Alex Cocoziello, principal and chief investment officer at Advance Realty Investors, accepted NAIOP New Jersey’s Office Deal of the Year award for the firm’s build-to-suit, 30,000-square-foot lease for Freshpet Inc.’s new global headquarters in Bedminster.
By Joshua Burd
The speeches were as familiar as they were poignant, with tales of mentorship, clients who become friends and appreciation for spouses who put up with early mornings and late nights.
There’s also the value of doing deals “with people that you know, like and trust,” as Alex Cocoziello noted during NAIOP New Jersey’s 39th annual Commercial Real Estate Awards Gala.
“That’s really what it’s about,” said Cocoziello, a principal with Advance Realty Investors. “You’re trying to get to a transaction, and with every transaction that you do, it feels like there’s this bond that’s formed between the people — whether they’re on your side of the table or on the other side of the table. It’s almost like you all become foxhole buddies after a while.”
That was easily the case for Advance Realty’s build-to-suit, 30,000-square-foot lease for Freshpet Inc.’s new global headquarters in Bedminster, the winner of this year’s Office Deal of the Year award. It was one of five transactions that NAIOP honored Thursday, highlighting some of the industry’s top talent before a sold-out crowd at The Palace at Somerset Park.
The must-attend gala also featured six individual honorees, many of whom echoed themes of partnership and paying it forward.
“Impact is the cumulative effect of a career built on relationships, on who you learn from, who you stood beside and who you chose to bring along for the ride,” said Rob Kossar, vice chairman of JLL’s Northeast industrial region and recipient of NAIOP New Jersey’s Impact Award. He accepted the honor while recalling the industry icons that helped shape his career, as well as the younger brokers at his firm that he’s now mentoring more than three decades later.
Kossar also shared the advice from his partner, David Knee, that has served as a mantra for much of that time:
“Be friends with your clients and make your clients your friends,” Kossar said.
Those relationships were woven throughout the program, which began with presentations to several industry leaders and other key stakeholders. NAIOP New Jersey bestowed two mayors — Brad J. Cohen of East Brunswick and Larry Jacobs of Bedminster — with the coveted Caren S. Franzini Public Partner Award, recognizing their willingness to be even-handed but open-minded about development in their towns. Gensler Principal Dana Nalbantian received the Industry Service Award, while Crow Holdings Development Senior Managing Director Clark Machemer and Kossar each received one of the chapter’s 2026 Impact Awards.
Edwin Cohen, principal of Prism Capital Partners, accepted the prestigious Charles Klatskin Lifetime Achievement Award. That gave him a chance to briefly recount one of the longest and most accomplished careers in New Jersey’s commercial real estate sector, one that included some 40 years as one of the most sought-after brokers and a second act as a developer.
“My career is now well into its seventh decade — try to visualize that,” Cohen told the crowd. “I started part-time in the business in 1961. I guess I loved it.”
That love has only grown during his time as a developer, he said, recounting his 23-year run alongside partner and Prism co-founder Gene Diaz, and the allure of tackling complex, challenging projects such as converting legacy industrial properties and the redevelopment of the former Hoffmann-LaRoche campus in Nutley and Clifton.
“We just always have the ability to think out of the box and take on projects that people say we’re crazy for doing,” Cohen said. “But we’re crazy. What can I tell you? I’m still a deal junkie after all of these years. And it’s a fabulous ride, and we have no intention of slowing it down.”
The evening’s five deal of the year awards also included a special Transformative Deal of the Year, which was given to SJP Properties’ Sanofi at M Station project in Morristown. This year’s other winners, which were previously announced, included:
- Industrial: Millstone 8 Logistics Park in Millstone, a 1.2 million-square-foot industrial project in New Jersey’s Exit 8 submarket developed by Crow Holdings Development and 2020 Acquisitions, with a lease and sale completed by JLL.
- Mixed use: Bell Works Fort Monmouth in Tinton Falls, created by Inspired by Somerset Development.
- Emerging markets: 1888 Studios, a 58-acre film studio campus located on a 74-acre vacant brownfield site in Bayonne, which will be the largest film studio in the Northeast upon completion by Togus Urban Renewal LLC
NAIOP New Jersey unveils three Deal of the Year winners, plus finalists for office category
