As Senior Vice President for New Jersey, Mr. Ladell oversees AvalonBay’s development activities throughout New Jersey. Mr. Ladell is based in the company’s Woodbridge, New Jersey office and focuses on developing premier residential and mixed-use communities in high barrier to entry markets. Currently, AvalonBay is constructing communities in Old Bridge, Boonton, Teaneck and Piscataway. Over the last few years, AvalonBay has built communities located in Maplewood, Edgewater, Princeton, Bloomfield, Union, Roseland, Somerset, Wharton, Bloomingdale, Wood-Ridge, Hackensack, North Bergen, West Long Branch, Tinton Falls, Lyndhurst and Lawrenceville and has purchased communities located in Aberdeen, East Rutherford, Hoboken, Plainsboro and Watchung.

Mr. Ladell was named to NJBIZ’s Power list of the 75 Most Influential People in New Jersey Real Estate each year since its inception ranking #1 in 2016. He was also named to the NJBIZ’s Power 100 list of the 100 Most Powerful People in New Jersey Business for the last 4 years. Mr. Ladell was ranked in the top 10 of ROI’s Real Estate Influencers list each year since its inception. Mr. Ladell serves on the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

Mr. Ladell serves on the Rutgers Center for Real Estate Studies Executive Committee where, working with other members, he is planning the Center’s activities and developing an undergraduate and graduate level curriculum for the next generation of real estate leaders. Mr. Ladell is also an Adjunct Professor at the Rutgers Business School teaching both Real Estate Law and Real Estate Development. Mr. Ladell received his JD from Rutgers University School of Law-Newark and his BA from Rutgers College, Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Recently, Mr. Ladell received the Leadership Excellence Award from Monmouth University Kislak Real Estate Institute. The Leadership Excellence Award is conferred annually upon an outstanding individual for distinctive contributions to the State and Nation through a career in real estate.

Mr. Ladell was honored as the Humanitarian of the Year by The Center for Great Expectations and also serves on their Board of Directors. The Center for Great Expectations assists adult and young women and their children through homelessness, pregnancy and addiction recovery. Mr. Ladell’s volunteer activities were recently recognized by the Farleigh Dickinson University Center of Excellence at their inaugural CEO Volunteer Recognition event. Mr. Ladell is a member of the New Jersey Apartment Association’s Board of Directors, a founding member of New Jersey Mixed-Use Developers (an affiliate of the New Jersey Builder’s Association) and previously served as a Board member of PlanSmart NJ and for a special improvement district.

Volunteering as a consultant for the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, Mr. Ladell advises certain New Jersey municipalities regarding redevelopment issues. Mr. Ladell is also an instructor for the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, a guest lecturer at The Wharton School (MBA), University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University Baker Program in Real Estate, Lehigh University College of Business and Economics, Rutgers University School of Law-Newark, Rider University and at Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Over the past few years, Mr. Ladell has mentored over sixty Lehigh University students in preparation for, and served as a judge in, the Collins Family Real Estate Scholarship Competition. Mr. Ladell is approved by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance to be a New Jersey Real Estate Continuing Education Instructor and similarly approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey Board on Continuing Education to teach continuing legal education courses.

Mr. Ladell appears regularly as a panelist for real estate development and redevelopment, finance and legal topics at programs sponsored by the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, New Jersey State Bar Association, New Jersey Builder’s Association, Urban Land Institute, New Jersey Bankers Association, American Planning Association, Institute for Continuing Legal Education, International Council of Shopping Centers, New Jersey Apartment Association, New Jersey Future, and the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (Governor’s Conference on Housing and Community Development).

Mr. Ladell also speaks at conferences sponsored by trade and business publications including Multifamily Executive, RealShare, Real Estate Forum, New Jersey & Company, Bisnow and NJBIZ along with programs sponsored by a multitude of national brokerage organizations. He has served on Real Estate Forum’s Editorial Advisory Board and has been quoted extensively in national publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and various state, regional and local publications.

