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NAIOP NJ rolls out CREDA rebrand with plans to grow
Jessica Perry//July 2, 2026//
Listen to this articleThe basics:
- NAIOP NJ introduces official rebrand as CREDA NJ July 1
- Move aligns with the national Commercial Real Estate Development Association
- Organization aims to expand membership across commercial real estate sectors
- Rebrand builds on local advocacy, workforce development, strategic growth
As the wider national organization rebrands, NAIOP NJ officially re-emerged July 1 as the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, New Jersey Chapter, or CREDA NJ.
The move coincides with a larger effort across the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. In the Garden State, the newly dubbed CREDA NJ celebrated the rebrand with a kickoff event Wednesday evening at The Park in Berkeley Heights.
While the name has changed, the mission behind the organization remains the same. The new moniker reflects the diversity of the nearly 60-year-old group’s membership and the shifts in the commercial real estate sector more broadly.
What’s in a name?
Speaking Wednesday evening, CREDA NJ CEO Daniel Kennedy noted the surroundings on campus at The Connell Co.’s The Park, a 185-acre campus undergoing a $500 million overhaul to a mixed-use destination.
“This is emblematic of a project that wouldn’t be possible without vision, investment and local support,” Kennedy said. He highlighted the construction underway. “There’s cranes in the air in suburban New Jersey, which is a really great, great sign.”
Kennedy said this summer’s change marks the third rebrand for the organization. The latest comes with a respect for the foundation laid and the legacy inherited. “Simply put, we out-grew our old name,” he summed it up in a news release on the change. “The ‘Commercial Real Estate Development Association’ clearly states where our values lie and the depth of asset classes we represent.”
Speaking in Berkeley Heights, Kennedy framed the move as a way to expand CREDA NJ’s support to a wider berth of members across the commercial real estate spectrum. Kennedy noted room to grow across the deal team and in sub-sectors and regions such as engineering, construction and South Jersey.
Stronger voice, clearer picture
Virginia-based CREDA comprises 55 local chapters and 21,000 members throughout the U.S. With more than 850 members, East Brunswick-based CREDA NJ is a leading chapter of the national organization. In fact, it was the first chapter founded, in 1970, according to the group.
Locally, the milestone continues a multiyear transformation. The effort seeks to engage members and the public in pursuit of understanding and progress. Kennedy joined the group in 2023.
Two years later, then-NAIOP NJ launched a four-year strategic plan that has since delivered returns. Since coming on board, Kennedy has guided the New Jersey chapter to emphasize advocacy, workforce development and community engagement.
Speaking with NJBIZ earlier in 2026, he said along with a name to match its work, “now we have a game plan in place to really, fully take that position as an organization that represents all the interests of commercial real estate.”
“New Jersey’s commercial real estate industry represents some of the most complex, impactful development happening anywhere in the country,” CREDA NJ President Matt Schlindwein said along with news of the rebrand.
“CREDA NJ gives our chapter a name that matches that reality. This rebrand strengthens our voice with legislators and policymakers and makes clear to anyone outside the industry exactly who we are and what we stand for,” added Schlindwein, also managing partner at Greek Real Estate Partners.
Moving beyond the acronym
The limited program at The Park drew a who’s who of CRE players, with the generational span at the dais underscoring CREDA NJ’s efforts to cast a wide and inclusive net.
Featured speakers during the program included Crow Holdings Senior Managing Director and CREDA Chair-elect Clark Machemer, Federal Business Centers’ James Visceglia, and Advance Realty Investors CEO Peter Cocoziello.
According to CREDA national, the name change caps a yearslong process. The overhaul included extensive member engagement, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, surveys and strategic planning.
Small but mighty
CREDA NJ’s five-person team earned cred for successfully pulling off the big July 1 reveal.
- Daniel Kennedy, CEO
- Donna Laterza, director of membership & special events
- Ayisha Miles, director of operations, programs and education
- Patricia Giaquinto, financial coordinator and board administrator
- Nick Spada, digital marketing & communications associate
“Not only have they done a great job over the last several years running the organization, but they planned a successful and executed on an office relocation. And now they get to add to all their resumes, a complete corporate rebranding,” CREDA NJ President Matt Schlindwein said during the program. “All of this while making our annual slate of events that a lot of us take for granted go off without a hitch.”
“Commercial real estate development has never been more important to the future of our communities and economy,” said Marc Selvitelli, president and CEO of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association. “Our members are creating the housing, workplaces, logistics networks and digital infrastructure that people and businesses depend on every day.”
Closing the program ahead of the new logo reveal, Kennedy put out the call.
“The D in our acronym is development, not developers,” he said. “While the lens that we look through is … first and foremost the lens of owners and developers, obviously everybody on the deal team, [is welcome] as well.
“Every asset class of commercial real estate is welcome in our organization. And our name that we are leaving behind, folks didn’t always feel that way. So we hope this is a welcoming move, a move that sets the stage for growth in the future and a move that you call see yourselves in,” Kennedy said.
