief in myself, and my commitment to securing a bright future for our children that gave me the strength to lead Bri-mor. Today, the company continues to thrive, grounded in the same family values and ethics that defined Haider. Carrying forward his legacy remains deeply important to me, and I am grateful to now share this journey with our son, Aleem, by my side.”
The journey has certainly been challenging, with each hardship met by the strength Fatima draws from the inspiring words etched on a rock on her desk: “In the middle of difficulty, there lies opportunity.” After taking the helm of Bri-mor, she experienced the biases of the industry as all but one property management contract were swiftly taken away. Determined to overcome this monumental setback, she travelled to Hong Kong to convince the final group of investors to keep an asset that they were ready to divest, laying the foundation that Bri-mor was built on. Taking the rock’s wisdom to heart, she seized that opportunity fully – and has not looked back since.
Fatima gained experience and added more property management clients, slowly growing the company as she grew her business experience. With faith as her compass and an unshakable inner resolve, she took on new challenges one by one. Bri-mor soon ventured into acquisitions, starting with a small apartment building. By 1997, fortified by a deeper sense of purpose and self-belief, she was ready to enter land development and construction for the very first time by building an industrial warehouse project. Yankee Valley Crossing in Airdrie, a 53,000 SF retail shopping centre, became the next breakthrough moment thereafter showing both financiers, investors, and even herself that she could succeed in an array of commercial developments. From there, she continued to diversify and cultivate a solid reputation in residential and commercial development. At every turn, Fatima proved that, as an immigrant woman in a male-dominated field, she belonged. With each new challenge, people questioned her ability. Her response was quiet confidence, rooted in faith, trust in her team, and a clear purpose—propelling her forward to show what could be achieved.
Bri-mor evolved into a well-respected multi-faceted real estate organization with expertise in asset management, development and investment with the company’s growth surging when Aleem joined as Managing Director in 2008. Blending Aleem’s financial and strategic expertise with Fatima’s established leadership, trusted partnerships, and strong reputation, together they created a formidable synergy enabling Bri-mor to engage confidently with industry powerhouses. Bri-mor’s small team of professionals continues to punch above their weight to having grown Bri-mor into an influential and long-term player in a very competitive marketplace.
Guided by a best-in-class team and an ability to operate competitively alongside larger players, Bri-mor listens closely to industry needs, building a pipeline of high-impact projects that reflect a vision for growth, innovation, and community impact across Calgary and beyond. Bri-mor’s growth and evolution stand as a testament to strategic foresight and strong institutional partnerships.
“We are a small, family-run business, however institutional industry leaders such as Brookfield, Qualico, Mattamy and Cedarglen (now owned by Anthem Properties Group) have become great partners of ours. We are fortunate that these groups respect not only how we conduct business but value our ability to perform and deliver value at outcomes an institutional level,” says Aleem.
These alliances have allowed Bri-mor to pursue prime opportunities, while fostering an approach that unites the strengths of all parties involved particularly in developing residential communities in Calgary and Airdrie. Bri-mor’s structured approach to its business has enabled the company to deliver successful projects and commercial strategies integrating strong risk mitigation and maximizing value for all stakeholders. This focus led to Bri-mor recently partnering with an industry leader on its 300-unit Belvedere purpose-built rental development in Southeast Calgary, highlighting the company’s ability to pursue strategic investments and partnerships leading to a vertically integrated business model. Additionally, Bri-mor is developing 62 acres in Airdrie, which is expected to include over 1,500 residential units in a master-planned community. This project is in a partnership with the landowner to fully develop and maximize the land’s value, leveraging Br-Mor’s expertise versus simply having the landowner sell the land at a much lower value.
Partnerships in all areas of the business are fuelled by strong relationships built on trust, integrity and a track record of performance, which serve as the foundation for Bri-mor’s growth. There is little that this incredible team cannot do especially with the partners they have.
“We are quite fortunate that our experience allows us to choose the right asset class for development opportunities presented to us, whether it’s commercial or an array of residential built forms, rather than being limited to one type of development,” says Fatima.
Fatima and the team’s experience shared over the years, has given them the flexibility, nimbleness and confidence to know they can handle whatever comes their way. This was tested when Bri-mor purchased land in 2017 to develop Cityscape Square, a 100,000 square-foot commercial centre in Mattamy’s coveted NE community of Cityscape. The odds against the project stacked up as a plummeting energy market followed by COVID, eroded confidence in the market and most particularly, in commercial real estate. Fatima and Aleem ultimately decided to take on the risk and move forward alone even at a time of continued uncertainty. This ended up being the right decision. Cityscape has become a premier centre in the NE quadrant of the city that attracted national anchor tenants such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, 7-Eleven, Dollarama and many other leading service and food groups.
Facing challenges like these with courage, faith and vision has been the Bri-mor way since the beginning, and that has served the family well in business and in life. Fatima and Aleem along with Saifa, who currently serves as the CEO of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, feel it is their joint responsibility to serve both their own Ismaili Muslim Community in Canada and abroad as well as society at large. Their joint involvement ranges from refugee resettlement to children’s charities, the food bank to the Aga Khan Development Network and its agencies, demonstrating the Dhanani’s commitment to give back to numerous causes and ensuring that this commitment continues to drive the company’s purpose.
“Fatima and I consider this business an engine to allow us to serve,” says Aleem. Inspired by their philanthropic community work, they seek to help others live better lives and achieve their own greatness. This inspiration is rooted in the Aga Khan’s quote, “The question is, not only what have I achieved, the question is what have I helped others to achieve?”
With integrity, courage, and faith, Fatima and Aleem Dhanani have built a strong business that has become a leader in the industry. Over the past 35 years, Fatima, Aleem and Saifa have expanded upon the timeless foundation laid by Haider, creating a lasting impact that drives Bri-mor and the family forward. This foundation will continue to support and lead the company, as well as the family’s efforts, toward a future of growth and lasting impact in the community.
West 85th – Building 2000, Suite 2212
8561 – 8A Avenue SW • 403-250-5650 • Bri-mor.com
