Industry Profile: Ashley Ross
By on Mar 15, 2011
Ashley was the mind behind Richmond Town Manors, an award winning development at Richmond Street West and Strachan Ave. Recently Ashley has put his focus on Junction Triangle Lofts, a unique infill project on the site of the former D & B Lumber site at 229 Wallace Ave.
NewInHomes (NIH): Lets talk about your background, and what brought you into land development
We would do multiple projects all within the downtown core, all listed under different identities. We came to a critical point where it was important to brand ourselves, and we came up with Urban Works Developments Inc, which is what we have branded ourselves as moving forward.
Ross: Fairly unique project that was one of the more iconic projects in the area. It was a very modern concept that was very well received by both the neighborhood and the media.
Ross: My vision with that is that the area has been fairly quiet in terms of redevelopment. There has been all sorts of focus on the industrial re-intensification, and I felt it was important to add some residential to the neighbourhood. The neighborhood had been widely ignored at that point, I thought we could bring in a new look to the area.
Ross: It’s very important. I love what I do. With that in mind, you are building a reputation. I’d like to leave my mark as having improved the cultural fabric of Toronto. Its great knowing that I can contribute to the city; I love the city of Toronto
Ross: I think it’s the progressing that we have seen in the planning. I use to visit cities like Chicago and watched how they developed their lakefront, and seen how much we lacked. We have come a long way over the past decade or, specifically in the downtown area.
Ross: I think there was a recognition from all three levels of government that we needed to work together to make the city better. I think its moved forward well.
Ross: We are partnering up with a larger developer to bring a new condo in the ‘Annex.’ As well we have a new project in the Moss Park area. We are still in the planning phases of those. We will continue to try to be unique with our projects, both with our concepts as well as our design.
