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14 APRIL 2025
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Courtesy: Morris Arts
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS
Real estate, design experts discuss the intersection of
art and health in commercial spaces
T he panelists at this year’s
Morris Arts Commercial Real
Estate Breakfast had plenty
of wisdom to share about using art
and design in spaces to make people
healthier and happier.
As Andrea Hsu, principal and
interior designer at Morristown’s NK
Architects, described it, art “brings
together the identity of a space,
where people feel more connected
to their space and therefore more
connected to what’s happening
in their space and those human
connections that are forming.”
The annual event explores how
art is integrated in commercial
development projects. This year’s
breakfast, held Feb. 27, was titled
By Marlaina Cockcroft
Wellness by Design: Connecting Art,
Health and Real Estate Development.
It was hosted by the Bayer Corp. at
its North American headquarters in
the Whippany section of Hanover
and presented by Morris Arts, the
nonprofi t that enjoys broad support
from commercial real estate leaders
in the region.
“Morris Arts has always believed in
the power of the arts to bring people
together,” said Conor Evans, founder
and managing partner of Community
Builders, who serves as a Morris
Arts board member and cochairs the
event. “We know that the arts don’t
just decorate a community. They
help defi ne it.”
Frank Vitolo, a Morris Arts board
member and moderator of the panel,
addressed the current state of the
commercial real estate market, with
offi ces downsizing and corporate
campuses struggling. But there’s
a fl ight to quality in Class A offi ce
space, he said, citing Sanofi ’s
260,000-square-foot headquarters
in Morristown as an example. He
also expects the return-to-offi ce
movement to spread and said Morris
County has many suburban offi ce
parks that need to be reimagined.
In those cases, if you’re not taking
advantage of spaces for wellness and
congregating, Vitolo said, “you’re
missing the boat.”
Shane Connell, executive vice
president of The Connell Co.,
detailed the art and wellness
elements of the fi rm’s wide-ranging
redevelopment known as The Park
at Berkeley Heights. The mixed-
use project, which includes adding
apartments, shops and restaurants to
the existing 185-acre offi ce park off
Interstate 78, will feature more than
10 acres of public space.
It’s also using the arts in
“transforming what the spaces
feel like,” putting works including
a Warhol on display, and “using
art as a way to extend” The Park’s
master brand of “live your life,”
Connell said. As for wellness, The
Park features natural light in shared
spaces and chefs working with local
farms. Game rooms, pool tables, red
light therapy, nap rooms and gyms