United Way of Northern New Jersey awarded its 2026 Impact Award to Sanofi at M Station. Pictured are members of the project team from ACENTECH, CBRE, Chelsea Hospitality Group, CMTA l Legacy AMA Group, Cushman & Wakefield, Gensler, Northstar Project & Real Estate Services, OJB, Sanofi, SJP Properties, Sladen Feinstein Integrated Lighting Inc., The Green Engineer Inc., Sills Cummis & Gross PC and Thornton Tomasetti Inc., as well as United Way of Northern New Jersey Senior Vice President of Resource Development George Xuereb. — Photo by Karen Fucito / Courtesy: United Way of Northern New Jersey
By Joshua Burd
There are countless stories, but George Xuereb highlighted just two examples of local families that have been helped by United Way of Northern New Jersey.
There’s the widow who was at risk of losing her home of 68 years, as she struggled under the weight of her late husband’s medical bills. Or the family that was forced to move after their young child tested positive for elevated lead levels.
United Way stepped in to help in both cases, Xuereb said, paying two quarters’ worth of property taxes for the widow and helping the second family move into a new home, covering the security deposit and the first month’s rent.
“For far too many of these families, it doesn’t take much for a tough month to become a full-blown crisis,” he told attendees last week at the nonprofit’s 27th annual Legacy Event. “And that’s what brings us here today, and that’s why your support matters so much.”
Xuereb was preaching to the proverbial choir. As United Way’s senior vice president for resource development, he knows New Jersey’s commercial real estate sector to be a loyal, longstanding supporter of the organization’s mission to help residents known as ALICE, short for asset-limited, income-constrained and employed, and others living paycheck to paycheck. That was evident once again at this year’s Legacy Event, held May 8 at the Hanover Marriott in Whippany, where more than 300 industry leaders converged for a mix of philanthropy and networking.
The popular luncheon raised $328,000 and, since 2000, has now helped United Way raise $5.1 million in support of families, individuals and nonprofits across the region.
“Every day, the people in this room shape New Jersey through investment, development, design, construction, leasing and, of course, vision,” Xuereb said. “You help determine what gets built, you help determine where opportunity grows and how communities change. Today is about recognizing what happens when that same energy is directed toward something even bigger than buildings.”
Erik Sletteland, the longtime and recently retired Structure Tone executive, received this year’s United Way Spirit of Philanthropy Award. A founding member and longtime leader of the United Way Commercial Real Estate Committee — the influential group behind the Legacy Event — he has spent decades supporting the effort to help households struggling to make ends meet.
This year’s event also honored Sanofi’s new, 260,000-square-foot flagship office at Morristown’s M Station campus by SJP Properties. The project won the organization’s 2026
Impact Award after it led the health care giant to recommit to New Jersey and bring together 2,000 employees, engaging more than 900 construction workers and reflecting a significant investment in both workforce and regional economic growth.
Aside from SJP and its partner, Scotto Properties, the winning team includes ACENTECH, CBRE, Chelsea Hospitality Group, CMTA l Legacy AMA Group, Cushman & Wakefield, Gensler, McCarter & English LLP, Northstar Project & Real Estate Services, OJB, Sanofi, Sills Cummis & Gross PC, Sladen Feinstein Integrated Lighting Inc., The Green Engineer Inc. and Thornton Tomasetti Inc.
Finalists for this year’s award also included The District at The Park in Berkeley Heights, Freshpet’s headquarters in Bedminster, the RWJBarnabas Health Red Bulls Performance Center in Morris Township and the Selective Insurance headquarters in Short Hills.
“The evolution of Morristown represents the growing strength of transit-oriented communities,” Andrew Natale, SJP’s chief operating officer, said while accepting the award last week. “M Station West serves as a catalyst for this change and a model for developers across the state to build developments that represent true destinations, where vibrant downtowns become the amenity for forward-thinking companies.
“This award recognizes not simply an exceptional physical property, but a transformational vision to bridge public and private partnership to deliver a critical mixed-use project in New Jersey, catapulting opportunities for build-to-suit office environments. Congratulations to all our partners, leaders and visionaries that made this project a reality. Developments like M Station West are reinventing what’s possible in our towns.”
This year’s celebration drew support from 26 sponsors, including gold sponsors Russo Development, Turner Construction Co. and WB Wood. They were among those on hand for a program that also had a panel discussion on New Jersey’s economic outlook and its implications for commercial real estate, featuring Lt. Gov. and Secretary of State Dale G. Caldwell, New Jersey Economic Development Authority CEO Evan Weiss, Choose New Jersey CEO and President Amy Herbold and New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority CEO and President Jill Hirsch.
Above all else, the event delivered another infusion of funds for United Way and a renewal of the support that commercial real estate leaders have consistently shown for more than a quarter-century.
“We are grateful for this industry’s longstanding commitment to United Way and to ALICE households who are the backbone of our community. Together, we are creating pathways to financial stability,” Xuereb said. “In addition, we congratulate our award winners for the positive impact they have made.”
