A rendering of 395 Pedricktown Road, a nearly 482,000-square-foot industrial building that is among the final pieces of Dermody Properties’ LogistiCenter Logan in Logan Township. — Courtesy: Dermody/Ware Malcomb
By Joshua Burd
Veteran development executive Gene Preston is set to retire after nine years with Dermody Properties and some four decades in commercial real estate.
The logistics real estate developer, investor and manager announced Monday that Preston, its east region partner, will leave his post on Dec. 31. He’ll do so after joining the company in 2012, having been responsible for its land and building acquisitions, build-to-suit projects, development activities and asset management in the eastern United States.
Preston is also NAIOP New Jersey’s immediate past president.
“I have tremendous respect for Gene — his outstanding accomplishments are the foundation that will enable the East Region to continue its strong growth,” said Michael C. Dermody, CEO and chairman of the Reno, Nevada-based company. “On behalf of all of us at Dermody Properties, we wish him the very best in the good years ahead.”
During his career, Preston has developed and acquired some 28 million square feet of industrial and logistics space, which equates to roughly $2 billion of invested capital, according to a news release. Notably, he oversaw the acquisition of a former General Motors site in Boxwood, Delaware, which was later developed as the state’s largest and most advanced logistics facility.
Since 2012, Preston has overseen more than 2.8 million square feet of development at Dermody’s LogistiCenter at Logan project. In 2017, he negotiated the acquisition and oversaw the development of the 1 million-square-foot LogistiCenter at Midway, in Bethel Township, Pennsylvania, which at the time was the largest building in the firm’s portfolio.
Most recently, Preston and the east region team broke ground on a 1.1 million-square-foot industrial project in southern New Jersey known as LogistiCenter at Woolwich.
“Dermody Properties has benefitted enormously from its association with Gene Preston,” said Douglas A. Kiersey Jr., president of the firm. “His personal and professional qualities are a positive example for the entire team. We congratulate Gene on closing out a fulfilling, decades-long career in the industry and a job well done.”
Preston served as NAIOP’s New Jersey chapter president in 2019 and 2020, capping off his career-long membership in the organization, the news release said. He is a licensed real estate salesman and is a New Jersey and Pennsylvania chapter member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors.
“I feel very fortunate to have spent nearly a decade working with the team at Dermody Properties and being a part of the company’s mission,” Preston said. “As I look forward to spending time with my family, fishing, boating, hunting, traveling and volunteering, I know our customers in the East Region and the company as a whole is in great hands and I anticipate watching Dermody Properties continue to succeed as a leader in logistics real estate development.”
Preston began his career in the industry with Merrill Lynch Hubbard Inc. in New York City, underwriting real estate-backed securities and marketing properties, the news release said. He’s also held senior management positions at Higgins Development Partners and at Rockefeller Group.
Just prior to joining Dermody, he was a senior vice president at Prologis, where he directed all development and acquisition activities within the company’s Northeast region.
