Arc Building Partners’ Morristown office at 32 Mount Kemble Ave. — Courtesy: Arc Building Partners
By Joshua Burd
Arc Building Partners has hired a construction industry veteran to lead its New Jersey team.
The construction management firm, which is based in Buffalo, New York, said James Puleo joins its ranks as executive vice president and regional manager. He will work from the company’s Morristown office, with a primary focus on leading predevelopment and preconstruction efforts with project stakeholders and overseeing operations in New Jersey and the New York City metro area.
“As our New Jersey office grows, James will help us take our operations to an even higher level,” Arc Building Partners CEO and President Frank Ciminelli said. “His proven track record of improving efficiencies and adapting quickly to achieve success will strengthen our firm’s ability to expand regionally, as we continue to deliver complex, high-profile projects for clients in New Jersey.
“As a company that relies on trusted partnerships and delivering certainty under compressed timelines, his experience will prove to be invaluable to our growth.”
With nearly 25 years of experience in the construction and development industry, Puleo most recently worked with Los Angeles-based Cypress Equity Investments, where he ran and built its East Coast real estate development operations, according to a news release. He oversaw the firm’s projects in Boston, New Jersey, Florida and elsewhere, while implementing strategies to enter new markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Texas.
Previously, the Colgate University graduate ran the construction division of BNE Real Estate Group. Arc noted that Puleo built out BNE’s operational infrastructure, implementing new processes for preconstruction budgeting, purchasing, scheduling, document management and change-order control systems, helping the division function more efficiently and providing visibility into the status of every project.
Early in his career, Puleo worked for New York City-based Plaza Construction, rising to the role of project manager before moving to Miami to help open the firm’s South Florida office.
“Arc Building Partners has demonstrated an impressive ability to deliver complex construction projects and grow rapidly in new and existing markets,” Puleo said. “Even while facing the challenges of this last year, the firm has found a way to make great things happen for its clients. I’m excited to join the team and help accelerate its success and growth in the New Jersey market and beyond.”
The hire comes about six months after Arc Building Partners, which had previously merged with Claremont Construction Group, opened a new office in Morristown. The merger called for Arc to take over Claremont’s backlog of projects and allow the latter to focus on its development business.
