The Sixth Annual Future of South Jersey

Joe Myers was born and raised in Riverton, NJ. He attended Trenton State College in Ewing, NJ and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science; and attended graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania where he obtained two masters in two years (masters of government administration from the Samuel Fels Center of Government and masters of arts in political science). In 1999, Mr. Myers immediately started working as a graduate intern at Cooper’s Ferry Partnership (formerly Cooper’s Ferry Development Association) - a private non-profit corporation dedicating towards revitalizing Camden City. Upon graduation in the spring of 2000, Mr. Myers started employment as a full time project manager. His project portfolio included: financial closeout of the $9 million Camden Children’s Garden; design and construction of $4.5 million roadway infrastructure around Adventure Aquarium called the Waterfront Roads Phase One; design and construction of $4 million (state and federal funds) roadway infrastructure north of the Adventure Aquarium called the Waterfront Roads Phase Two; design and construction of $1.9 million (state and private funds) children’s fountain park called Aquarium Fountain Park; $400,000 streetscape and signal upgrade project in the downtown (Second Street Streetscape Improvement Project); annual landscaping and maintenance project in the downtown waterfront; a neighborhood infrastructure assessment; traffic studies; and several environmental investigative and remediation of brownfield sites. In 2009, Mr. Myers was promoted to vice president of operations where his portfolio included the oversight of $4 million of an annual operating budget and a multi-million dollar special project budget (which includes planning, design, and/construction of a variety of projects using local, county, state, and federal funding). As part of this, Mr. Myers currently manages a staff of fourteen professionals; coordinates the organization’s foundation portfolio; and oversees several outside professional service contracts, including insurance, legal, engineering, governmental affairs, public relations, accounting, and auditing in addition to our annual consulting contract with the Parking Authority of Camden City. Mr. Myers lives in Bordentown City with his wife and two kids.

Mr. Berson joined Parkway Corporation in 2018 and serves as President of Parkway Commercial Properties, a role in which he oversees Parkway’s growing real estate portfolio as well as development across a national and expanding land bank. Parkway recently delivered a 360,000 SF trophy office building leased by global law firm Morgan Lewis, a multifamily project in Philadelphia’s “old city” which achieved 95% leasing in just three months, and is under construction on another 550,000 SF trophy office building leased entirely by global insurance provider Chubb. Parkway is also in predevelopment for several additional multi-family residential projects in multiple US markets. Prior to Parkway, Brian worked at Brandywine Realty Trust and served as Vice President of Development overseeing development work in New Jersey and Washington DC before which he was Vice President of Leasing and Development at Liberty Property Trust, where he held responsibility for the firm’s leasing, development, and asset management at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. He has 25 years of experience in the industry and has developed over two billion dollars’ worth of real estate. His previous experience also includes development positions in Washington, D.C. at LCOR where he served as Development Manager for the 2.4 million square foot United States Patent and Trademark Office and at Hines where he served as Construction Manager for the 800,000 SF Gannet/USA TODAY Headquarters. Mr. Berson received his Master of Architecture from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and his Bachelor of Arts from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Architecture. He holds a Pennsylvania architecture license and National Council for Architectural Registration Board certificate. Mr. Berson sits on the Board of Trustees at NAIOP Philadelphia, at the American Heart Association’s Hard Hats with Heart, and is a Board member at the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation. He has been featured prominently as a guest lecturer, panelist, and instructor at many of the region’s universities.

Jackie, a seasoned real estate veteran, is Principal & CEO of AthenianRazak LLC, a Philadelphia-based real estate services company that consults on, creates, and manages real property. Prior to the 2011 merger between Athenian Properties and Razak Company to form AthenianRazak, Jackie was the president of Athenian Properties, which she founded in 2001. Before forming Athenian, Jackie was a founder and principal of Renaissance Properties, which she led for 10 years, and before that she was a senior staff member at the development firm Growth Properties. Jackie’s expertise includes real estate consulting and planning, historic redevelopment, financial structuring, data center construction and management, and real estate operations. She has completed projects as diverse as repositioning 700 distressed apartment units to the simultaneous construction of five data centers in an historic Chicago building, 8% under budget. At Athenian Properties, Jackie oversaw repositioning, redevelopment, management, or consulting for more than 8 million sf of commercial properties and 2,800 residential units, as well as leading 2 master plans for the 200-school Philadelphia School District. At Renaissance and Growth Properties she led development, consulting, and management projects for more than 3 million commercial sf and 3,000 residential units. Jackie speaks regularly on real estate and economic topics including urban redevelopment, sustainability, leasing, and management. She is a Board member of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, a member of the Counselors of Real Estate, where she leads the Land Use and Sustainability Network, a member of the Council of Philadelphia Yale Club, and a member of the Forum of Executive Women. She has served as President of CREW Philadelphia and Board member of the CREW National Network. Jackie holds a B.A. from Yale University and a Master of Architecture from University of Washington.

As a Vice President, Leasing and Development for Liberty Property Trust, Anne oversees all aspects of the acquisition and development of The Camden Waterfront, a mixed use urban development including over one million square feet of office space, a 180 unit hotel, 188 residential units, ground floor retail and associated infrastructure, structured parking and an expanded public waterfront park. Liberty Property Trust is a $8.5 billion publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, leases and manages properties with the mission to enhance people's lives through extraordinary work environments. With 15 years of experience in developing commercial real estate including office, residential, hotel, mixed-uses and their related infrastructure, Anne started her real estate career as a developer for The DeMutis Group, a small-scale, mixed-use urban developer focusing on the redevelopment of downtown Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Anne serves on the Urban Land Institute Philadelphia Council Advisory Board, where she is Co-Chair of the Technology and Competitiveness Local Product Council, and she is on the national Public Private Partnership Gold Flight Product Council. She is on the board of the Phoenixville Area Economic Development Corporation and is a member of the New Jersey Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership. She received her MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, with a concentration in Real Estate. She received her BA in International Relations and French from Bucknell University. She resides with her husband and two sons in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

Matt Weilheimer joined The Kislak Company, Inc. in 1996 and specializes in the sale of Apartment buildings, REO assets, and other investment properties in New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Consistently one of Kislak’s leading producers. Mr. Weilheimer is also involved in the overall management of the company and is responsible for supervising a team of salespeople. He has won numerous sales production awards at Kislak including the company’s 2010 and 2015 Production Award and has been recognized repeatedly by the Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal and Real Estate New Jersey for his sales accomplishments. Mr. Weilheimer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University at Albany, State University of New York and is a member of the National Multi Housing Council, the New Jersey Apartment Association, the Apartment Association of Greater Philadelphia and the International Council of Shopping Centers. He is a licensed real estate salesperson in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York, and is the Vice Chairman of the Township of Marlboro (NJ) Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Dante joined Nexus Properties in 1990 as Chief Financial Officer and became Chief Operating Officer in 2002. He has been responsible for negotiating and closing over 30 private and public financings totaling in excess of $500 million. He previously held positions at LCOR, a national real estate developer, and KPMG, an international accounting firm. As such, he has contributed to the growth of the Company through his financial and accounting expertise. As Chief Operating Officer, Dante currently oversees the day to day management of the Company. In this capacity, he is involved in all aspects of the business including development, property management, construction, finance, and leasing. Dante is concentrating his efforts on redevelopment and is currently working with the Borough of Glassboro and Rowan University on the Rowan Boulevard Redevelopment Project. Dante and his wife, Diana, have established a four year partial scholarship at Rowan University which is awarded annually to a Glassboro High School graduate based on financial need and academic performance. Married for 33 years, Dante and Diana have three grown daughters and three grandchildren. He and his wife reside in Pennington, NJ.

Catherine Ward has spent much of her practice helping clients understand the complexities of regulations at the intersection of science and law. Her focus is on simplifying complex issues and multi-disciplinary projects into workable components, and then creating the necessary framework to accomplish her clients’ goals. With experience as a chemist and environmental consultant, she brings a unique perspective to assist companies – who are navigating often conflicting legal scenarios – in identifying opportunities and advantages. Cathy also has over a decade of experience in owning and operating industrial real estate, which gave her an understanding of and appreciation for the practical implications of legal issues. Her goal in every representation is not only to solve the problem presented, but to identify and facilitate the most cost-effective and beneficial means of doing so.

As Principal and Vice President of Investment at Advance Realty, Alex Cocoziello focuses on risk management, capital allocation, and investment strategy helping to ensure seamless execution of the firm’s core, value-added and opportunistic real estate transactions. Prior to joining Advance, Alex worked as a trader and market-maker for Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Markets Division on the Event-Driven Equity Team. In this role, Alex specialized in the trading of equity securities focusing on risk arbitrage of corporate mergers and acquisitions, distressed equity, and post-reorganizational equity. His responsibilities included managing firm capital in risk situations, providing fundamental and technical market analysis, daily trading commentary, and corporate earnings analysis to institutional clients such as asset managers, pension funds, mutual funds, and hedge funds. Alex holds a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, and an MS in Real Estate with a concentration in finance and investment from New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate.

Matt Schlindwein directs and oversees FGD’s development efforts including site selection, due diligence, design, entitlement, and construction. Ensuring the delivery of projects of the highest quality, within budget, and on schedule, Matt has a reputation for meeting and exceeding clients' goals. Greek Development has completed build to suit developments for some of NJ’s leading companies under his direction. He has strong expertise in design and construction of Class A warehouse facilities, renovations, repositioning, as well as "Brownfield" redevelopment projects for third party clients and the FGD portfolio. Matt is also responsible for the company's renewable energy program and has completed over 1.4 megawatts of solar systems in the portfolio. Prior to joining Greek Development, he oversaw development projects for one of the nation's largest design-build developers, completing the development and construction of several industrial and office parks throughout New Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania. Matt was recipient of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP) New Jersey Chapter's Rising Star Award in 2015 and serves as a member of the Board of Trustees, chair of the Regulatory Affairs Committee, and served as past chair of the Developing Leaders Committee. He is also a NAIOP National Forum member. Matt holds a Bachelor's of Civil Engineering degree from the Catholic University of America and is a Registered Professional Engineer.

Overseeing the strategic direction of F. Greek Development since 1968, Frank Greek has guided the firm to a reputation for exceptional quality and service. He is respected throughout the industry as a person of integrity and dedication to surpassing the needs of the FGD’s clients. Frank is a hands-on developer with expertise in value analysis, land acquisition, “Brownfield” remediation, design development, financing, construction management, leasing and property management. With an entrepreneurial spirit, Frank co-founded several business enterprises including Parsicon Construction, Raritan Environmental Sciences, Mon-Eco Industries, Intech Labs as well as several restaurants. Mr. Greek has served on the Board of Trustees of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties for more than 10 years in addition to serving on the Political Action Committee. Frank was honored with the NAIOP’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Frank serves on the Advisory Boards for Lion Industrial Trust, a Clarion Partners private REIT that owns over 100,000,000 sq. ft., and the Center for Real Estate at Rutgers University Business School. Frank proudly served in the United States Army Infantry and New Jersey National Guard. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and a licensed Civil Engineer.

Matthew Marshall has 25 years of industrial and commercial real estate experience working on project leasing, corporate advisory, and capital market sales. His focus has been Industrial Occupier and Institutional Investor representation for sites and multi-market property acquisitions throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Mr. Marshall’s area of expertise include project leasing, tenant representation, acquisitions, disposition, economic incentives, lease negotiation, and investment sales. As one of Cushman & Wakefield’s New Jersey real estate professionals, Mr. Marshall has executed many complex industrial land, lease and building sale transactions. Active and completed transactions by Cushman & Wakefield in Southern New Jersey total over 4 million SF of industrial, and 700,000 SF office transactions in the past 24 months. Of these transactions, 40% were project leasing and sales, and 60% were tenant representation assignments. In addition, Cushman & Wakefield’s New Jersey professionals sold the +415 acre Clean Harbors site, which should yield ±3 million SF of Class A warehouse distribution buildings in the new Logan North Industrial Park in Logan Township, NJ. The sale was significant as the largest non-deep water industrial land site sold in New Jersey during 2016.