FORT PIERCE FOLKS
The LANDLORD OF
SOUTH BEACH
W hen you rent an apartment from Rick
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“Ricky” Ross you get more than a
landlord. You become part of his
extended family.
Since he redeveloped the first of four apartment
buildings in 2008, Ross has become kind of an
unofficial mayor of Fort Pierce’s South Beach. On
a recent ride to see his properties, it was uncanny
how every single person encountered along the
way stopped what they were doing to say, “Hey
Ricky. How are you?” Ross asked the substitute
mailman whether the regular carrier was out of
the hospital and when he would be coming back
to work.
“My tenants are my friends,” said Ross. “We
celebrate holidays together. I love my job and I
treat them like family. We had 30 people at my
house for Thanksgiving. I never have vacancies,
which is unusual,” said Ross, who gives each
of his 35 tenants a turkey at Thanksgiving. It is
a tradition going back to the 200 apartments he
managed in Connecticut.
Ross said he often gives food to homeless
people in the park at Georgia Avenue and U.S. 1
in Fort Pierce. This past Thanksgiving, his wife,
Julie, made turkey dinners that they delivered to
people in the park. “You should see the looks on
their faces when we pull up, give them the food
and drive away,” he said. “We’re not the only
ones doing it, but it doesn’t cost much to give
back. I feel fortunate to be able to do that.”
Always looking for a deal on a distressed apartment
building or a deal on a house, Ross is only
interested in South Beach for redevelopment. In
2005, he and his brother came to Fort Pierce and
began buying, rehabbing and selling homes in
north Fort Pierce. When his brother first brought
him to Archie’s restaurant for lunch, Ross
thought, “this is the place to be. Why am I living
on North Beach?” He would go on to redevelop
the two buildings next door and combine them
into one complex.
In 1999, Ross established a food bank in Hartford.
He was also the president of the PTO for
his children’s high school for several years; the
position is typically filled by a woman. In 1997
he was president of the booster club and Booster
of the Year for the University of Hartford basketball
team. Ross credits taking his children to the
team’s games when they were young for their
later interest in sports.
All of his formerly distressed buildings have
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BY GREG GARDNER
GREG GARDNER
Rick “Ricky” Ross purchased the Sea House in 2011 at 601 Ocean Drive on South Beach
in Fort Pierce. Kenny McGuire painted the mural while Ross cleaned up the property and
its 11 apartments.