Daniel Kennedy

Kennedy took over as CEO of NAIOP New Jersey this past summer following the retirement of Michael McGuiness. He boasts extensive experience in association management, public affairs and government relations, strategic planning and coalition building. Kennedy served as senior director/director of environmental and utility operations for the Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey since 2017. Previously, he was a senior official in New Jersey State government. Kennedy holds a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and a New Jersey Professional Planner license. “I am appreciative of the selection committee’s confidence in me and am honored to have the opportunity to carry on the important work of this impactful organization,” Kennedy said at the time his appointment was announced. “In the interim, I very much am looking forward to my shared time with Mike – who is such an accomplished and respected leader for this group and the larger New Jersey commercial real estate and business communities.”

Jack Klugmann

The company Klugmann founded and runs as president and CEO, Accurate, has developed a strategic vision for consistently exceeding clients’ expectations. In August, the firm debuted its latest Citizen-branded community with a 185-unit project in Little Falls. “Citizen Little Falls reflects our commitment to the Township to create a residential community that meets the lifestyle needs of today’s renters, attracts new residents, and has a positive impact on the economic growth and vitality of the neighborhood,” Klugmann said then. “We would like to thank Mayor Damiano, the Township Council, Passaic County officials and the many agencies involved whose professionalism and vision helped make this pro-ject a reality.” The firm continues to produce signature properties in towns such as Montclair, Linden, Woodbridge and elsewhere. Perhaps most notably, Accurate is pushing ahead with plans for a mixed-use development at the site of the former Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium in Newark. The project’s first phase, which received city approval early in 2022, will produce three buildings: a single-story structure devoted to amenity and commercial space – 15,000 square feet for the former and nearly 22,000 square feet for restaurant and retail space in the case of the latter – will connect two, 18-story residential buildings, each with 299 units.

Jeff Kolakowski

As chief executive officer of the New Jersey Builders Association – the leading trade group for the homebuilding industry – Kolakowski oversees day-to-day operations as well as government relations and advocacy efforts in a range of policy areas, including land use, redevelopment, economic development, utility infrastructure, environmental matters and building codes. He’s also been proactive and intimately involved in helping to enact a host of polices that affect the availability and affordability of housing. Chartered in 1947 and incorporated in 1948, NJBA’s membership includes residential and mixed-use builders, developers, remodelers, subcontractors, suppliers, engineers, lawyers, architects, consultants and other professionals. In addition to advocating for all types of housing opportunities – from entry level to luxury and mixed-use development – NJBA provides educational, promotional and networking opportunities for the professionals who make their living in the construction industry. Kolakowski, who joined the Holmdel-based association in 2011 as director of government affairs, has more than two decades of experience in government relations, advocacy, policy development and public affairs. He began his career as an aide and then chief of staff to a New Jersey state legislator, before going on to serve in the executive branch with several positions at the Department of Labor & Workforce Development. Before becoming NJBA’s CEO three years ago, Kolakowski served as COO from 2018 to 2020 and vice president of government affairs from 2013 to 2018. Along with his role at NJBA, Kolakowski is secretary of the Builders Political Action Committee, chair of the Foundation for Housing, a member of the Emerging Leaders Council of the Rutgers Center for Real Estate, a board member of Habitat for Humanity of South Central New Jersey and a member of the Chesterfield Township Planning Board.

Robert Kossar and David Knee

At JLL, Kossar is vice chairman and head of the Northeast industrial market, leading its business in New Jersey, New York and eastern Pennsylvania. His 30-plus years of property level expertise lies primarily in industrial real estate, including agency and tenant representation, investment sales, land sales, site selection, leasing, acquisition, disposition and build-to-suit properties and portfolios. Knee oversees growth of the industrial practice in the region, along with serving as co-chair of JLL’s industrial council Northeast region and practice leader for the company’s 3PL vertical. With over three decades in the real estate industry, Knee has extensive experience in supply chain & logistics, tenant representation and agency leasing, which has led him to complete more than 100 million square feet of sales and lease transactions valued at several billion dollars. In 2020 alone, he completed 21 million square feet of transactions, with a volume of $1.5 billion dollars. The pair – who will be recognized during NJBIZ’s 2023 Leaders in Real Estate, Construction and Design Awards – have led JLL’s Northeast Industrial team to dominance in an area encompassing 1.8 billion square feet of space and grown it to become the largest industrial region in the U.S., driving $25 billion in transaction volume over the last 36 months.

