By Joshua Burd
Real estate investment firm Onyx Equities has promoted Stephen Sullivan to chief investment officer, the Woodbridge-based company said Monday.
Sullivan, who is responsible for sourcing and closing acquisitions and overseeing refinancing, recapitalizations and dispositions, joined Onyx in 2011. Since then, the firm says, he has spearheaded more than 20 acquisitions or recapitalizations totaling more than $1 billion worth of real estate.
He has also grown Onyx Equities’ portfolio from mostly office into other asset classes, the firm said in a news release. For example, Onyx has become an active retail purchaser and, in the last 24 months, has built a pipeline of residential development opportunities in Ridgewood and Woodbridge.
Sullivan has also been primarily responsible for the addition of many new institutional investment relationships.
“Thanks in large part to Sullivan’s leadership of the investment team, Onyx Equities has grown into a full-fledged redevelopment and development real estate platform,” John Saraceno, co-founder and managing principal of Onyx, said in a prepared statement. “Our 2016 investment projects would have been considered ‘outside’ of the core mission just two years ago.
“We are excited to see where he will drive the team in 2017.”
Examples of Onyx’s “next-level” investments include the purchase of the former Hess facility on Route 9, the news release said. Other 2016 acquisitions include the former Kmart Plaza in Hazlet, now dubbed Hazlet Town Centre amid plans for a massive retail redevelopment.
Onyx is also repositioning a former AT&T call center at 340 Mount Kemble Avenue in Morris Township, with plans to create a redesigned office building and residential and hotel components.
Prior to joining Onyx, Sullivan served as senior acquisitions officer at the former Urdang Capital Management, where he led the East Coast and Midwestern acquisition teams. During his time at Urdang, Sullivan successfully sourced and closed more than $2.8 billion in real estate totaling 40 transactions across all product types.
Prior to Urdang, he worked as an investment analyst at Liberty Property Trust, the news release said. His professional affiliations include active memberships with the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Urban Land Institute.
Sullivan holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
