About Us
Our Team
Ashlar offers comprehensive strategic advice and real estate expertise in all sectors of the market. Our talented team is highly experienced in commercial real estate sale and lease transactions, and is formally educated in business, commerce, and urban planning. A brief summary of experience and key achievements to date are as follows:
Craig Smith
President & Broker of Record
Craig Smith formed Ashlar Urban Realty in 1999 with the desire to provide a value-added strategic solution to corporate and entrepreneurial clients with commercial real estate requirements. He envisioned an agency that aligned its goals directly with its clients’ and thoroughly involved itself with the clients’ real estate and business objectives. He has since built Ashlar to become an accomplished and recognized firm in the Toronto commercial real estate industry.
Craig specializes in investment sales and downtown office leasing in Toronto’s core and periphery areas. He has achieved considerable success in both of these areas over the past years, ranging from entrepreneurial target acquisitions to institutional portfolio dispositions. Throughout his career, Craig has been one of the top producers in the industry, generating gross revenues of over $1 billion. Clients include, but are not limited to, Bell Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), MacDonald Development Corporation, Dundee REIT, Labatt Brewing Company Limited, Allied Properties REIT, Petro Canada, Morguard Investments, Beutel Goodman and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Craig holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and Psychology from the University of Western Ontario. Prior to Ashlar’s inception, Craig had worked with Knowlton Realty and the Torode Realty organizations in Toronto for ten years, having been the both the top producer and manager of both Toronto operations.
Jay Chisholm specializes in investment sales & office leasing in Toronto’s Downtown Financial Core & immediate periphery areas.
Throughout his 13-year career in commercial real estate, Mr. Chisholm has assisted in the successful disposition/acquisition of over 5 million square feet of office product. Moreover, he has also maintained a constant focus on the acquisition and disposition of multi-residential development sites, and similar “infill” sites in the Toronto area. Mr. Chisholm is proficient in several software valuation models and creates proformas/projections for both vendors and purchasers.
A number of Mr. Chisholm’s clients include Lifetime Urban Development, Gross Capital Inc., Cadillac Fairview Corporation, Crown Realty Corporation, Allied Properties REIT, Canderel Stoneridge, Lamb Development Corp, Bell Canada, Chapters Inc, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, and Primaris REIT.
Mr. Chisholm holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in geography from the University of Western Ontario, where he focused his studies on urban planning. Mr. Chisholm has been the top producer at Ashlar for 4 of the last 5 years.
Brian Murphy
Senior Vice President & Sales Representative
Brian Murphy has 25 years experience in the brokerage industry having worked in leasing, sales and management. His experience in investment sales , land , hotel and resort , corporate leasing and sales has served his impressive list of clients.
Brian has brokered many significant transactions and has a wide range of clients across various industry sectors. Before joining Ashlar, Brian spent the last while consulting to several major developers in the country and forming a company called Pensacola Properties, which is involved in syndication and development work.
Brian holds a degree in Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing from the University of West Florida.
Throughout his 14-year career in Real Estate Jason Evdoxiadis has completed transactions in all areas of real estate including office leasing, investment sales, and retail leasing.
Jason has found new ways of creating value in the broker-client relationship by leveraging his diverse experience into portfolio consultation and brokerage for major corporate clients. Jason has provided real estate transactions and advisory services for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on a national basis and in select international markets and continues to be a preffered supplier . As part of Jason’s mandate he acted as listing agent in the lease of 113,000 square feet to the International Academy of Design which transaction was a finalist for the prestigious REX Office Deal of the Year award. Jason’s clients include North West Healthcare Properties, Cityscape Developments, FHC Holdings, Pinedale Properties, Tim Horton’s, Harhay Construction, and The Firkin Group of Pubs.
Jason Evdoxiadis holds an Honours degree in Business Administration (HBA) from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario where he focused his studies on Economics and Business Development.
Jason Evdoxiadis was recently appointed to the Board of Ontex Resources (ONT:TSX) a publicly traded company specializing in gold exploration with holdings in gas production and wind energy. Jason is also a board member of the Hellenic Canadian Board of Trade.
Jeff Thomas
Sales Representative
Jeff Thomas is actively involved in Toronto’s downtown core and periphery markets focusing on the investment sales, office and retail leasing segments.