Jonathan Kushner

As president of KRE Group, Kushner oversees a full-service real estate and management company with properties in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania – a portfolio exceeding 9,000 existing apartments and an additional 7,000 in various stages of approval and construction. The company also owns and manages more than 6 million square feet of office, warehouse and retail space. Kushner has played a particularly crucial role in the company’s rise in the multifamily arena – executing large-scale projects that blend well-conceived residences, upscale amenities and ground floor retail in key urban, transit-oriented areas. And there is no shortage of exciting projects that KRE is spearheading or involved with throughout the state. Earlier this year, the company celebrated the topping out of the third and final phase of its transformative Journal Squared project in Jersey City, a 60-story building with 600 rental units that is expected to open in the first quarter of 2024. In total, Journal Squared will comprise 1,840 units and 36,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space in three buildings with a new pedestrian plaza featuring open public space. Leasing is expected to open soon for projects such as Bay 151 in Bayonne and Beacon Hill in Marlboro while KRE also broke ground this year on the 239-unit Valley View Park in East Hanover. In August, a joint venture of KRE and Goldman Sachs offloaded a garden-style multifamily community in the Princeton submarket for $115 million.

Ron Ladell

Ladell serves as AvalonBay’s senior vice president and lead executive for New Jersey – overseeing all development activities throughout the Garden State during the past two decades. Based in the company’s Westfield office, Ladell focuses on developing premier residential and mixed-use communities. Areas of development over the last few years for AvalonBay include Old Bridge, Teaneck, Piscataway and many more, with projects underway in such towns as Somerville, Montville, Princeton and West Windsor. Ladell has received a variety of awards throughout his career and appeared on many lists, such as this. He is also a go-to expert, advisor, speaker, and news source on real estate and redevelopment issues. Last December, Ladell was tapped to serve as the next chair of the Rutgers Center for Real Estate. He has served on the Center’s Executive Committee since its inception – and teaches Real Estate Law and Real Estate Development classes there. “I look forward to continuing and expanding the activities of the Rutgers Center for Real Estate throughout New Jersey and look forward to working with anyone [who] is interested in assisting our incredibly talented and diverse student body achieving their goals and objectives,” Ladell said when he was named to the post. “Rutgers University set me on a path many decades ago that has provided me with the intellectual skills and personal attributes to be successful first as an attorney and now as a real estate executive. Now that I have the opportunity to pay it forward and work with the next generation of real estate executives, I feel honored to give back to my alma mater in such a material and profound way.”

Clark Machemer

As senior managing director of the industrial group of Crow Holdings Development, Machemer is responsible for leading the firm’s industrial development in the Northeast – overseeing site selection and acquisition, team building, securing project entitlements, project design, construction and project capitalization. Over his 20-plus-year career, Machemer has been involved in the leasing and development of more than 13.5 million square feet of industrial space, 1 million square feet of office space, and 250 residential units. Machemer and his team are overseeing some major projects for Crow here, such as the redevelopment of the iconic Marcal site in Elmwood Park with construction underway on a 206,000-square-foot logistics hub. “We are thrilled to begin construction of this state-of-the-art new facility that will transform the former Marcal site into one of the region’s most advanced logistics offerings,” Machemer said earlier this year. “1 Market St. will not only create jobs and contribute to the growth of the county’s economy, but it will also provide much-needed logistics space in one of the country’s most land-constrained markets, delivering a bright new future for the town and this historic site.” In August, the company announced the completion of the Crow Holdings at Carteret campus, a 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse/distribution property that includes three buildings sitting on 126 acres less than a half-mile from Exit 12 of the Turnpike. “We are incredibly proud of this thoughtfully designed and executed campus,” said Machemer. “Its successful delivery is a credit to public/private partnership. Carteret is a pro-business municipality that recognizes development as an economic stimulant and catalyst for growth.”

Andrew Merin

Executive vice chair at Cushman & Wakefield, Merin has been with the company since 1983 – heading the Investment Sales Group at its East Rutherford office. Simply put, Merin is always around the action and is consistently among the firm’s top brokers – having been a part of more than $34 billion in property sales throughout his career. In June, he was part of a team representing the seller of two medical office buildings in Livingston and New Providence that sold for $40.5 million. Those buildings were delivered 100% leased. In April, a deal he helped arrange closed as Veris Residential completed its previously announced $420 million sale of Harborside 1, 2, and 3 in Jersey City. “The sale of 101 Hudson is a historic transaction, made even more significant due to the challenging investment sales environment, with deals of this size and caliber rare closing in any markets across the country right now,” Merin said last year when the deal was announced. “After months of hard work, we are thrilled to have arranged this momentous transaction on behalf of Veris, with this being one of the largest single-asset office sales in New Jersey history.”

