Page 22 - RE-NJ

20 MAY 2025
Jeff Milanaik, Bridge Indu ust stri rial al’s N Nor ortheast r re e eg g
e e e io ion
partner, received the Charle es s Kl Klat tsk skin L Lif i et tim ime
Achievement Awar a d at NAIOP P N New ew J Jer ersey’ y’s s
Commercial Real Estate Awards Gala l o on n Ma May y 15 15.
Photo by Gellman Images/Courtesy: NAIOP New Jersey
‘WE ARE IN
THE PEOPLE BUSINESS’
Milanaik refl ects on distinguished career as
NAIOP gala honors top CRE projects and players
By Joshua Burd
J eff 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 fi rm 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 as he accepted NAIOP New
Jersey’s Charles Klatskin Lifetime
Achievement Award, one of fi ve
individual and company honors that
the chapter presented at the May
15 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 fi ve 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 offi ce 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