No. 10: Michael McGuinness

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McGuinness heads NAIOP’s New Jersey chapter, the trade group for the state’s commercial real estate industry. With the COVID-19 pandemic curtailing travel and forcing hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans to work at home, and with many restaurants and brick and mortar retailers facing economic uncertainty the state’s commercial real estate market has been upended both in the short and long-term.

Amid the turmoil, NAIOP has been hosting webinars on how the commercial real estate industry can navigate the pandemic and plan for a post-COVID world where businesses opt to keep the telecommuting arrangements in place. Those programs cover everything from new amenities to offer and how to handle building maintenance, all while accounting for sanitization and 6-foot physical distancing.

Nationwide, the group conducts surveys of their members on how they have fared during the pandemic. Those polls delved into the exact source of the economic pain they’ve felt during the pandemic from rent relief orders, financial woes among tenants and delays arising from red tape.

The input from members will be key to gauging how businesses can safely open and stay afloat during the pandemic and a potentially sluggish economic recovery.