Commercial real estate developers and their professionals are a tough breed of entrepreneurs who thrive on thinking outside the box. My recent observation of presentations to the judges for NAIOP’s Deal of the Year awards (to be announced at the May 16 Gala), confirmed the latent creativity and tireless work ethic in this business — a business that is, in reality, all about hospitality and human resources as developers and brokers focus on creating amenity-rich spaces to compete for tenants and the modern workforce.
We’ve heard this story before — it’s time for a different ending
Gov. Phil Murphy will give his budget message to the Legislature on Tuesday, March 5. As the voice of the commercial real estate development industry in New Jersey, NAIOP’s attention will be focused on the messaging that emanates from Trenton. Given the headlines over the last several months, we are rightly concerned about the state’s fiscal health and its ability to withstand a recession, which is all but certain by 2020.
Incentives are investments that build over time
Gov. Phil Murphy’s economic vision calls for a State of Innovation that builds a stronger and fairer economy in New Jersey and sets goals related to faster job growth, faster median wage growth, increased venture capital investment, closing the racial and gender wage employment gaps and encouraging thriving urban centers. These are laudable goals and I believe we will get there, if we are careful in how we invest our scarce financial resources, which include incentives for the workforce so desperately needed and the targeted industries that generate the jobs required to help achieve these goals.