Dave Barry
President
Ironstate Development Co.
Longtime Jersey City developer has expanded his Urby concept to Newark and most recently to Harrison, where, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Barry’s Ironstate opened Phase 2 and most recently is looking to launch the third and newest phase of the project, which has 381 new apartments ready for renters on top of the 679 units completed in earlier phases. On top of that, Barry and his company Ironstate finally have Hoboken city officials clearing the way for an agreement that would bring more than 360 new apartments to the site of a rundown municipal garage, while preserving a waterfront parcel that local leaders had long sought to protect.
Adenah Bayoh
CEO
Adenah Bayoh & Cos.
Bayoh, together with the NRP Group, broke ground on a 56-unit apartment building in Irvington that will serve low- and moderate-income renters and residents with special needs. She continues to work for the underserved in communities and follows her passion of providing best-in-class affordable housing to individuals and families at every and all income levels.
Joel Bergstein
President
Lincoln Equities Group
With the development of the Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal and the recent announcement that BeiGene will be coming to LEG’s Princeton West Innovation Campus in Hopewell, plus numerous other projects, Bergstein is killing it in the industrial sector.
Wasseem Boraie; Sam Boraie
Principals
Boraie Development
Family-owned firm is developing in Jersey City, Bayonne, New Brunswick, Atlantic City — and especially Newark, where it is building the biggest multifamily project in city history across from Penn Station.
Ricardo Cardoso
Chief investment officer
Mack-Cali Realty Corp.
Mack-Cali keeps inching closer to an exit from office space and morphing into an apartment only REIT, and Cardoso is running that initiative.
Jonathan Cortell
Managing director, Northeast markets
L+M Development Partners
“Government and the private sector can work together to address critical needs across the city,” said Cortell, who continues to be one of the power players in Newark (and surrounding areas), most recently with his work with University Hospital to deliver high-quality health care services and affordable housing in the West Ward.
Greg Dell’Aquila
CEO
JDA Group
The Hoboken-based developer reimagined the city’s business center and turned it into a state-of the art coworking space known as Mission 50. Dell’Aquila created a modern flex space that is transforming Southeast Hoboken. The developer is now eyeing the start of construction known as the Boundary project, a more than 500,000-square-foot, mixed-use development along the Jersey City border that includes residential, retail, office space and a rooftop park that is aimed at revitalizing a former industrial neighborhood involving both municipalities.
Steven Denholtz
CEO and president
Denholtz
Since moving his headquarters to Red Bank in 2019, Denholtz has made a positive and lasting impact on the borough through visionary real estate projects such as Southbank at the Navesink, the Rail and his soon-to-be $60 million project at Fort Monmouth, where the firm will turn a 26-acre parcel into 270,000 square feet of high-end commercial, technology, and food and beverage space.
Gene Diaz
Principal
Prism Capital Partners
West Orange, Woodbridge, Dunellen … those are some of the numerous multifamily projects Prism has in the works, but the crown jewel is the ON3 project in Nutley-Clifton, which has developed into office and life sciences space like no other. Most recently, Prism preleased a build-to-suit 80,000-square-foot facility to Hackensack Meridian Health, which currently occupies academic and research & development space at the 116-acre property that numerous Fortune 500 companies call home — including Eisai, Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation, the Hackensack-Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University and Seton Hall’s Graduate College of Nursing and School of Health and Medical Sciences, along with Modern Meadow and Ralph Lauren Corp., Quest Diagnostics and Prism itself.
Jeremy Farrell
Head of government affairs and corporate citizenship
LeFrak
He is not the principal developer for LeFrak, but the highly respected Farrell serves as the point person for a family firm that has played — and continues to play — an enormous role in the development of Jersey City.
Don Ghermezian
CEO
Triple Five
There may be talk of missed rent payments, but there’s more talk of the number of jobs and businesses that have been part of the Meadowlands American Dream project, and many more to come. With its 3 million square feet of retail space, a Nickelodeon Universe theme park, indoor ski slope and DreamWorks Water Park, the project looks like it might stand a fighting chance of surviving and becoming profitable, thanks to Ghermezian and his vision for the ultimate tourist destination.
Dave Gibbons
CEO
Elberon
The third-generation family firm has an edge in next-generation storage, as it is one of the few developers with experience and expertise in the much-needed and much-desired cold storage sector. Most recently, the Elizabeth-based firm, together with Fidelco Realty, secured a $34 million construction loan for a new 140,000-square-foot cold storage building on the border of Elizabeth and Newark, which they are building for Carteret-based FreezPak Logistics.
Frank Greek; David Greek
President; Director of acquisitions
Greek Development
Frank Greek’s company is partners (with Advance) on two of the biggest industrial parks in the New York/New Jersey region, maintaining the area’s position as a leader in the nation’s industrial market. Greek works to ensure that first-class facilities remain to meet the evolving needs of e-commerce, last-mile delivery and other 21st-century industries that are reshaping and driving the economy. David assists in managing the design, construction and leasing of industrial real estate in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He also analyzes new acquisition targets and new business opportunities.
Jimmy Hanson
CEO and president
The Hampshire Cos.
Under Hanson’s leadership, the firm knows how to execute ambitious and transformative real estate projects in the right places to deliver superior results on behalf of its investors, project partners and communities.
Jesse Harty
Senior vice president and market leader, N.J./N.Y.
Prologis
What can you say? Prologis is the biggest owner in the state of industrial space — an asset class that has only grown during the pandemic and figures to be the most important for years to come. NAIOP New Jersey named him treasurer/secretary this past January.
Airaj Hasan; Ibrahim Hasan
CEO; Director of operations
B360
The power players behind Lotus 315, a development in East Orange that has 180 luxury apartments and 33,000 square feet of ground-floor retail in a sleek, ship-like design. The duo recognizes that high-density, luxury residential development in East Orange has flourished over the last decade, with city dwellers opting for the transit-oriented, amenity-focused and upscale housing.
George Jacobs
President
Jacobs Enterprises
The founder of his own Jacobs Enterprises, he is a managing member of a $100 million-plus acquisition and development fund seeking out real estate investment and development opportunities. He is also on the Executive Committee of the Rutgers Center for Real Estate.
Sonny Jumani
CEO and president
Tulfra Real Estate
The recent expansion of his leadership role within the Rochelle Park-based development firm is testament that he knows redevelopment is an art, not a science, and that it takes years of experience to know with certainty which sites have the most potential to bring value and purpose back to their communities. Jumani has led Tulfra through a significant company repositioning and transformation, from an industrial real estate developer to the premier specialist in the revitalization of underperforming and underutilized commercial properties.
