The tickets were too pricey for ink-stained wretches like me to afford, but it looks like a good time was had by all at last week’s NAIOP New Jersey gala.
Business must be looking up for the state’s commercial real estate industry, because the black-tie 27th Annual Awards Gala at The Palace at Somerset Park sold out. Nearly 800 attended.
The crowd at NAIOP New Jersey’s 27th Annual Awards Gala. Left to right are: (back) Michael Seeve of Mountain Development Corp., President of NAIOP New Jersey; Samuel J. Morreale (Vision Real Estate Partners, Impact Award); Robert Donnelly of Cushman & Wakefield (Impact Award); Thomas S. Michnewicz, Somerset Development (Chairman’s Award); (front) Jorge H. Berkowitz of Langan Engineering and Environmental Services (Industry Service Award); Lawrence Russo Jr., (The Lifetime Achievement Award); and Ralph Zucker, Somerset Development (Chairman’s Award).
The crowd at NAIOP New Jersey’s 27th Annual Awards Gala. Left to right are: (back) Michael Seeve of Mountain Development Corp., President of NAIOP New Jersey; Samuel J. Morreale (Vision Real Estate Partners, Impact Award); Robert Donnelly of Cushman & Wakefield (Impact Award); Thomas S. Michnewicz, Somerset Development (Chairman’s Award); (front) Jorge H. Berkowitz of Langan Engineering and Environmental Services (Industry Service Award); Lawrence Russo Jr., (The Lifetime Achievement Award); and Ralph Zucker, Somerset Development (Chairman’s Award).
The Lifetime Achievement Award honored Lawrence Russo Jr., founder of Hackensack-based Russo Development. He was honored for “seeking out the best practices among all walks of life and applying them to his own business, instilling his values in providing great customer service and developing high-quality developments,” according to NAIOP.
It’s too bad that Russo doesn’t talk to the press. I don’t consider that a “best practice.”
NAIOP Impact Awards were handed out to Robert Donnelly of Cushman & Wakefield, “honored for embodying the attributes that define the most respected commercial real estate leaders”; and Vision Real Estate Partners, founded by Samuel J. Morreale, lauded as “a classic, local, hands-on developer and operator known for its deep roots and experience in the New Jersey marketplace.”
I missed seeing Michael Seeve, my landlord and NAIOP president, at the soiree. Seeve, president of Mountain Development Corp. in Woodland Park, is actually the landlord of my employer, North Jersey Media Group, on Garret Mountain in Woodland Park.