By Joshua Burd
A real estate investment firm has created a new division focused on helping other landlords tap into the cost-saving benefits of rooftop solar panels.
The Mount Laurel-based company, Nessel Development, announced recently the launch of Nessel Energy as a service to office and industrial owners across the region. The firm is seeking to leverage its own experience in both real estate and renewable energy to provide the solution to other landlords, citing the potential to create new revenue by leasing unused rooftop space while also lowering operating expenses with on-site solar energy production.
“Personally, the launch of Nessel Energy is one in which I take great pride and has been a longstanding goal for us,” said Ari Nessel, principal of Nessel Development. “Our company’s growing presence within New Jersey, a state with a well-known commitment to supporting green investments through energy incentives, makes for the perfect fit.”
In a news release, Nessel touted its own 20-year experience across multiple states. The firm’s portfolio is valued at $250 million — with multiple properties in Burlington County — and includes eight megawatts of solar capacity.
The investor noted that, with the growth of New Jersey’s new Community Solar program, real estate owners are currently inundated with offers to lease rooftop space for solar that sends all electricity to the grid. That process shifts the energy benefits to community subscribers and away from business owners and tenants, Nessel said, creating limitations for landlords who also grapple with capacity constraints under the program.
The firm said it was providing an alternative through Nessel Energy that allowed energy from solar projects to be consumed on-site, providing benefits to property owners and their tenants. Benefits include guaranteed lease payments and energy rates below the local utility rates, helping to impact a building’s net operating income with a timeline that is shorter than Community Solar development.
Thomas Loredo, a veteran of the commercial construction and renewable energy industries for more than 40 years, is spearheading Nessel Energy.
“We understand the market both as a real estate and energy company so we can provide solutions that create value for all parties as solar energy is about more than cost efficiencies,” Loredo said, noting that the firm also looks to help owners transform stranded and unused assets into revenue-producing real estate.
“Simultaneously, we are helping people, the planet and creating a better future.”