Prior to joining AvalonBay, Mr. Ladell was the Vice President for Business Development for a mixed-use developer and operator of multifamily, retail and office properties located in New Jersey and Connecticut. He also served as the Vice President, General Counsel and Director of Development for a restaurant and hotel franchisee developing, constructing and operating Marriott hotels and TGI Friday’s and Wendy’s restaurants in the Northeast. Mr. Ladell began his professional career as a real estate and corporate attorney at Hannoch Weisman. He also was appointed and served as the Planning Board attorney for the Township of Livingston and as a member of Livingston’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. He is a licensed real estate salesperson.

David Brogan is the Executive Director of the New Jersey Apartment Association (NJAA). In that capacity David oversees all of the operations of the NJAA, ensuring the financial stability and growth of the organization, providing value to members, and overseeing and implementing all Government Affairs and Political Action Committee (PAC) strategies. The NJAA represents all facets of the multifamily housing industry in New Jersey.

Prior to coming to NJAA, David was the First Vice President of Economic Development and Taxation for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA), which is the largest employer representative association in the nation. Mr. Brogan was responsible for representing the business community on legislation and regulations that impact corporate and individual taxation, economic development and the state’s programs that stimulate job creation, development, redevelopment, and site remediation.

David was also the Executive Director of New Jersey Organization for a Better State (NEW JOBS), the Business PAC of New Jersey, which is the state’s largest ideological business PAC. In that capacity, David was responsible for fundraising, facilitating events, political strategy, and managing the operations of the PAC.

Prior his work at NJBIA, David was a Senior Legislative Representative for Capital Public Affairs, a New Jersey based lobbying firm. In that capacity, David managed a dozen clients, establishing strategies to meet the goals and objectives of the firm’s clients. David utilized his expertise and relationships in the legislature and the Governor’s office to accomplish these goals.

From 2007-2013 David worked on Senate staff where he staffed half a dozen key committees. David worked on major pieces of legislation such as: the Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act, which established a framework for the cleanup and repurposing of thousands of contaminated sites in New Jersey; the Garden State Preservation Trust Act, the goal of which was to preserve one million acres of open space, farmland and historic sites; and the Transportation Trust Fund Re-Authorization of 2000, which provided $4.8 billion dollars of State and federal funding for transportation projects over a four year period.

In 2017, Mr. Brogan was honored as the National Apartment Association’s “Association Executive of the Year.” Also, that same year, the NJAA also won the NAA’s award for government affairs advocacy, which Mr. Brogan spearheaded. Mr. Brogan has been listed on numerous real estate “power lists” over the past three years. In 2014, Mr. Brogan was honored as Middlesex County College’s 2014 Alumnus of the Year. Mr. Brogan also served in the U.S. Navy from 1985-1989 as an Antisubmarine Warfare Operator and U.S. Naval Rescue Swimmer. He graduated from Rutgers College with a B.A. in Political Science.

David lives in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, with his son Matthew.

Joel Bergstein is the President of Lincoln Equities Group (LEG), one of the Northeast's leading full-service real estate companies.

Bergstein joined the company more than 32 years ago, spearheading the organization’s acquisition and development initiatives. He currently leads the firm’s large scale development platform, orchestrating major residential and industrial land development projects in the New York / New Jersey metro area.

Bergstein developed LEG’s current operating partner platform, leveraging domestic and international opportunities with private equity and pension funds. Bergstein is a founding partner and active participant in LEG’s $700M European property investment platform.

Some of his standout development projects include Halletts Point in Astoria, NY, where LEG transformed a seven acre waterfront site into 2,400 residential apartment units; 5 Giralda in Madison, NJ, a 431,000 square-foot property, that was modernized to become Allergan’s U.S. headquarters; and in early 2018, LEG closed on a 152 acre waterfront site in Bayonne, NJ, where 1.4M square-feet of e-commerce logistics warehousing will be developed to bolster trade with the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Lincoln has formed a partnership with Bruce Eichner’s Continuum Company to develop a mixed-income residential complex in Crown Heights, NY. It will be a 50/50 market and workforce development project to bring hundreds of needed housing units for middle and working class families in New York City. Bergstein is also leading the development and approval process for 1,500 new residential units in Jersey City including the construction of a light rail station.

Bergstein serves on numerous real estate advisory boards and is a speaker and frequent commentator in real estate trade and business media in addition to his philanthropic work.

