Jeff Milanaik, Bridge Industrial’s Northeast region partner, received the Charles Klatskin Lifetime Achievement Award at NAIOP New Jersey’s Commercial Real Estate Awards Gala on May 15. — Photos by Gellman Images/Courtesy: NAIOP New Jersey
By Joshua Burd
Jeff Milanaik began with a simple statement that likely struck a chord with many of those on hand for NAIOP New Jersey’s 38th annual Commercial Real Estate Awards Gala.
“A career goes by in a blink,” he said, recounting a nearly 40-year journey that includes more than 25 years with Heller Industrial Parks, founding his own development firm and the fateful launch of Bridge Industrial’s Northeast team more than a decade ago.
That’s not to mention decades of service to NAIOP at the state and national level, including stints as New Jersey chapter president and as corporate chair of the commercial real estate association just a few years ago.
“I’m not quite sure that my career path could be replicated today, as the industry has become very institutionalized,” said Milanaik, Bridge Industrial’s Northeast region partner. “There is one thing about our business that will never change, though. We are in the people business. We must remind ourselves daily that, if it were not for personal relationships we create in our businesses — and with those professionals with whom we work — and that our agreement and our handshake are our bond, the chances for success are slim.”
The venerated developer was characteristically humble and gracious on Thursday as he accepted NAIOP New Jersey’s Charles Klatskin Lifetime Achievement Award, one of five individual and company honors that the chapter presented at the gala. He did so before a sold-out crowd of more than 750 registered attendees, who descended on The Palace at Somerset Park in Franklin Township for the annual who’s who of New Jersey commercial real estate.
The event also featured the reveal of the chapter’s coveted Deal of the Year awards, which totaled five winners after the addition of a fourth category and the presentation of a special Transformational Deal of the Year.
Industrial
- Kingsland Meadowlands lease with TJX, Lyndhurst –Russo Development and Forsgate Industrial Partners’ acquisition and transformation of the long-dormant, 718-acre Kingsland Meadowlands parcel that had a history of failure largely due to unexperienced and underfunded developers, leading to a lease of 1.3 million square feet to TJX Cos.
- Involved in the deal: Forsgate Industrial Partners, Russo Development, JLL
Office
- Unilever headquarters restructuring, Englewood – In one of 2024’s largest New Jersey office deals, Unilever downsized from its 325,000-square-foot headquarters in Englewood Cliffs to 111,000 square feet at the Waterfront Corporate Center in Hoboken, improving the workplace experience for its employees. Simultaneously, Samsung, a longtime tenant in the market, subleased Unilever’s entire Englewood Cliffs location to improve the workplace experience and access for its employees, and to obtain market concessions that were not available from their existing landlord.
- Involved in the deal: CBRE, SJP Properties, Savills, JLL, UNLMTD Team
Mixed use
- Vintage City, Elizabeth – A mixed-use project that will serve as a new town center and create a progressive community adjacent to the train station, within an Opportunity Zone.
- Involved in the deal: MAS Development Group LLC, LeCesse Development Corp., JLL Capital Markets, Baker Barrios Architects, Neglia Engineering, March Associates Construction, Argentic, Pearlmark, Lakeland Bank, Northfield Bank, Citizens Bank, City of Elizabeth, Prestige Environmental, Javerbaum, Wurgaft, Hicks, Kahn, Wikstrom & Sinins PC
Emerging markets
- MLB Network/Crow Holdings – 25 Market St., Elmwood Park – The development of a trophy industrial asset, bringing new life to the site of the iconic Marcal Paper warehouse destroyed by fire in 2019 and setting the stage for a full-building headquarters lease with MLB Network.
- Involved in the deal: Crow Holdings Development, Atlas Holdings, JLL, CBRE, MLB Network
Transformational deal
- Hoboken Connect — A transformational redevelopment project at Hoboken Terminal with a mix of private development (386-rental units currently under construction and an office development site), improvements to the city’s right of way and historic preservation and redevelopment of NJ Transit Ferry Terminal Building, Warrington Plaza and bus terminal.
- Involved in the deal: NJ Transit, City of Hoboken, LCOR, Sills Cummis & Gross PC, Pizzutillo Public Affairs LLC
“Our honorees represent the best of real estate and economic development,” said Matt Schlindwein, managing partner with Greek Real Estate Partners and NAIOP New Jersey board president. “We are inspired by their commitment to excellence and transforming New Jersey communities. All of them will have a lasting and positive impact on our state, our industry and our association.”
Others recognized at the program included Cole Schotz PC, which received the Industry Service Award, as well as Impact Award winners PS&S and J.G. Petrucci Co. Inc. and state Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin, who was bestowed with the Carin S. Franzini Public Partner Award named in honor of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s late CEO. Each recipient echoed the familiar but critical themes that attendees typically hear at the gala, including the strength of the chapter, the vital role it plays in the commercial real estate sector and the respect it commands among policymakers.
Coughlin spoke to many of those attributes, pointing to his and other lawmakers’ relationships with NAIOP and chapter CEO Dan Kennedy, one that’s rooted in candid discussions and a focus on “what’s important.”
“I’m proud of the work we’ve done,” said Coughlin, a Middlesex County Democrat that has served as speaker since 2018. “Thank you for this award. It’s truly meaningful because it’s reflective of working together with an industry that is traditionally not one that the Democratic candidates get a lot of credit for working with. So to be honored in this way, to be recognized in Carin’s name is something really truly special, and I appreciate it so very much.”
Milanaik, who called himself a “dreamer,” recapped a career that began in 1987 and blossomed thanks in large part to his family and a supporting cast of colleagues, service providers and partners in government. Since launching Bridge Industrial’s Northeast office in fall 2014, the firm has developed more than 22 million square feet of warehouse space in northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, Eastern Pennsylvania and Brooklyn with a combined valuation of more than $5.5 billion.
“I’m extremely proud of that success, but by no means am I taking credit for these accomplishments,” Milanaik said. “It is all through the efforts of an amazing group of people that helped get it done.”
Other honorees picked up on those themes, including MAS Development’s Sal Garcia as he accepted the Mixed-use Deal of the Year award for the sweeping Vintage City project in Elizabeth.
“We’re all dreamers,” said Garcia, MAS Development’s founder and principal. “I think that from dream to (certificate of occupancy) is a long path that we all go through and strive for every night and day.”
The Elizabeth-born developer, whose parents immigrated to the city from Cuba, cited the long list of design, construction and financial professionals and others who are helping to make the multiphase Vintage City project a reality.
“It’s important to recognize everyone around you,” Garcia said. “Development is hard, period. We all understand that. But if you try to do something outside the box, if you try to do something creative and impactful, it becomes even harder.”
Above all else, the event was a reminder of the strength of New Jersey’s commercial real estate industry and the talent that supports it, including NAIOP New Jersey’s board and its in-house staff that figures to remain as busy as ever in the months ahead.
“On nights like this, we need to acknowledge those that built this organization, including our founders, board leaders and former staff members,” said Kennedy, the chapter’s CEO. “We owe them all a debt of gratitude. But, most importantly, it’s incumbent upon us who are now stewards of this organization to not just carry the flame, but challenge ourselves to be even better in an increasingly challenging environment from a regulatory and social perspective for CRE investment.”