Jeff Milanaik

“I learned many years ago that the real estate industry has less to do with bricks and mortar – and everything to do with people,” Milanaik said last year in an interview with NAIOP NJ, the trade group that represents the commercial real estate sector in the Garden State, for which he served as chair in 2022. “Working with best-in-class teams to solve complex real estate opportunities is one of the most challenging and exciting things I’ve ever done, and I look forward to it every day.” Since 2014, Milanaik has been with Bridge Development Partners – overseeing the firm’s New Jersey office and bringing more than 30 years of experience in the business with him. Under his watch, Bridge continues to expand its Garden State presence, pursuing the acquisition of existing industrial buildings and sites as well as the development of industrial facilities within supply-constrained core infill submarkets. Last month, Bridge partnered with Colliers to lease 1 million square feet of industrial space in Perth Amboy. That continued and built on the momentum of other high-profile deals throughout 2023, including securing $64 million in financing for a Newark spec project in June, as well as the acquisitions of a 115,000-square-foot industrial service facility in Linden (also in June) and of 230 Belmont Drive – a 152,000-square-foot new construction industrial property in Somerset. “This transaction marks Bridge’s first value-add acquisition in New Jersey and the Northeast region,” said Milanaik in April. “We have a longstanding presence in the Somerset submarket, and we’re pleased to continue to meet the demands of corporate tenants in such a coveted region.”

Gus Milano

Under his leadership as president and COO, Hartz Mountain has continued to grow into a powerhouse real estate organization with a focus on industrial and multifamily assets in major East Coast markets. The company touts its ability to build complex developments – quickly and efficiently – because of its in-house architectural, construction, design, engineering, legal, marketing, leasing, property management and financial teams. In March, a luxury, mid-rise apartment building in Jersey City’s Journal Square, which Hartz was a partner on, secured $58 million in refinancing. A month later in April, the first lease at a Hartz Mountain-owned industrial property in Secaucus was secured by Newmark for Creative Technologies. The lease includes 38,000 square feet of ware-house space, 8,000 square feet of office space, seven loading docks and a drive-in. In 2022, Milano served as president of NAIOP NJ, the trade group that represents the commercial real estate sector in the Garden State. He has touted the group’s efforts for helping to halt legislation targeting the warehouse and distribution sector. “For me it is an honor to recognize our members who exemplify leadership and service to the New Jersey Chapter,” Milano said during last year’s Annual President’s Awards and Hall of Fame Dinner. “Each honoree has helped make NAIOP NJ what it is today: respected among policymakers, effective in Trenton, and valued by the commercial real estate veterans and developing leaders seeking to succeed in this great industry.”

Nick Minoia

Since founding Diversified Properties in 2000, Minoia has steered the company to tremendous growth – creating dozens of multifamily communities across New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut, as well as managing an existing multistate portfolio and development pipeline spanning several thousand residential units across multiple properties. The company has brought over 750,000 square feet of office, self-storage, retail and industrial space to market since its founding – today managing a commercial portfolio spanning more than 350,000 square feet of space that is home to 50 commercial tenants. He recently led the construction of Summit Court, a 393-unit, luxury multifamily in Union, which had to overcome a number of pandemic-related and post-pandemic-economic-turbulence-related challenges to bring the community to completion. In August, Minoia was an NJBIZ Icon Award honoree, which recognizes Garden State business leaders over the age of 60 for their success and leadership within and outside of their field. “It’s a tremendous honor to be named as NJBIZ Icon alongside so many respected and accomplished individuals who make such a positive impact on our State of New Jersey,” said Minoia in August. “However, this award would not have been possible without my team at Diversified Properties as well as the countless professionals who I have had the pleasure of working with throughout my career. I am eternally grateful for their support and guidance and look forward to building on our success together in the years to come.”

