“The smartest guys in the room,” Russo, CEO at Carlstadt-based Russo Development – along with COO Michael Pembroke – are helping to shape where industrial is going in New Jersey—perhaps little surprise given the family-owned company’s long history in the space. With some struggling to adjust as the sector does just that in the wake of historic growth and peaks in recent years, Russo Development has more than a half-century of experience with over 60 completed industrial projects under its belt.

The latest, developed with River Development Equities, will deliver a Class A facility with more than 200,000 square feet in Kearny. Amid a more discerning public atmosphere when it comes to where warehouses and the like spring up in the state, Russo Development has found success in court, winning two reversals for project denials in Harrison Township.

Russo Development also specializes in data centers, residential and mixed-use projects, with 7 million square feet of developed commercial space and 3,600 units of luxury apartments. In recent months, Russo Development completed its six-year transformation of a 42-acre former industrial site adjacent to Kean University into Vermella Union, with 900 apartments, a park and 35,000 square feet of retail space—a project that has been recognized by the Urban Land Institute, BOMA and the New Jersey Apartment Association.

That event was preceded by the introduction of another Vermella installment, Essex & Crane in Orange, which hit the 60%-leased threshold for its 209 units just about two months after its debut.

Russo is also an active member of the business community and of organizations including NAIOP, Urban Land Institute, the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. Earlier this year, Russo and his family’s commitment to the Meadowlands Area YMCA was commemorated with a naming gift, also from the Russo Family Foundation, for the Russo Family Food Pantry.