By Joshua Burd
Marc E. Berson, one of the state’s most prominent philanthropists and commercial real estate executives, who was a key figure in working to revitalize his native Newark, has died.
The Fidelco Group, the commercial real estate firm he founded in 1981, announced his passing on Saturday at age 79 after a short illness. It follows a six-decade career that includes major real estate investments in downtown Newark — including the landmark renovation of the One Washington Park office tower — and generous support of institutions such as the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
The firm noted that Berson was proudest of his role as a co-founder of Opportunity Project Inc., the nonprofit that provides programs and support for survivors of brain injury.
Berson’s professional life began with a 20-year career as a successful lawyer. As the leader of Fidelco, the Millburn-based real estate firm, he was an active investor in residential, commercial and industrial properties requiring rehabilitation, repositioning or environmental remediation, often focusing on Newark and other overlooked inner-city neighborhoods throughout the country.
To that end, the firm’s renovation of the 400,000-square-foot One Washington Park tower resulted in a new home for Rutgers Business School and what would become the headquarters of Audible. Fidelco has also developed key properties such as 494 Broad St., an office complex and parking garage in downtown Newark, as well as Audible’s Innovation Cathedral and the state-of-the-art, 140,000-square-foot FreezPak freezer warehouse facility in Elizabeth and Newark.
More recently, Berson led the renovation of 550 Broad St., a nearly 300,000-square-foot office tower in Newark that Fidelco acquired in 2019. It has since become home to several tech startups, under a program spearheaded by Audible aimed at infusing the city’s commercial real estate market while supporting emerging businesses.
“It’s becoming a terrific community, which is pro-Newark and wants to live and work in the community,” Berson said earlier this year during a panel discussion hosted by Real Estate NJ. “And that’s one of the real opportunities that exists in Newark. We’ve come to a point where you can live and work.”
Equally notable was Berson’s role in the creation of NJPAC, for which he served as a founding board member. He was among the city and state business leaders who spent roughly a decade bringing the project to fruition, seeing it as a critical step to bringing the rest of the state into downtown Newark.
“It was kind of a euphoric moment,” Berson said in a 2015 interview, reflecting on the venue’s grand opening in October 1997. “We were almost giggling, saying, ‘I can’t believe this thing got done.’ ”
“In retrospect, this should never have happened,” he added. “If you stopped anywhere to think logically through, you could not do the project. But we all got so tied up in it — some of the most conservative business leaders in New Jersey took risks they never took in their life on behalf of a not-for-profit, which you never do, and it was a very exciting moment.”
It was a milestone for Berson, who was born in the city in 1944 and grew up in Maplewood. The son of Norman Berson and Ethel (Brief) Berson, he received his bachelor’s from Rutgers College in New Brunswick and returned to Newark to receive his law degree in 1968 from Rutgers Law School
Soon thereafter, Berson built a law firm where he practiced for 20 years, paving the way for his later success, according to his obituary. His business ventures would continue under the leadership of his family, who have worked closely with him under his guidance.
Aside from the vast real estate holdings he built after founding Fidelco, he broadened its portfolio to include noteworthy transactions such as the 1985 acquisition of Modernfold Inc., which he sold to Maiden Lane Associates in 1990. The firm in 1986 acquired of National Car Rental Systems Inc., which at the time was the largest car rental system in the world, before selling it to General Motors Corporation in 1992.
Fidelco on Saturday also cited his role as chair of NJPAC’s real estate committee, noting that identified the Seth Boyden public house complex in Newark as a potential movie studio site. In 2022, the center began work on what will be the new Lionsgate film and TV studio, in a project that will bring hundreds of jobs to the city and will help New Jersey expand its presence as a production hub nationwide.
“Marc has singularly changed the appearance and function of Newark’s downtown,” said Ray Chambers, the noted philanthropist and founding chairman of NJPAC, who was Berson’s close friend and business partner of many decades. “There is no one whom I respect more than Marc.”
Berson last year also completed a three-year term as chair of the RWJBarnabas Health board of trustees. Additionally, the longtime Millburn resident was board chair of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, where he was born, and of Barnabas Health when the organization merged with Robert Wood Johnson Health System, creating the largest in New Jersey.
He was also a strong advocate for and supporter of local educational and youth-focused causes, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newark and the Essex County Turtle Back Zoo.
Berson is survived by his wife, Randi, of 41 years; sister, Jane (Berson) Wisner; children, Lora Hersh (Jeff Hersh), Gary Berson (Ronald Valdez), Kerri Berson Levine (Jared Levine); and six grandchildren. Funeral services will be at 12:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, at Temple B’nai Abraham at 300 East Northfield Road in Livingston.
