You can’t have a real estate list in New Jersey without dozens of developers. Here are some of the most influential. Keep in mind, a few more will be on our list of Icons here. And don’t forget about our Power Players list, which can be found here.
Dave Barry
President
Ironstate Development Co.
This longtime leader in Jersey City (and the area) has many projects coming, including the proposed Journal Square Urby, a 25-story, 341-unit project that would attempt to copy the success of Ironstate’s downtown Jersey City Urby.
Adenah Bayoh
CEO
Adenah Bayoh and Cos.
Bayoh started as a franchisee (IHOP) then opened her own restaurant (Cornbread: From Farm to Soul). She’s become a one-woman economic engine for Irvington. She has more than $250 million of projects, including The HillTop, a mixed-use development that is 80% affordable housing.
Joel Bergstein
President
Lincoln Equities Group
East Rutherford-based Lincoln Equities hopes to begin redeveloping the Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal, a 153-acre waterfront site, in 2020. The site is expected to create 2,700 jobs and have buildings with more than 1 million square feet of property.
Wasseem Boraie
Vice president
Boraie Development
Family-owned New Brunswick-based firm is leasing new market-rate buildings on both ends of the state (Atlantic City and Newark). It’s next big project, 777 McCarter — or “Shaq Towers” — could be the jewel of the downtown area, positioned perfectly between the Gateway Center buildings and Ironside Newark/Mulberry Commons.
Jonathan Cortell
Managing director, Northeast markets
L+M Development Partners
L+M continues to be a huge presence in Newark. Its latest effort came earlier this summer, when it formally opened the 264-unit mixed-use Walker House, fully restoring the landmarked former home of New Jersey Bell in downtown Newark into a 264-unit mixed-use project.
Gene Diaz
Principal
Prism Capital Partners
Diaz and Prism continue to get praise for their work at On3 — the transformational project on the Nutley-Clifton border — and on other New Jersey projects. Diaz also is becoming a favorite on the panel circuit, offering strong opinions on the pros and cons of the business.
Mike DeMarco
CEO
Mack-Cali Realty Corp.
The REIT survived a hostile takeover bid this summer — and has shown no slowing down since. It recently submitted plans for a 68-story mixed-use building that would have 680 residential units and 18,662 square feet of commercial space.
Joe Forgione
Founder and principal
JMF Properties
Continues to be a prolific developer in North Jersey. Some of his latest projects include phase two of the Harbor View Marketplace in Bayonne, a 110-unit luxury residential project in Glen Ridge and Quin Sleepy Hollow, which is bringing 212 luxury units to Plainfield.
Don Ghermezian
CEO
Triple Five
You may have read a word or two on the massive retail-recreation-entertainment spectacle coming to the Meadowlands. It’s open now. At least, a small section of it is. Ghermezian said it will deliver on the promise of transforming the area and the sector.
Frank Greek
President
Greek Development
Part of the team that broke ground this summer on the Linden Logistics Center — a 4.1-million-square-foot, state-of-the-art logistics park that will have eight Class A warehouse buildings designed for logistics, distribution, fulfillment, manufacturing and last-mile-delivery. The project, which includes Peter Cocoziello and Prudential Financial, is scheduled to begin late next year. Greek is also doing Logan North Industrial Park (3.3 million square feet of logistics space) with Cocoziello in Logan Township.
Jimmy Hanson
CEO and president
The Hampshire Cos.
His legendary father, Jon Hanson, certainly casts a big shadow — one Jimmy Hanson is proud of — but he shines in his own right and is clearly in charge of the day-to-day of one of the state’s most well-known companies.
Jesse Harty
Senior vice president/market leader N.J./N.Y.
Prologis
Prologis is a national company, but its $12.6 billion acquisition of Liberty Property Trust (both firms have property in New Jersey) certainly will impact the state.
Sonny Jumani
President and managing member
Tulfra
Next-generation developer specializes in transforming underutilized assets. What was once an overlooked AT&T data center site will become the Village Center of Rochelle Park, a 7.5-acre, mixed-use property that includes a 100,000-square-foot storage facility, retail and residential.
