State of New Jersey's Multifamily Market

Jonathan has more than 20 years of real estate investment and management experience. He is responsible for the acquisition and development of all new projects, property management, and leasing of over 12,000 rental apartment units and 6 million SF of office, retail and industrial properties. He oversees the team at KRE Group that is forging ahead with a development pipeline of over 10 million SF of residential and mixed use projects. Jonathan holds a B.A. from New York University and was the recipient of the 2016 SmartCEO Future 50 Award.

Bryan Oos is responsible for the acquisition of apartment development sites in the New York, Washington D.C. and Miami metropolitan areas. Bryan has been responsible for various aspects of the land acquisition, underwriting and approvals for 10 projects built or in the pipeline in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia, totaling over 4,300 units. Prior to joining Toll Brothers Apartment Living in 2011, Bryan was a Vice President of Development at Michaels Development Company, where he worked on the redevelopment of public housing into mixed-income communities. Prior to Michaels, he was a Director of Development at Forest City Residential, where he worked on mixed-use redevelopment projects in the New York and Boston metropolitan areas with a focus on public and private financing structures. Bryan earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from James Madison University and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University.

Russell Tepper serves as Mill Creek Residential’s Senior Managing Director for development activities in the Northeast region including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. His duties include leading this regional division of Mill Creek for both ground-up and adaptive reuse developments, while furthering its objective to create tailored residential communities that cater to surrounding neighborhoods’ needs. Prior to joining Mill Creek in 2014, Mr. Tepper was Vice President of Development at Matrix Development Group, where he managed the company’s urban redevelopment portfolio, seeking out new acquisitions of residential and mixed-use properties throughout New Jersey and suburban Philadelphia. Throughout his career, he has been involved in the entitlement, development and construction of over 4,500 multifamily apartment homes and 5 million SF of commercial space. Mr. Tepper is licensed in the State of New Jersey and earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with concentrations in finance and international business from the University of Delaware.

Jeff Dunne has 36 years of experience in the real estate investment banking business as an advisor and transactional agent for retail, office, apartments, industrial and new development projects. He leads a team of 15 people that focus on investment sales and equity raises to capitalize projects largely located within two hours of Manhattan. Jeff has closed in excess of $19 billion in over 300 investment transactions since 2007 and over $30 billion during his career.

Tony is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Dresdner Robin, a land-use consultancy, which provides integrated engineering, planning, environmental, landscape architecture, and surveying services (dresdnerrobin.com). Dresdner Robin operates throughout the New York/New Jersey and Philadelphia metro regions and serves both private and public clients comprising real estate developers and investors, redevelopment agencies, municipalities, utilities and public transportation authorities. Tony managed the company through initiatives that led to substantial growth. He is responsible for general operations, accounting control and finance, legal and contracts, human resources, and technology. Prior to joining Dresdner Robin, Tony acquired extensive experience in real estate development and investment through leadership roles at Apartment Investment and Management Company (AIMCO), a public REIT that is the nation’s largest owner and operator of apartment communities; Lincoln Property Company (LPC), a national real estate development company; AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (AVB), a public REIT; The Druker Company of Boston; and Jones Lang LaSalle. In the multi-family industry, he led teams at AIMCO, LPC and AVB that sourced and developed over $1B of high-Quality multi-family residential properties in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast Regions either to be held for long-term investment or to be sold to institutional entities. At The Druker Company of Boston, a prominent 100- year-old diversified real estate firm, he was responsible for a wide range of real estate functions including development, finance, and leasing of office and retail properties. He managed numerous developments, redevelopments, expansions, improvements and major tenant construction projects on properties as diverse as boutique office buildings, downtown vertical malls, land development, retail centers (suburban strip and urban infill), hotel/residential mixed-use and office/residential/retail mixed- use projects. His real estate-related career commenced when he joined LaSalle Partners (now Jones Lang LaSalle), where he worked first as an asset manager and later as development manager of retail and office properties in Chicago and New York City. Tony started his business career as a financial analyst for Exxon Corporation. Tony received an MBA from The Tuck School at Dartmouth College and a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia. He holds the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation. He lives in Montclair, NJ, where he is a member of the Montclair Planning Board and was previously a member of the Montclair Parking Authority.

Mr. Witmondt is the CEO of Woodmont Properties, a privately-owned regional real estate investment and development business founded by his father in 1963. Since joining the company in 1993, Eric has transformed the company into a full-service vertically integrated real estate firm that acquires, entitles, finances, develops, constructs, sells, leases and manages a wide range of properties. Woodmont employs more than 190 people in NJ and PA. Since 2007, Woodmont has constructed more than 17 luxury apartment communities throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania and is currently building 1,000 apartments in Princeton, Roxbury, Ramapo, Secaucus and Upper Macungie, PA. Woodmont, well known for its transit-oriented development, has a development pipeline containing more than 3,000 apartments, 800 luxury homes and one million square feet of industrial space. During the past seven years, the company has acquired, sold or constructed more than 4,600,000 square feet of industrial space in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Georgia and continues to actively seek acquisitions of existing buildings or land to develop. Woodmont also owns and manages office buildings, retail space, hotels and four private recreational/golf and tennis clubs in New Jersey and Snowmass, Colorado. In its continuing pursuit of new market opportunities, Woodmont recently entered the senior housing sector with plans to develop super luxury housing in the sectors of Active Adult, Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care in New Jersey. Mr. Witmondt has been recognized by NJBIZ’s Power 50 ranking each year since 2010 and was recently honored as one of the top executives of the year.

