Page 26 - RE-NJ

24 MAY 2024
The Urban Land Institute of Northern New Jersey on April 4 hosted its annual Excellence Awards, its largest event of the year, where it honored projects, professionals and companies in nearly 20 categories, at the Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park.
Even for the likes of Prism Capital Partners, a developer that’s well versed in
repurposing historic buildings, so- called adaptive reuse projects are not for the faint of heart.
The firm’s Gene Diaz said as much recently to a crowd of nearly 200, as Prism accepted an award for its acclaimed Wonder Lofts project
at Hoboken’s 114-year-old Wonder Bread factory.
“It is a labor of love, and I don’t suggest any of you try it,” he said, drawing laughs from those on hand for the Urban Land Institute’s Northern New Jersey Excellence Awards.
He then struck a more serious tone.
“That being said, the United States has a housing crisis. New Jersey has a deeper housing crisis based on its demographics, its income
and in particular its nature of home rule politics,” said Diaz, a principal partner with Nutley-based Prism. “We all as an industry have to do a much better job of talking to our municipalities about the importance of densifying our neighborhoods, adapting these projects to provide the housing that’s necessary.”
The comment likely struck a chord with those in the room — and for
a group that sits at the nexus of commercial real estate and public policy. Not surprisingly, those synergies were a recurring theme on April 4 as ULI’s Northern New Jersey
chapter hosted its largest event of the year, at the Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park, where it honored projects, professionals and companies in nearly 20 categories.
“This year’s award-winning projects exemplify the best of which ULI
communities in New Jersey,” said Thomas J. Trautner Jr., chair of
the redevelopment, land use and zoning group at Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC and ULI NNJ co- chair.
The list of honorees included everything from a new cargo facility at Newark Liberty International Airport to the sweeping mixed-
use redevelopment of the former Mercedes-Benz campus in Montvale. Many of the award recipients cited the importance of working closely with government agencies and officials, especially at challenged sites or in cases where the numbers don’t work without public financing.
That was a message from developer
COMING TOGETHER
ULI awards showcases the best in land use, redevelopment while highlighting ongoing challenges in New Jersey
By Joshua Burd
Thomas J. Trautner Jr.
seeks to promote
— diverse stakeholders representing both public and private interests building bridges and finding common
ground to improve the design- build environment and creating more equitable and livable
All photos by Joy Malone Photography/Courtesy: ULI NNJ