EVENTS
EVENTS
CIANJ Members Meet to Talk Real Estate and Energy
By Jamie Grill-Goodman
The Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey ( CIANJ ) hosted a discussion on the latest real estate trends and the impacts of New Jersey ’ s energy policies at Bergen Community College on July 16 .
The event , “ Building the Future : Real Estate Trends & Energy Policy Impacts ,” opened up with a panel session including John Obeid , Senior Re search Manager , Cushman & Wakefield , and Ryan Sanzari , President , Alfred Sanzari Enterprises . CIANJ President Anthony Russo moderated the discussion , which he kicked off by asking about the state of office space in real estate . Sanzari noted that tenants are returning to work and looking for landlords to assist with return-to-work initiatives . “ That means programing , community space , and of course amenities ,” said Sanzari . “ We ’ re certainly seeing a lot of that .”
Obeid noted the problem in the office market is while there ’ s too much supply , there ’ s also an “ undersupply of top-tier , trophy-quality space .” To this end he sees a lot of office buildings being repurposed or redeveloped .
Sanzari noted building amenities he ’ s seeing include gyms , cafes , outdoor space , game rooms , bars , and restaurants . He also noted tenants are seeking stability . They want the landlord to be the same landlord when renewal comes up in five-toten years . Tenants want to know , “ what are the long-term plans for this asset , and will the landlord continue to invest in that before I move X amount of people here for X amount of years , and invest a lot of faith and money in the landlord ?”
Obeid added that tenants are looking for collaborative space and convenient locations at the intersection of two highways for quick commutes . Sanzari later added that his company recently signed an agreement with Tesla to add Supercharger stations . Obeid agreed , “ people are using them , it ’ s definitely a good amenity to have .”
Russo then turned the conversation to warehouses and pushbacks – he noted he counted 33 pieces of legislation dealing with warehousing – asking the panelists if we ’ ll continue to see warehousing development .
“ We ’ re pretty land constrained here , so finding land to build the warehouse on is difficult ,” said Obeid . Additionally , the amount of space under construction has started to dwindle for multiple reasons . “ Right now we ’ re at about 6.5 million square feet of space under construction , a lot less than we had last year ,” he said . However , he noted , while some towns like Franklin Township have been against warehouses , the port market – Kearny , Newark , Jersey City – has a lot of development .
“ In terms of redevelopments – and this goes back to what we were saying about office buildings – I think there needs to be a lot more proactive measures taken by municipalities on their master planning and their long-term goals ’ objectives ,” said Sanzari . “ Not just for industrials , for multi-family , for any redevelopments .”
In the event ’ s second session , Henry Gajda , Deputy Chief of Staff , Board of Public Utilities ( BPU ), kicked off with an overview of what the State is working on , including securing as much federal funding as possible . “ It ’ s been priority number one for about two years now ,” he said . To date the BPU has applied for over $ 800 million dollars in funding , he said , which includes clean energy initiatives . He gave an overview of how New Jersey was selected to receive $ 156.1 million in federal funding , awarded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) through its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund : Solar for All program . New Jersey ’ s Solar for All award is anticipated to enable the State to deploy more than 175 MW of solar energy to benefit 22,000 overburdened households within the first five years of funding .
“ We are remaining steadfast in our clean energy transition ,” said Gajda . “ Our solar industry has been in place and thriving for nearly 20 years .”
Next , Stephen Milgrom , Manager , Office of Business Advocacy , New Jersey Business Action Center ( NJBAC ), pulled back the curtain on how the NJBAC can help connect New Jersey businesses with people and grants to help their businesses thrive .
“ My job is solely to assist business and help navigate government , help try to find these programs [ we covered earlier ] and actually bring them to you ,” said Milgrom . “ I ’ m the manifestation of these great policies and my goal is to help the business .”
He shared that , while there are a lot of agencies that have grants available , the real money is in the energy sector . His team can help businesses figure out where and how they can benefit from the programs available . He gave examples of companies that used money from available
Continued
With the backdrop of American Dream Meadowlands , John Obeid of Cushman & Wakefield and Ryan Sanzari of Alfred Sanzari Enterprises kicked off with a panel on real estate trends .
( Left to right ) Stephen Milgrom , Manager , Office of Business Advocacy , New Jersey Business Action Center ; Kyle Tafuri , Vice-President , Sustainability , Hackensack Meridian Health ; Corey Lewis , Managing Director , AON Insurance ; Henry Gajda , Deputy Chief of Staff , Board of Public Utilities ; and Anthony Russo , Publisher / CEO , COMMERECE Magazine .
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