James J. Mazzarelli, Jr. is senior vice president and regional director, responsible for Liberty's Eastern portfolio (48+ MSF) and has overseen the development of more than 12 MSF of industrial, flex and office buildings during his 28 years with Liberty. Mr. Mazzarelli joined Liberty's predecessor, Rouse & Associates, in 1987 as a leasing representative. Prior to joining Rouse & Associates, he served as a civil engineer and project manager for Taylor, Wiseman and Taylor Consulting Engineers and as an environmental engineer for General Development Corporation in Miami, FL. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering Technology from the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, a professional engineering license from the Commonwealth of PA, and real estate licenses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Mr. Mazzarelli has been lecturing on development at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania for 24 years.

Jose is a senior managing director and co-office head in the New Jersey office of JLL Capital

Markets, Americas. He joins JLL as part of the HFF acquisition and is a member of the firm’s

leadership committee. Jose specializes in investment advisory throughout New Jersey,

New York and Connecticut and also oversees the day-to-day operations of the firm’s New

Jersey office. During the course of his more than 25-year commercial real estate career,

he’s been involved in more than $62 billion of office, industrial, retail, multifamily and land

sales.

Jose started at HFF in March 2010. Before that, he was the executive director of Cushman &

Wakefield’s New York area investment sales group where he spent more than 17 years. He

began his real estate career as a real estate analyst at PaineWebber, UBS, Inc.

Troy has 15 years of experience in audit and consulting, with a particular

emphasis in real estate and financial services reporting, in accordance with US

GAAP, IFRS, NCREIF PREA Reporting Standards and income tax basis. He is

also an expert in accounting for asset acquisitions and complex leases and

specializes in various tax-advantageous, in particular Opportunity Zones and

government subsidized deal structures.

Troy’s financial services background involves audits of private equity funds,

which hold equity or debt interests in a variety of industries including technology,

consumer products, personal services, real estate and renewable resources. His

expertise includes complex valuations, mezzanine and first lender analysis, as

well as, the evaluation of options.

In 2018, Troy was selected as a senior analyst in RSM’s cutting edge Industry

Eminence Program, which positions its senior analysts to understand, forecast

and communicate economic, business and technology trends shaping the

industries RSM serves. These senior analysts advise clients on conditions

impacting middle market leaders. Troy’s focus is on the real estate industry.

Mr. Wolfe is the Co-Managing Partner in the Property Tax Department at Skoloff &

Wolfe, PC, where he focuses his practice on representing taxpayers in significant real estate tax appeals and property tax related matters. He has extensive experience in all types of property tax appeals, including hotel, multi-family, retail, office, and industrial properties. Mr. Wolfe frequently counsels clients on the property tax implications of the development, acquisition, and disposition of significant assets. He also counsels clients with respect to property tax exemptions and PILOT agreements.

Mr. Wolfe serves on the Board of the National Association of Property Tax Attorneys (NAPTA) and as the Co-Chair of the Real Property Tax Practice Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Mr. Wolfe has been featured or quoted in a wide variety of local and national publications, including Forbes.com, GlobeSt.com, Marketwatch.com, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Law.com, Law360.com, The New York Law Journal, and Commerce Magazine.

Mr. Wolfe has a track record of obtaining significant assessment reductions on behalf

of his clients.

Examples of those assessment reductions include:

• Reduced hotel assessment from $188 million to $131million;

• Reduced multi-family assessment from $116 million to $67 million;

• Reduced office assessment from $115.5 million to $90million;

• Reduced supermarket anchored center from $66.9 million to $46 million;

• Reduced nursing home assessment from $36 million to $10.1million;

• Reduced big box retail assessment from $21.3 million to $13.4 million;

• Reduced office assessment from $27.8 million to $6.5million.

Mr. Wolfe began his career as an associate at the law firm of Davis Polk and

Wardwell in New York. While at Davis Polk, he focused his practice on regulatory

investigations, securities litigation and banking disputes.

Mr. Wolfe is a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates and is

the Co-Chair of the ABA’s Diversity & Inclusion 360 Presidential Commission. As a

young lawyer, Mr. Wolfe served as the Chair of the ABA Young Lawyers Division, the

ABA’s largest entity with more than 130,000 members.

Mr. Wolfe received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, and graduated

from Cornell University with distinction in all subjects.

