New Jersey State of the Market

Over the past 25 years, Bernel Hall has executed over $5 billion in real estate investment, lending, and disposition transactions for multifamily, retail, office, and hotel properties in 36 states throughout the United States. A former investment banker, public housing executive, and real estate finance professor, Mr. Hall is an expert in large, multi-faceted public-private real estate transactions and small business transactions and executive leadership. As New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC) President and CEO, Mr. Hall leads the largest Community Development Financial Institution in New Jersey with four business lines--Lending, Real Estate Development, Investment Ventures and Strategic Community Consulting--with approximately $700 million in assets under management. Loans and investments leveraged over $2.5 billion in capital to more than 120,000 business owners and residents in underserved and low- income communities in New Jersey, New York, and Florida. Additionally, Mr. Hall leads Community Asset Preservation Corporation (CAPC), a wholly owned subsidiary of NJCC, and the largest affordable housing development company in New Jersey with more than 600 units of housing and 500,000 square feet of commercial assets. CAPC’s capabilities include real estate development, property management, asset management, mortgage acquisition, and mortgage modification services in New Jersey, New York, and Florida. As President and CEO of Invest Newark, he established a proven track record of transformative leadership that resulted in wealth creation for underserved communities throughout New Jersey’s largest city. In partnership with his Board of Directors and Staff, Mr. Hall transformed Invest Newark into New Jersey’s premier economic development vehicle featuring the state’s only land bank, a municipally sponsored fiber optic company, an employee-owned industrial company, and an infrastructure investment fund. As CEO of Halltown Real Estate Advisors, Mr. Hall served as real estate investment advisor to some of the largest housing authorities in the country. As part of his tenure with the Atlanta Housing Authority (“AHA”), Mr. Hall established an $100 million co-investment vehicle between AHA, HUD, and the Atlanta Economic Development Authority (“Invest Atlanta”). During his tenure with the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”), he oversaw the execution of over $1.5 billion in real estate disposition, development, and joint venture transactions. Previously, Mr. Hall worked in Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group where he was responsible for sourcing and evaluating urban-based multifamily, retail, and mixed-use real estate private equity investments. Prior to his work at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Hall executed $785 million in real estate acquisitions, loans, and joint ventures transactions for UBS Investment Bank. Mr. Hall began his career with Bank of America in the firm’s Construction Lending and Real Estate Investment Banking Groups. Mr. Hall is a licensed Uniform Investment Advisor (Series 7, 65) and possesses a Bachelor of Science from North Carolina State University and a M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. He sits on the community development and new market tax credit advisory boards of PNC Financial and Goldman Sachs, respectively. He also holds a certification from the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Ms. Luo serves as Managing Director for Willton Investment Management with primarily responsibility of implementing the firm’s investment strategy and business development initiatives. Ms. Luo is specially in multifamily development and she is focus on creating a better living environment for the local community. Ms. Luo has held numerous positions in multiple real estate development companies as well as served as a portfolio manager for a global fund manager. She obtained her masters in finance and international business from the University of Sydney Business School.

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.

Mitchell Berkey 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. Mitch's experience includes a wide range of complex transactions involving both the public and private sectors. Among the more unique projects in which Mitch played a direct role are the following:  American Dream | Meadowlands™, projected to be one of the world's largest retail, entertainment and TM tourism centers  E Walk, a New York Times Square redevelopment project  The conversion of a residential condominium to an extended stay hotel  The restructuring of a national syndication firm  The acquisition, financing and remediation of Brownfield properties  The master leasing of building facades for signage, billboard and telecommunications use  The leasing and construction of foreign missions for sovereign nations  The acquisition and sale of parking facilities In December 2008, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine appointed Mitch to the New Jersey Real Estate Advisory Board, which was created to help establish strategies to encourage economic growth in the state of New Jersey. Mitch chaired the Advisory Board's Environmental Subcommittee. Mitch has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Real Estate Development in the Master of Science in Real Estate Development program at Columbia University, and speaks often on real estate industry matters. Mitch received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, where he was editor-in chief of the Fordham Urban Law Journal.

Michael Sommer is Chief Development Officer at Kushner. In this role, Sommer oversees development and construction efforts throughout the Kushner portfolio. During his 25 years of real estate experience, Sommer has developed in excess of 8 million square feet of residential, retail and office assets. Most notably, Sommer has managed the development of 4,000+ residential units in New Jersey. Prior to Kushner, Sommer was Senior Vice President of Development and Construction at Cedar Realty Trust, a NYSE listed retail REIT with a portfolio spanning from Washington, D.C. to Boston. Before Cedar, Sommer was Executive Vice President of Development at Edison Properties where he led the redevelopment of the award winning Ironside Newark in Newark, New Jersey. Sommer also served as Managing Director of Development at Advance Realty after having started his career at Premier Development. Sommer earned an MBA from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Business from Lafayette College.

Maurice Hornblass is a co-founding partner of Hornrock Properties. Hornrock Properties is a vertically integrated development company, which builds and owns residential and commercial Real Estate assets with a primary focus on multifamily development. With a value added approach, Hornrock specializes in acquiring trophy locations in the tri-state area and determines how to optimize or create Real Estate assets in those locales. In addition to owning the former Sony USA headquarters, located on 37 acres in Bergen County, Hornrock currently has over 2000+ luxury apartments in various stages of the pipeline, anticipating over three quarters of a billion in asset value. Maurice oversees Hornrock’ s acquisitions, approvals, development, and asset management. He has a diverse background in both real estate and entrepreneurship. Prior to co- founding Hornrock in 2010, Maurice formed Avichai Properties, which focused on distress real estate assets. Concurrent with his time at Avichai, Maurice teamed up with Treetop Development, where he structured and raised capital for substantial real estate deals. Prior to his time in the real estate sector, Maurice started his career in the elite analyst program at Salomon Smith Barney. He received his B.A. from Hofstra University in 1998 and was a candidate in the NYU Masters in real estate program.

Mr. Minno is President of MINNO & WASKO Architects and Planners. As a founding partner, Mr. Minno specializes in private sector, large mixed-use redevelopment including TOD’s and projects that have significant residential components. Many of his projects reflect client relationships that span more than twenty years, including Roseland Properties, RXR, LCOR, The Bozzuto Group and Mill Creek Residential. MINNO & WASKO is currently working on sustainable, redevelopment projects in the following cities: Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, Stamford, Morristown, Somerville, Park Ridge, Asbury Park, Bayonne and Harrison. Most of these commissions were obtained by partnering with project developers and competing for RFP based sites. Mr. Minno has deep experience in obtaining regulatory approvals for large scale development and becomes involved in the architectural design of a project at the early stages of a concept. MINNO & WASKO offer their clients, quality design, cost-effective detailing and timely services. The firm has a staff of over 90 professionals, who are experienced in all forms of residential and light-frame commercial construction with offices in Lambertville and Newark, New Jersey. Mr. Minno has his Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School. He is active in many professional groups including the Urban Land Institute and The Congress for New Urbanism. He has volunteered his professional services to Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Minno has been a quest lecturer at Rutgers University and Drexel University.

Since 2016 Nicholas has served in the dual capacity as Director of Development and Director of Construction Procurement for Terminal Construction. As the Director of Real Estate Development, Mr. Dinallo oversees all day to day real estate operations including land acquisition, entitlements, financing, pre-construction activities, procurement of subcontractors and construction of projects. During his time in this role Mr. Dinallo has helped strengthen the Development Division of Terminal Construction through expanding into new property types and joint venture partnerships with Russo Development and Onyx Equities, with over $150 million in development projects planned for 2022-2023.

Brian Lovett is a Partner and Team Leader of the Tax and Real Estate Services Teams at Withum. Brian has extensive experience serving the tax needs of both public companies and closely held businesses, including all aspects of tax compliance for partnerships and corporations. He advises clients with regard to the structure and tax consequences of new business ventures, and assists with restructuring existing businesses for increased tax efficiency. On the real estate side, Brian has prior Big 4 experience working closely with large, multinational real estate investment companies. He now works closely with real estate entrepreneurs on acquisition planning and entity structuring, property operation and development and wealth transfer/succession planning. Brian is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, licensed to practice law in the State of New Jersey, and a frequent speaker on technical tax topics for national webinars and various industry groups.

