I’m a lifelong Torontonian, having grown up near Bayview and Lawrence – close to Crescent School – where I went from Grade 5 to 13. After graduating from The University of Western Ontario, I did my first real estate deal, buying a great condo in The Ports in the Summerhill neighbourhood. Along with my partner Jim, we then moved into Cabbagetown, living in an amazing renovated 1870’s era heritage home.
For the last twenty plus years, Jim and I have lived in our dream home in the South Hill area of Toronto, designed by renowned Canadian architects Mathers and Holdenby. An architectural beauty, it was reputedly the recipient of a prestigious Commonwealth design award at the time it was built in 1918. Over the past 20 years we have fulfilled our love of design and building, renovating and updating both its interiors and exterior gardens from top to bottom. In addition to our Toronto home, we have a retreat on 10 acres in the rolling hills of Mulmur – an hour north of Toronto.
I have been lucky to live in some great homes. I’ve also been fortunate that these have been sound real estate investments. I look forward to working with you to achieve that same outcome.
I spent the initial stages of my career in commercial real estate, first with The Arnoldi Group (now part of Colliers International) and then with the Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited. At CF I was in charge of office leasing for the Toronto Dominion Centre, Mies Van der Rohe’s architectural masterpiece – considered CF’s premiere office asset. Along with the TD Centre, I also handled leasing for architect Carlos Ott’s Simcoe Place, CF’s newest office development at Front and Simcoe.
Evolving into retail leasing, in addition to handling leasing for many of CF’s malls, I concluded many major deals for flagship locations, including the Gap at Bay and Bloor.
After over a decade in real estate, I changed course pursuing an opportunity to lead a publicly traded global internet company transacting the sale of art (another passion of mine) – a chance to lead a ground breaking company doing innovative work in the art world.
With the opportunity to own, restore and operate the Art Moderne gem The Carlu – named for its famed Parisian architect Jacques Carlu – I saw the chance to again start and build a new business. With my love of great architecture, this was also the rare opportunity to restore a National Historic Site. The Carlu was considered the premiere special events venue in its market, hosting all styles of corporate, social and cultural events.
In 2003 when The Carlu opened, The Carlu was considered the highest profile heritage restoration in Canada that year, receiving numerous awards, including:
Among the many things that make Toronto a great city are the volunteer organizations that work for the betterment of the community. I have been fortunate to have been involved with several organizations, including being on the Board of Governors for:
Where fund raising is concerned, I have been pleased to have worked with:
