NJ Future of the Gold Coast

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.

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.

Abe Naparstek is a Senior Vice President, managing new development activities on the east coast for Forest City Realty Trust. Abe is currently managing a team of developers that are responsible for a pipeline of over $1.2 billion of mixed use development. These projects are principally in Jersey City, Philadelphia, and the Washington D.C. metro area. Prior to this position, Abe worked in the Commercial Group of Forest City Enterprises, where he started in 2004. Prior to his work at Forest City, Abe was the Assistant County Manager of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania. In that capacity, he worked on a number of policy initiatives for the County with a primary focus and responsibility in economic development and government relations. Abe was the primary interface with the County’s eight regional government entities and helped implement Tax Increment Funding packages for development projects that totaled over $250 million. Abe also represented the County Executive at County Council and with the state and federal legislative delegations. Abe is a member of the Coro National Board of Governors, a national leadership training organization with offices throughout the country. He is also on the board of directors of Neighbors Together, a social service non-profit in central Brooklyn. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester and received a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a proud Clevelander who currently resides in Brooklyn, NY with his wife Anne and two children.

Eugene T. Paolino is a Partner in the Firm's Jersey City, NJ office and a member of the Land Use & Approvals, Commercial Real Estate & Redevelopment, Corporate Law & Business Transactions, and Complex Commercial Litigation Practice Groups as well as the Land Development, Education and Real Estate Industry Groups. A Jersey City native, Mr. Paolino has practiced law in New Jersey for more than four decades. He brings deep knowledge, experience and practical skills to his clients' real estate development, tax abatement, commercial, zoning, land use and redevelopment law matters. In addition, he has significant experience with municipal, county and state developer incentives as well as education and corporate law, with litigation experience in all these areas. During his career, Mr. Paolino has worked on numerous projects, large and small, in Jersey City and throughout the State of New Jersey. He brings a broad spectrum of experience and expertise to the representation of each of his clients. Mr. Paolino has played a critical role in obtaining governmental approvals and financing for some of the most iconic and significant real estate projects along New Jersey’s Hudson River "Gold Coast" and in Jersey City, including: 77 Hudson Street 101 Hudson Street The Beacon (formerly Jersey City Medical Center) Saint Peter’s MacMahon Student Center Saint Peter’s Tower McGinley Square (proposed) One Journal Square The Rise at 711 Montgomery Crescent Park in the Grand Jersey Redevelopment Area 30 Journal Square 65 Bay Street Mr. Paolino serves as General Counsel to Saint Peter’s University. He was Assistant Corporation Counsel to the City of Jersey City and Special Environmental Counsel to the City of Hoboken. In addition to his robust commercial real estate law and development practice, Mr. Paolino has significant litigation experience, having argued complex contract disputes and corporate claims at every level in the trial and appellate courts.

Alexander A. Hovnanian, Area Vice President of Northern NJ for K. Hovnanian Homes, is a young leader in the design, construction, and sales of for-sale homes. As the third generation of Hovnanian family management, Alexander oversees five residential developments in the Northern New Jersey marketplace totaling over $750m of project-life revenues. Examples include the high-rise development, Nine on the Hudson (278 homes), as well as the new townhome community Residences at Columbia Park located in Morristown (235 homes). Prior to joining the management ranks of K. Hovnanian Homes, Alexander held a number of positions within the national company, including sales as a licensed realtor in California’s Bay Area; purchasing in Chicago, Illinois; and Community Administration in Dallas, Texas. Alexander looks forward to continuing his family’s legacy of building quality homes for hard-working Americans. Alexander attended University of Pennsylvania from 2008-2012, graduating summa cum laude in Philosophy and Fine Arts. He continued his education at Harvard Business School from 2014-2016, graduating with a Master’s in Business Administration.

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.

Jacky is a growing entrepreneur and has diverse experience in real estate development and investment in the US market. He founded DMG Investments LLC (“DMG”), a subsidiary of a leading China-based real estate development and investment firm Do Think Group. Jacky is the Chief Executive Officer of DMG. Within six years, Jacky has successfully made visionary investment solutions and targeted major and suburban US markets and helped the company invest in 9 premier multi-family and condo projects with over $500 million. His entrepreneurial mindset and business acumen allowed him to lead the company to expand and grow rapidly.

Donald M. Pepe is a Partner at Scarinci Hollenbeck and Co-Chair of the firm’s Corporate Transactional & Business Law Group. Mr. Pepe devotes his practice to all aspects of real estate development and real estate transactional work with an emphasis on retail and residential projects. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Pepe served as in house counsel to one of the nation’s largest residential developers. Additionally, Mr. Pepe acts as transactional and development counsel for a global big-box retail company for its development projects in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, giving him comprehensive insight into the needs of both large and small clients, as well as a thorough understanding of the development process. Over the course of his career, Mr. Pepe has shepherded hundreds of development projects through the approval process resulting in tens of thousands of new residential units and millions of square feet of retail development. Mr. Pepe works closely with business executives and in- house counsel to develop strategies for targeting acquisitions, land purchase negotiations, managing and evaluating feasibility studies, representing corporate interests before local, state and federal approval authorities, and securing land use and administrative approvals.

Michael J. DeMarco serves as chief executive officer of the Company. Mr. DeMarco is a veteran real estate investment professional with more than 30 years of industry experience. He joined Mack-Cali in 2015. Mr. DeMarco, along with his partner Mitchell Rudin, is responsible for the strategic direction of the Company. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. DeMarco was most recently the chief investment officer of CCRE, a non-bank finance company and one the largest originators of CMBS. Mr. DeMarco was also an executive vice president with Vornado Realty Trust. Prior to that he was a partner at Fortress Investment, overseeing a number of real estate operating companies that Fortress acquired. Additionally, he was a senior managing director with Lehman Brothers in the company’s real estate investment banking unit specializing in mergers and acquisitions, structured finance, and initial public offerings. His current professional affiliations include being on the board of Saint Peter’s Preparatory School, as well as a member of Urban Land Institute, The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), and a managing trustee of Liberty Science Center. Mr. DeMarco is a certified public accountant. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a minor in History from Pace University, as well as a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Chicago.

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.

As Executive Vice President and Chief Real Estate Officer of Newark Community Economic Development Corporation (Newark CEDC) Carmelo Garcia brings nearly two decades of experience in economic development, real estate redevelopment, urban planning and public service. With a Bachelors of Arts in Criminal Justice and Sociology from Seton Hall University and graduate degrees from Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and Stevens Institute of Technology School of Science Information Systems and Management as well as a Certification in Leadership and Management from Cornell University, and a Certification in Human Resources and Public Administration from Rutgers University Carmelo Garcia brings dedication and knowledge to the field. Prior to joining Newark CEDC, Carmelo served as Executive Director of the Hoboken Housing Authority where he developed hundreds of affordable housing unit for the residence of Hudson County. He also served, as the Director of Health, Human Services & Community development for the City of Hoboken. Carmelo continues to dedicated his work to public service and the development of communities across the state of NJ. He has been recognized by the who’s who of NJ and has served in the New Jersey General Assembly for the 33rd Legislative District of Hudson County. Garcia is a committed advocate of citizen rights and takes a collaborative approach to ensure all stakeholders are represented in the growth of the state and local municipalities. Living by the mantra “We Can, We Will, Watch Us” make a difference, he brings a goal-oriented and outcome-driven attitude to his work and thrives on building relationships with partners across the redevelopment industry to get it done (G.I.D.).