Architect, long-time Jersey City resident, Springsteen fan, Trevor is an Associate and Senior

Project Manager with Michael Graves Architecture & Design. With broad-ranging experience in

residential, education, institutional, and hospitality typologies both domestic and abroad, Trevor

prefers to focus on local markets and projects, in order to bring the full embodied experience

and expertise of Graves’ firm a little closer to home. His two most recently completed projects

were multi-phased undertakings in Newark and Ramsey, NJ.

David B. Grodnick is a Vice President and the North Atlantic Regional

Director for First American Title Insurance Company’s National

Commercial Services Division. He has been practicing real estate law

and has been engaged in the title insurance industry for over twenty-

five years.

Having presented and moderated numerous continuing legal education

seminars for the National Business Institute and the Mercer County Bar

Association, David has also been a guest speaker at the Kislak Real

Estate Institute of Monmouth University.

He is a member of the New Jersey Bar Association, the American Bar

Association, and is a Trustee of the Real Estate Board of Trustees of the

Mercer County Bar Association. He also serves on the Advisory Board

of Investors Bank.

David received his bachelor’s degree from Western Maryland College in

Westminster, Maryland and his Juris Doctor from Quinnipiac University

School of Law in Hamden, Connecticut. He is admitted to practice law

in the State of New Jersey and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Ralph Zucker is CEO & Founder of Somerset Development, one of the New York Metropolitan region’s foremost pioneers of New Urbanism and Traditional Neighborhood Design development. Throughout his career, Zucker has worked hands-on in every facet of the building and development process, and has demonstrated a commitment to working with municipalities to create innovative communities based on the principles of New Urbanism.

Zucker is perhaps best known for Bell Works, the two-million-square-foot redevelopment of the former Bell Labs property in Holmdel, N.J., where he and the Somerset Development team successfully transformed the iconic Saarinen-designed research facility into a “metroburb,” a term that Somerset coined to describe the suburban building’s revival into a blossoming, downtown-style ecosystem of technology, traditional office, retail, dining and hospitality.

Today, Zucker and his team are in the midst of redeveloping The Ameritech Center in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, originally built as the former AT&T research facility, into Bell Works Chicagoland. The 1.65-million square foot building, which has already welcomed retail and office tenants, is quickly transforming into another successful metroburb.

Under Zucker’s leadership, Somerset and its projects have earned numerous industry awards and recognition for their contributions to furthering responsible development practices, including the New Jersey Future Smart Growth Award for Wesmont Station, Somerset's 70-acre transit-oriented mixed-use redevelopment located in Wood-Ridge, N.J., where Somerset partnered with NJ TRANSIT to build a brand new train station that provides access to Manhattan.

Matt serves as the Managing Director in Transwestern’s New Jersey office, providing

both tenant representation and landlord disposition services.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Matt has enjoyed a successful career, representing both major corporations and real

estate owners in office space acquisition and disposition. His corporate representation

includes formulating and executing optimal facility strategies, with the goal of providing

client maximum operational, financial and contractual benefits. Owner representation

includes development and execution of marketing programs for major commercial

properties to develop and maintain maximum asset value.

Matt’s 30 year tenure in the Northern New Jersey market allows clients to benefit from

his extensive knowledge of the market and the transaction process. He has achieved

success for his clients over the long term in a myriad of market conditions. His

commitment to quality service is evidenced by numerous repeat assignments from

satisfied clients.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS/RECOGNITION

Matt is a licensed New Jersey Real Estate Broker. He is also a member of NAIOP and

Corenet.

EDUCATION

Matt received a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics majoring in Finance

from Lehigh University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration also

majoring in Finance from New York University.

Mitchell Berkey is chair of the firm’s Real Estate, Development and Land

Use Group. He concentrates on all aspects of real estate ventures and

transactions, including acquisitions, sales, financing, development, leasing,

management, loan workouts, ownership restructuring and resolution of

intra-ownership disputes. His extensive background spans all asset types,

including office, retail, industrial, hospitality and mixed-use properties

in markets across the United States.

With three decades of experience on all sides of the transaction table, Mitch

brings a business-oriented approach to his legal practice. As an attorney,

he has advised institutional and entrepreneurial real estate owners,

managers, lenders, corporate real estate users and foreign governments.

As an asset manager, he was responsible for the management of a national

portfolio of office, retail, industrial and residential properties.