Engaged on a client-directed basis by landlords, tenants, purchasers and vendors, Jeff has completed over 40 commercial real estate transactions in 2006 to date.
Jeff’s has completed transactions on behalf of clients such as the Blackstone Group (o/a: Slate Properties), Westmont Hotels, Hampton-Metrix Capital Partners, A.W. Himel Holdings, Warrillow & Company, Harhay Construction, Integral Wealth Management, The TDL Group (o/a: Tim Hortons), Cityscape Developments, Simply Pita, and Mainstay Housing. Jeff has also worked in corporate consulting for clients such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
During 2006 Jeff has been actively engaged as lease listing agent at the following buildings: 330 Bay St., 350 Bay St., 366 Bay St. 80 Richmond St. W, 8 King St. E., 370 King St. W, 860-862 Richmond St. W, 183 Bathurst St, 495 King St. W, 489 King St. W, 275 King St. E, 184 Front St. E, 263 King St E, and 25 Prince Arthur Ave.
Jeff is a graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business and holds a bachelor of arts in Public Administration and Public Policy from the University of Western Ontario. Prior to the commencement of his real estate career at Ashlar Urban Realty, Jeff operated and owned a successful bar and restaurant in Port Dalhousie.
Michael Scace
Sales Representative
Michael’s primary focus is Toronto’s financial core and downtown fringe markets where he is active in investments, office and retail leasing.
Mr. Scace has assisted in the implementation and development of real estate strategies for companies such as; Lehman Brothers Canada, TELUS Communications, Blackstone Group (o/a Slate Properties), MKS Inc., Felix Global Inc. and Jatheon Technologies Inc.
Currently Michael is an active listing agent on the following Downtown office towers: 330 Bay Street, 366 Bay Street, 350 Bay Street, 80 Richmond Street West, 56 Temperance Street, 60 Adelaide Street East, 8 King Street East, 184 Front Street East, 36 Toronto Street
He holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Waterloo and is a member of Toronto Real Estate Board and the Ontario Real Estate Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association.
Sales Representative
Fraser McKay joined Ashlar Urban Realty in the Spring of 2006 and, working closely with Craig Smith, has been actively involved in leasing and investment sales in the GTA. With a primary focus in Toronto’s downtown core, Fraser has built a strong track record to date, and continues to prove his strengths as a valued team player, a hard worker, and a creative solution to reach the absolute optimum goals for Ashlar’s clients.
Mr. McKay was instrumental in the sales of 193 Yonge Street, 149 College Street, 45-55 Colborne, and 869-877 Yonge Street and is currently engaged on the sale of 55 Athol (Oshawa) and 2104 Kipling Avenue. He is currently and has worked personally with Allied Properties REIT, Rospin Investment Corporation, Market Block Wellington, and Toronto Stores Limited.
On the leasing front, Fraser focuses his attention on office relocations, subleases, multi-office consolidations and renewals.
He is presently the listing agent for 86 Parliament, 53 Yonge, 47 Colborne, 170 Evans, and 196 Evans and has completed significant deals on behalf Victoria University, Blackstone Group (o/a Slate Properties), Seabridge Gold, and Flatiron Capital.
Fraser McKay holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from McGill University with a primary focus in geography and economics.
Sales Representative
Prior to joining Ashlar, Nick interned in commercial banking assisting with loan underwriting, analysis of client credit worthiness, and business plan consulting. Through that experience he learned to evaluate business models from a commercial banking perspective and, due in part to a highly entrepreneurial client base, absorbed an innovative and forward-thinking approach to debt financing.
Subsequent to the internship, Nick completed his final year in the Honours program in Business Administration (HBA) from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, where he focused his studies on Finance and Real Estate. Since joining the Ashlar team Nick has participated in a wide range of transactions and continues to build his experience in commercial real estate through working on transactions ranging in size from 2,000 square feet leases to multi-million dollar investment sales.
Sales Representative
Multi-residential properties specialist and investment sales
Jeff is an accomplished financial and business leader who is results oriented. During his successful career as the C.F.O. and Director of several publicly traded companies, on the TSX, American and New York stock exchanges, he has gained valuable business experience. Jeff has acquired expertise in the debt and equity markets as well as learning the skills required in the acquisition and disposition of companies.