Laurent Morali and Nicole Kushner Meyer

Morali and Kushner Meyer lead Kushner Cos. as CEO and president, respectively, overseeing a portfolio consisting of residential, commercial, retail and hospitality properties across the Garden State as well as a dozen others. Last year, the company said it completed $3.3 billion in transactions, owned 26,500 units and had 10,000 more in development. Among its massive New Jersey projects is the $1 billion mixed-use One Journal Square underway in Jersey City. Down the shore, Kushner Cos.’ Pier Village continues to succeed, attracting nearly 135,000 visits in September 2023, according to Placer.ai data, as well as new and experiential tenants. At the end of the summer, Kushner Cos. Introduced a unique entertainment space complete with state-of-the-art bowling, elevated eats and more at the property. A touch northward, Kushner secured a PILOT agreement with the township to help bring to fruition Monmouth Village, the reimagining of Eatontown’s beleaguered Monmouth Mall. The project will demolish part of the indoor shopping mall to add a 1,000-unit apartment building, along with outdoor greenspaces. As reported by Patch, Kushner Cos. envisions the development as a new “town center” for Eatontown. In a sign of good things to come, during the summer Whole Foods was announced as the first anchor tenant for the redevelopment, signing a 40,000-square-foot lease. With activity abundant, despite the other reasons you may be used to hearing “Kushner,” it’s clear the name still rings synonymous in the CRE space.

Wendy Neu

Neu leads Hugo Neu as chairman and CEO. This summer, the company’s flagship project, Kearny Point, signed two renewals adding up to more than 228,000 square feet at the property with a location that can’t be beat—less than 5 miles from Jersey City, Newark, Hoboken and the Lincoln Tunnel, and with prime proximity to Port Newark. Beyond fundamentals, though, CBRE Executive Vice President Kevin Dudley – part of the team that represented Hugo Neu in the transactions – added that the agreements speak to the relationships behind them, as well. The 130-acre, 2 mil-lion-square-foot mixed-use Kearny Point campus was redeveloped with an eye toward climate resiliency, using a so-called “greenprint” to build the innovative and sustainable hub. And that work is perpetual. In a 2022 interview, Neu said Kearny Point’s master plan is continually revisited to account for sea level rise projections and other impacts or opportunities. In addition to retaining ten-ants, the site also attracts new and innovative operations like indoor, vertical strawberry grower Oishi Farms. According to Neu’s 2022 conversation with the American Sustainable Business Net-work, Kearny Point supports more than 200 businesses and over 2,000 jobs. At the start of this year, Neu was tapped to bring her expertise to AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles’s board of trustees. When the announcement was made, AltaSea President and CEO Terry Tamminen said Neu would play a critical role “as we build out our campus and expand the blue economy.” Neu is also a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and serves on the boards of the New York/New Jersey Baykeeper, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the Basel Action Network.

William “Billy” Procida

After starting out in commercial real estate at age 19 and achieving an award-winning career, Procida founded Procida Funding and Advisors in 1995. Since then, the Englewood Cliffs-based lender and financial services firm has helped finance, fix and build more than $3 billion worth of buildings and companies, including historical revitalization projects, such as The Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House and The Art Factory in Paterson’s Great Falls district. In addition to serving as CEO, Procida also leads the firm in managing the 100 Mile Fund, a private investment vehicle focused on commercial real estate development within 100 miles of the New York metro market. Since its inception in 2011, the fund has originated $1.2 billion with $881 million in repaid loans on projects such as Paris Square, a 10-building, 111-unit, 50-plus active adult community in Northvale and The Washington Lofts, a 242-unit mixed-use apartment building in Carteret. His latest project to get over the finish line is in Cherry Hill at Garden State Park’s Plaza Grande complex, which Procida purchased in July and expects to complete early next year. Development began over a decade ago under a different builder but was put on hold during the Great Recession. Once construction is finished, the property will have more than 500 luxury residences. With over 40 years of experience in the real estate business, Procida has earned dozens of local and national accolades. He’s a regular guest on major television networks like CNBC and Fox News, as well as featured in articles in major publications including The Wall Street Journal and being an avid sponsor of multiple community-based charities.

Paul Profeta

A successful real estate investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Profeta launched his West Orange-based real estate investment company in 1976 and transformed it into a leading firm, with a portfolio that spans office, industrial, retail and multifamily properties in key markets. He also created several institutions dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship among minority groups, including the Profeta Urban Investment Foundation, the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development program at Rutgers School of Business. Additionally, he established the Paul V. Profeta Foundation Inc. in 2008, which has launched businesses – including restaurants, print shops, beauty supply stores, caterers, financial-related ventures and cleaning companies – representing 300 new jobs in Newark. In 2016, Profeta, as publisher, helped to launch Real Estate NJ. In his editor’s note introducing the publication, Editor Joshua Burd credited Profeta. “This new venture would not be possible without the support and vision of Paul Profeta,” he wrote, “a business leader in our state who sees the value of highlighting this dynamic industry.” Profeta’s name is also tied to two new research centers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, one focused on real estate and the other on entrepreneurship, made possible by a March 2022 gift from his foundation that marked the single largest in the school’s history.