By Joshua Burd
A longtime real estate executive for Toys R Us and other retailers has joined R.J. Brunelli & Co. LLC to fill a newly created tenant representation position.
The Old Bridge-based firm announced that it has hired Robert Kwiatkowski as its vice president of tenant representation. He joins R.J. Brunelli with nearly 40 years of experience in commercial real estate and after a decade with the once-iconic toy chain, where he served as director of real estate for new store development and asset management.
In that role, Kwiatkowski’s responsibilities included evaluating existing assets within the U.S. and developing a strategic plan to implement the company’s initiatives to integrate the Toys R Us and Babies R Us brands into one store, according to a news release. He was also responsible for evaluating and securing new store sites within the U.S., managing the Wayne-based chain’s lease renewal and restructuring program and administering site selection and other real estate matters for new and existing distribution centers and a new e-commerce fulfillment center.
In his new role with R.J. Brunelli, Kwiatkowski will serve as account manager for Jersey Strong, formerly Work Out World, which the firm has represented for more than 25 years.
“We got to know Rob well during the years we handled tenant representation for Toys R and Babies R Us and found him to be the consummate real estate professional,” said Danielle Brunelli, principal and president of R.J. Brunelli. “Rob’s strong industry contacts, excellent negotiating skills and long track record of store and warehouse development and real estate management provide the credentials for this leadership role on our tenant representation team.”
Kwiatkowski has also served in real estate positions for National Wholesale Liquidators in Hempstead, New York, and for Pathmark Stores, the news release said. Earlier in his career, he served as director of real estate management for Pasbjerg Development Co. in Springfield, for which he managed and administered a portfolio of five shopping centers totaling about 800,000 square feet.
The Belmar resident graduated from The College of New Jersey with a bachelor’s in business management, did post-graduate work at New York University and earned certifications in property tax administration and real property appraisal from Rutgers University.