The understanding of business and complex negotiations that Jeff developed in his previous line of work has proven to be a valuable resource to him in his real estate career.
Jeff's client list includes Transglobe Property Management and Rospin Investment Corporation.
Jeff holds an Honours B.A. in political science and economics from York University as well as an Honour B. Comm. in accounting from the University of Windsor. Prior to joining Ashlar Urban he spent over 20 years working in public accounting and private industry, eventually working his way up to C.F.O. This experience will serve him well as he continues to develop as a real estate sales person.
Sales Representative
Dan Paquette recently joined Ashlar Urban Realty Inc. as a sales representative to work in the suburban GTA market. Dan has come to us from Cushman & Wakefield LePage where he specialized in Tenant Representation. He is active in office leasing, industrial and retail markets and advises clients on a national basis.
Prior to entering commercial real estate, Dan spent the previous 5 years as a political advisor at Queens Park. In this role he specialized in strategic management and media relations for the Province of Ontario.
Dan has a B.A. from York University and is a member of the Toronto Real Estate Board and Canadian Real Estate Association.
Clients represented include Ebay Canada, Purolator Courier, Capgemini, Telus, Dorel, St. Gobain, Jager Building Systems and Newell Rubbermaid among others.
Sales Representative
Prior to joining Ashlar Urban, Paul worked as a Senior Account Manager for Canon Canada. This role heightened his knowledge of the dynamic requirements of office environments, an understanding which in real estate quickly translates into improved efficiencies and savings for corporate office tenants. Paul’s client first approach to business means an unsurpassed level of involvement and responsibility toward the project from inception through to implementation and the ongoing evaluation of corporate needs. This degree of commitment is highly valued with today’s emphasis on corporate accountability.
At Ashlar Urban, Paul’s focus is to develop strategic real estate solutions for local and national clients. Every situation is treated as a unique opportunity, where the individual needs of the organization drive the development of solutions. Using this client first approach, Paul is able to deliver optimal results for clients of all sizes.
By building long-term client relationships rather than strictly focusing on transaction management, Paul ensures that solutions developed for his clients are customized to their needs, contributing to increased efficiencies, cost effectiveness and buy-in among management and staff.
Paul has a diploma in Business Management from Seneca College.
Rowena Frenz
Marketing Manager
Rowena Frenz has joined Ashlar Urban Realty Inc. as Marketing Manager. Prior to joining this team, Rowena gained extensive experience in commercial real estate markets in her role as Marketing Co-ordinator at Cornerstone Commercial Realty Corp. followed by the past seven years as Desktop Publisher Officer at TD Securities Realty Group. During this time Rowena has participated in marketing co-ordination of a variety of single-asset/portfolio investment sale transactions. Rowena holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce with a major in Accounting.
Marj Janes
Office Manager
Marj Janes has enjoyed a 12 year career in the commercial real estate industry. Starting at Knowlton Realty as an Administrative Assistant to a number of agents including Craig Smith. She then moved on to Colliers International as an executive assistant where she worked for two of the firm’s directors/top producers. After almost five years at Colliers she re-teamed with Mr. Smith to manage the office of Ashlar Urban Realty Inc. Marj has an Honours diploma in Office Administration from Seneca College.
Leasing - Executive Assitant
Erika graduated with her Diploma in Public Relations from Durham College in Oshawa in 2000. She started her career working as a Development Officer at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. She ended up moving to Sault Ste. Marie where she is originally from and began working as Receptionist at Feifel, Broadbent, Gareau, Barristers & Solicitors. Four years later, she returned to Southern Ontario to continue her work in the reception/administration role at Laskowsky & Laskowsky, Barrsiters & Solicitors. Erika has gained experience working in the real estate environment in her role as Receptionist at both law firms and is excited to be working with Craig Smith and his team.
Sales Assistant
As the most recent addition to Ashlar Urban Realty, Brent has been working closely with Craig Smith in the role of Sales Assistant. Prior to joining the Ashlar team Brent focused his studies in architecture at the University of Toronto and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dalhousie University with a focus in history and economics.
Brent’s unique background and strong work ethic have allowed him to quickly become a valued team member, assisting with a variety of transactions involving office leasing and investment sales within the GTA.