Ralph Zucker is President 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.

Jamie Drummond joined Newmark as a principal in its Rutherford, New Jersey office in 2010. An accomplished landlord and tenant representative, Mr. Drummond specializes in dispositions and acquisitions, strategic planning and long-term real estate solution development on behalf of his clients. Over the course of his career, Mr. Drummond has negotiated more than 600 lease transactions totaling over 20 million square feet. Prior to joining Newmark, Mr. Drummond was with Colliers International (formerly GVA Williams) as a senior managing director. In this capacity, he was consistently distinguished as one of the top producers of the New Jersey office. Among his recognitions there, Mr. Drummond received the firm’s Agency Representation Services award in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and its Office Deal of the Year award in 2002 and 2003.

As CEO of Hoboken, N.J.-based JDA Group, Greg has earned his reputation as a visionary by predicting how the potential development of under-utilized properties could transform an area. Greg oversees the company’s talented team of professionals and consultants and remains engaged in each of JDA Group’s projects from conception through completion. Due to Greg’s visionary approach in the New Jersey real estate market, he was named to the “Commercial Real Estate Power 50” list by NJBiz magazine and as an “ROI Real Estate Influencer” by publication ROI-NJ. Additionally, Greg was named a "Top Young Developer" by Real Estate New Jersey, spotlighting up-and-coming stars of New Jersey’s commercial real estate development community. Notable among its influential real estate projects, JDA recently gained approval for the 500,000-square-foot, mixed-use development The Boundary, which sits on the border of Southwest Hoboken and Jersey City. When completed, The Boundary will transform the former industrial neighborhood, featuring medical and traditional office space, retail, multi-family, parking, and a rooftop park. Additionally, Greg founded Mission 50, New Jersey’s first coworking space. The 80,000-square-foot property in Hoboken is a newly renovated and rebranded boutique office building and coworking community. JDA also owns multifamily buildings in Hoboken, including The Lexington, and recently expanded into the New Jersey retail market, acquiring fully leased retail sites in Fort Lee and Lacey Township. Greg embodies JDA Group’s family-oriented approach through his involvement in the greater Hudson County community. He has recently held positions including: • President of the Hoboken Business Alliance • Vice Chair of the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce • Former President of the Hoboken Chamber of Commerce • Hoboken Historical Museum Trustee, among many others JDA and the Dell’Aquila family have been key players in Hoboken’s revitalization and growth for decades, continually investing in a long-term vision for the city’s future. Dell’Aquila’s personal dedication to supporting academic entrepreneurship includes serving as: • Entrepreneur in Residence for the Stevens Institute of Technology Venture Center • A member of the Frank J. Guarini School of Business at Saint Peter's University advisory board • A steering committee member for the Institute for Dispute Resolution’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation NJCU - Jersey City Connect Program Greg is a long-time supporter of entrepreneurship, and in November 2021, opened the Mission 50 Innovation and Commercialization Lab in Hoboken. The lab supports the entrepreneurship programs at Stevens Institute of Technology, Saint Peter's University, New Jersey City University, and Hudson County Community College. Additionally, Mission 50 has pledged more than $250,000 to these colleges as prizes over the next 10 years for their annual student entrepreneur pitch competitions. While Greg grew up in Bergen County, he is fourth generation Hudson County, residing in Hoboken for the past 20 years. Greg is a happily married father of three children and enjoys taking them to Vermont. He enjoys golfing, skiing, riding his Harley and snowmobiles, fishing, martial arts, and hunting.

Adam Taylor is the Owner & CEO of Splendor, a full-service agency based in Red Bank, New Jersey. For the past several years, Splendor has been laser-focused on the commercial real estate industry, providing top regional developers and related businesses with insightful, strategic consultation along with award-winning design, branding, web, and marketing solutions. Under Taylor’s direction, Splendor has successfully branded and marketed over $1 billion dollars’ worth of commercial real estate in the Tri-State area.