Eran Polack is CEO-NY and Co-Founder of HAP Investments, a New York-based real estate investment group that specializes in the development of residential and commercial properties including 500 Summit Avenue in Jersey City. He is also CEO of HAP Construction, a full-service construction management company. As CEO of HAP Investments, Mr. Polack oversees a diverse portfolio of residential and commercial real estate that is renowned for its location, proximity to mass transit, and innovative construction and design. He is an established entrepreneur with a long history of successful real estate ventures in Eastern Europe, Israel, and the United States. In the U.S., Mr. Polack has overseen the construction and development of 12 residential properties totaling over 2 million square feet. His strengths include the early identification of emerging regions, and the development of projects tailored for those markets. He also has a deep understanding of the budget, schedule, and quality necessary to achieve success for any real estate project. Mr. Polack was one of the first developers to identify East Harlem as well as the Journal Square neighborhood of Jersey City as areas in preliminary stages of urban revitalization. He was also an early leader in the revival of Neve Tzedek, a highly coveted neighborhood in the heart of Tel Aviv.

Jerry Simon, Principal, is a licensed architect in 6 states (California, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut) and has over 15 years of experience in Mixed-Use, Mid-Rise, High-Rise and Multi-Family development. He has a unique understanding of the design process; from the dual perspective of both the developer and architect. He maintains hands-on involvement in all aspects of projects from inception through completion. As head of the firm’s multi-family residential department, he is responsible for directing project teams and working closely with clients. Simon is also an integral part in identifying new business opportunities in the northeast and mid-Atlantic region. In his previous position, he successfully managed over 20,000 multi-family units in California.

Since joining the Martin Architectural Group in 2007 Dan has focused his efforts on Multi-Family Residential and Mixed-Use projects. His responsibilities include: client representation, project proposals, conceptual designs, construction documentation, coordination and on-site construction administration. From concept meeting to project close out, Dan works directly with the client and the design team to integrate building design. He regularly attends industry events, is jointly responsible for business development and is an active public speaker. Prior to joining The Martin Architectural Group, Dan led a twelve-person team as a Studio Leader at Toll Brothers, primarily on residential and clubhouse projects. He is a graduate of Drexel University and a member of ULI, NCARB, NAHB, Delaware Green Building Council and ICSC. Two of Dan’s passions are supporting and more often than not, judging the “Build a House...Build a Dream" event for Habitat for Humanity and getting a team together and raising awareness and dollars for the “The Dude Hates Cancer” event.

With more than 30 years in the residential development business, Jackie Urgo is renowned for her analytical mind and vast expertise from planning and design, to positioning, marketing, leasing, and selling luxury residential developments. The breadth of work over the past three decades comprise an impressive portfolio of residential properties working with many of the tri-states' leading residential developers including Fisher Brothers, Kushner Companies, China Overseas America, Vornado, Ironstate Development, China Construction America, KRE Group, Time Equities Inc. and The Chetrit Group. Jackie oversees the activities of more than 50 employees and under her leadership, The Marketing Directors maintains solid placement as one of the preeminent on-site residential marketing, leasing and sales firm in the Northeast.

As CEO, Michael Pestronk heads all property development and operational activities of the company. Post Brothers Apartments was founded in early 2007 and since that time Mr. Pestronk has focused exclusively on creating a best-in-class enterprise with a current portfolio of in excess of 1,100 class-A apartments throughout Philadelphia, with a total capitalization of approximately $165,000,000. Michael has 12 years of experience in the multi-family real estate industry, having previously worked for NWJ Companies and Historic Landmarks for Living, as well as being a principal of Iron Stone Real Estate Group, where he was collectively responsible for the repositioning, operations and capitalization of over $300,000,000 of real estate. During this time his responsibilities encompassed all aspects of apartment ownership including acquisitions, financing, development, construction, management, and leasing. During 2004-5 he was fully engaged in the property and asset management leadership of Historic Landmarks and was instrumental in the operational turnaround of a large portfolio of urban Class A apartments, where he increased NOI without capital spending, and facilitating a $200mm recapitalization of the portfolio. Michael takes great pride in his focus on identifying the right product to build, building simultaneously with high quality and cost effectiveness, and rapidly renting all of our units at top of the market rents.

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.