Developers Marc Berson, Omar Boraie, Carl Goldberg, Jon Hanson, Charles Kushner, Murray Kushner, Gus Milano, Steve Pozycki, Joe Taylor, David Welsh and Finn Wentworth are on our “Icons” list. See them here.
(Read the list of Developers, A-H, here.)
George Jacobs
President
Jacobs Enterprises
In addition to his own firm, he serves as state chairman of government relations for the International Council of Shopping Centers, making him a leading voice in all things retail, including liquor license reform.
Sonny Jumani
President and managing member
Tulfra
Two of many projects: Park 11 (turning former Roche Diagnostics into 500,000 square feet of mixed-use space) and 920 Belmont Ave. (turning former North Haledon municipal site into 180 apartments).
Jonathan Kushner
President
Kushner Real Estate Group
The face of KRE Group is everywhere. While still active in Jersey City, KRE remains one of the few multifamily developers comfortable in both urban and suburban settings (see 345-unit project in Rockaway).
Alex Klatskin
General partner
Forsgate Industrial Partners
While Kingsland Meadowlands, the mega 3 million-square-foot industrial site Forsgate is doing with Russo, gets all the attention, Forsgate quietly remains one of the biggest industrial owners in the state.
Ron Ladell
Senior vice president
AvalonBay
Long one of the most prolific and active multifamily builders in the state — and a previous No. 1 selection on this list.
Richard LeFrak
Chair, CEO
LeFrak
What’s more impressive: That LeFrak has spent decades building up the Newport waterfront in Jersey City — or that some feel the area still has more parts he can develop?
Jeff Milanaik
Principal
Bridge Development Partners
The king of industrial proved it again last month when Bridge sold Phase I of Bridge Point 78 in Phillipsburg to PGIM Real Estate for $275 million. Last week, Bridge leased 300,000 square feet of space in Somerset, a site that’s already home to an Amazon facility.
Clark Machemer
Senior managing director
Crow Holdings
Here’s a flip that would make HGTV proud: Crow (with Cushman & Wakefield) leased 50 Veronica Ave. — a 925,000-square-foot industrial warehouse in Franklin Township — to LG in December, then sold it for $164 million in June.
Jack Morris
CEO and president
Edgewood Properties
One of the top developers, business leaders and philanthropists has remained active on a number of projects during the pandemic.
Sam Morreale
Founder and managing member
Vison Real Estate Partners
Longtime prolific suburban developer in Morris County started to unveil some of its urban efforts with 1776 on the Green earlier this year.
Wendy Neu
Chairman and CEO
Hugo Neu
Neu is actively speaking out on more issues (including a need for businesses to support sustainability efforts) while her Kearny Point project adjusts to pandemic workplace needs.
Chris Paladino
President
New Brunswick Development Corp.
One of the most prolific and well-connected developers (and a previous No. 1 on this list), Paladino is one of the leaders on the Stockton University project in Atlantic City while still holding great influence in his home base of New Brunswick.
Ed Russo
President and chief operating officer
Russo Development
He is doing projects with many of the developers on this list — commercial and residential — which is just one of the reasons he has the biggest multifamily pipeline in state.
John Saraceno; Jonathan Schultz
Co-founders
Onyx Equities
As if Gateway (and host of other projects) weren’t enough, Onyx closed on a package of 10 properties in Morris County earlier this year.
Debra Tantleff
Founding principal
Tantum Real Estate
Viewed as an inspiration for women in the business, and a thought leader, but her work — such as the Element in Red Bank — speaks for itself.
Eric Witmondt
CEO
Woodmont Properties
Witmondt and his team continue to be leaders in multifamily (443 units in Princeton) and industrial (there’s a 101,000-square-foot site in Woodbridge) both in the state and the region.
Ralph Zucker
Partner
Somerset Development
Bell Works managed an impressive comeback to continue thriving throughout the pandemic, which included implementing above-and-beyond COVID safety measures and design enhancements, in addition to a partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health.