Alex Klatskin
General partner
Forsgate Industrial Partners
Partnering with Russo Development on Kingsland Meadowlands, a 3 million-square-foot e-commerce development six miles from New York City. The 718-acre site (in Lyndhurst, Rutherford and North Arlington) will have six buildings. Initial phase will have two buildings with 1.28 million square feet.
Jonathan Kushner
President
Kushner Real Estate Group
Its latest Jersey City project, 351 Marin, could be one of KRE Group’s finest: a 38-story tower with 507 luxury apartments, a 4,500-square-foot public plaza, 8,000 square feet of commercial and a 95-spot garage.
Ron Ladell
Senior vice president
AvalonBay
The state’s most prolific multifamily builder is busy everywhere — but is devoting much of his time to the massive $300 million West Windsor project that will transform the Princeton Junction train station.
Clark Machemer
Senior managing director
Crow Holdings
Former head of Rockefeller Group’s New Jersey practice, he’s helped launch the regional division of Crow Holdings with major industrial projects in the state. He wasted no time in breaking ground on the company’s first project, a 925,000-square-foot warehouse development in Franklin Township, only a year after making the move.
Sam Morreale
Founder and managing member
Vison Real Estate Partners
The Mountain Lakes-based firm has a pipeline of projects in Morris County, where it has made its mark with Bayer, MetLife and Barclays. Its next big project could be Latitude, a state-of-the-art office park that will come from the acquisition of the former Morris Corporate Center IV in Parsippany, which total roughly 700,000 square feet, in a joint venture with Rubenstein Partners.
Jack Morris
CEO and president
Edgewood Properties
Good guy doing good things. Made national news when he said any federal employee could defer rent during government shutdown. Made local news when he opened the Edge in Freehold, a multifamily property where veterans will get top priority.
Wendy Neu
Chairman and CEO
Hugo Neu
The continued success of Kearny Point — which will have more than 3 million square feet of coworking and flexible-use office space — can be seen throughout Kearny, as it already is leading to other development in the area.
Chris Paladino
President
New Brunswick Development Corp.
His latest massive public-private partnership project, the uber-impressive New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, is yet another project by Devco that has helped transform the city. Next up: The Hub. And it’s just one of plenty of other projects around the state he’s doing.
Joe Panepinto
President
Panepinto Properties
As developers go, Panepinto is Mr. Jersey City. His involvement with major real estate projects in the city goes back to the 1970s and he remains at the forefront through partnerships with Ironstate and other leading developers. He also recently donated $10 million to Saint Peter’s University, the largest-ever gift to his alma mater.
Ed Russo
President and chief operating officer
Russo Development
Two big projects — each of which is incredibly impactful: There’s the Kingsland Meadowlands, a 3 million-square-foot e-commerce development he’s doing with Forsgate, and the 654-unit mixed-use residential community he’s building in Hackensack (along with partners Hampshire and the Borg family). He’s also playing a critical role in redeveloping a large section of Kearny.
John Saraceno; Jonathan Schultz
Co-founders
Onyx Equities
Their vision — turning the Gateway Center (and the areas around it) into a drawing card for Newark — is one that could fundamentally transform the city. And lead to greater redevelopment, including a much-needed facelift of Newark Penn Station.
Debra Tantleff
Founding principal
Tantum Real Estate
The opening of the Element at Red Bank, a 35-unit boutique multifamily property, may be her signature moment from 2019, but her impact in the lives of the next generation of real estate leaders — paying the way for other women — will long be her calling card.
Sandy Weiss
Founder and CEO
Manhattan Building Co.
Weiss, a fixture in Hudson County, has spearheaded the birth of the new Jersey City neighborhood known as SoHo West. He’s now tasked with redeveloping a blighted section of the city that could connect the downtown to the neighborhoods west of the New Jersey Turnpike extension.
Eric Witmondt
CEO
Woodmont Properties
The longtime leader in both multifamily and industrial is branching out a bit. He has formed a new senior housing division to create walkable and transit-oriented projects for the elderly.
Ralph Zucker
Partner
Somerset Development
The still-growing Bell Works project in Holmdel, which just broke the 1 million-square-foot mark in leasing, always will be his calling card, but it’s not his only project. The Somerset Station Transit Village he’s developing could be a standard for transit-oriented development when the huge mixed-use project is finished in 2023.
