Real estate Columbus remakes Manhattan.

Leaning back in one of the chairs in his corner office in Time Warner Center, Stephen Ross wore a look of satisfaction.

Just outside, Columbus Circle is almost complete after years of construction during which its perimeter was partially lined with clunky barriers meant to shield the sidewalks and scaffolding from traffic and its centerpiece was merely an ugly island clad with wood boards and concrete slabs.

Now a handsome stone totem with statues of Christopher Columbus and his three ships graces the eye of the circle, traffic flows around the loop the way it should and the perimeter is open and free of debris so that the area finally looks like the type of place Ross has called it for years: one of the centers of the Manhattan.

While the city was on schedule in its recent completion of the circle's renovation, Time Warner Center-which was developed by Ross' The Related Companies--was finished by early 2004 and consequently spent more than a year bordering the circle's rubble piles and listening to its constant rumbling of jackhammers and bulldozers.

The atmosphere, which was created by a foreseen disparity in both the city's and Related's construction schedules, wasn't ideal considering the elegant twin skyscrapers' luxury theme and high-end ground floor mall, but it was one that Ross was happy to tolerate considering the unique chance to develop a project such as Time Warner Center.

"When we're doing large, mixed use projects, we look to create great places and be the core of the city," Ross said. "And you can say this building is the center of the city, one of them anyway. When the city was first founded, they measured all distance from Columbus Circle. I think that, 50 years from now, people will look at it as being the center again because of all the development that's been happening on the West Side."

The 70-story building was the ultimate culmination of Ross's extensive experience developing mixed-use buildings. It contains perhaps one of the biggest retail components of any office tower in the city, the Mandarin Oriental hotel, CNN studios, office space, luxury residential condominiums, and a 6,000-seat theater for Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The project was so dizzyingly complex, Ross--still reclined back in his seat and looking comfortable with his feet propped on the office's coffee table--lightheartedly questioned whether he would have taken the project on knowing then what he knows now. Each separate use had its own individual set of requirements and tailoring the building to fulfill them all was as complicated Ross says as "making a Swiss watch."

"And building shouldn't be as complicated as making a Swiss watch," he said.

Costs to design and construct the space, as well as outfit it with the right systems, soared because of the diverse tenants, a factor that drove the project's cost to a massive $2 billion. But the building has been profitable, and while not quite as remunerative as some other Related developments, by far the most gratifying for Ross.

"This is definitely the most important building I'll ever do," Ross said. "I'm proud that we were able to do this and that it works."

And while Columbus Circle lagged slightly in its revitalization, the location Ross attests is what made Time Warner Center's diversity possible.

"There's no other location in the city where you'd want to do this project and that's what made this great, it really called for what we did."

Ross began his career as a tax lawyer in Detroit and early on worked with a number of clients seeking advice on real estate transactions they were involved in. Instructing them to the best of his ability and without hiding the fact that he was a novice to the world of real estate, Ross was surprised to learn that his clients were actually listening to him and, on top of that, profiting wildly from his instruction.

Understanding then just how lucrative real estate could be, Ross relocated to New York City to join an investment bank involved in real estate development. Although he was in one of the real estate capitals of the world, Ross had unwittingly entered a firm with a choppy reputation as a developer and little capital to invest. He switched to another firm helmed by a person he described as an egomaniac. That ended with a hasty exit as well.

Uninterested in interviewing for another job, Ross decided to stake out on his own and, in 1972, founded the Related Companies.

"I said, 'You know, life's too short for this,' and I examined myself and knew what skills I had and where I thought the best opportunities lay," Ross said. "I had no money, but I started the Related Companies with the idea of being in the financial service business." Using his tax background, Ross ingeniously syndicated tax shelter to wealthy individuals and used the profits from there to develop affordable housing projects. While the company took off as a powerhouse developer in this area, Ross wisely made sure to preserve and grow the financial services side of the business as well.

In addition to being one of the most active developers, The Related Companies has also become the largest provider of debt and equity for affordable housing in the US.

The financial services arm of the company's business allowed it to better weather the hard times real estate faced in the late 80s and early 90s.

"Where other real estate developers went up and down with the market and had to develop projects to keep the lights on, so to say, we could really pick and choose our projects," Ross said. "We had that other source of income so we were never forced to do projects. It was a big innovation at that time to combine so many things under one umbrella. No one else had done that before."

Ross's innovations in real estate included more than just multifaceted businesses. He says he was one of the first to take advantage of the city's tax abatements and low cost financing programs that are awarded to developers who construct residential rental buildings in which 20% of the space is designated for affordable housing.

"We're the ones who first started using our expertise in affordable housing and really set the path in doing 80/20s in NY. Now I think that everybody who builds a rental builds them as 80/ 20s because that's the t best way to do it," Ross said. "It's the most economic way to do it."

For Ross, developing affordable housing transcends the bottom line.

"There's nothing better than making money and providing an important service," Ross said. "I look back with the greatest of pride at all the affordable housing projects I've done.

"We've always believed strongly in the need for affordable housing. In NY we bought Manhattan Plaza, which is a very controversial project, and retained it as affordable housing when the highest and best use would have been to bring it to market rate."

"Part of developing in Manhattan is recognizing that to keep this city great, there has to be housing for the people who work and live in the city, we don't build just luxury housing."

Ross's philanthropic efforts are as impressive as the social consciousness he displays in his developments. He recently donated an astounding $100 million to the University of Michigan, his alma mater. In recognition of the gift, the biggest in its 187-year history, the university will rename its business school the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

"I believe in payback," Ross said. "It was a great school. That donation is probably the best thing I've ever done."

Ross is one of the biggest supporters of NYC's bid for the 2012 Olympics and serves on the executive committee of NYC2012.

"The Olympics would be so great for this city," Ross said. "Not just the two weeks when we would actually have them, but all the things we would need to do in preparation for hosting the games.

"The Olympics serve as this wonderful motivating force to get so many important projects done and to clean up the city."

Ross is also active in fundraising for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Two of his four daughters are afflicted with the condition.