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| Sam Morreale, Vision Real Estate Partners |
Vision Real Estate Partners
49 Bloomfield Ave.
Mountain Lakes, NJ 07046
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Release Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Media Contact: Evelyn Weiss Francisco (201) 796-7788
Honor Recognizes Significant Influence on Commercial Real Estate Industry
MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J., June 11, 2014 – Sam Morreale, founder and managing partner of Vision Real Estate Partners (VREP), accepted the NAIOP New Jersey 2014 Impact Award on behalf of his firm at the real estate trade organization’s annual gala in May. The honor recognizes distinguished industry trendsetters and companies that have significantly influenced New Jersey’s commercial and industrial real estate development industry.
NAIOP New Jersey Impact Award recipients are selected based on their service to the industry and community, professionalism and integrity, and overall industry contributions. Cushman & Wakefield Executive Vice Chairman Robert J. Donnelly, a long-time colleague of Morreale’s, received this year’s second Impact Award.
“Our recipients’ vision, incredible success and generosity – both professionally and personally – truly set them apart,” said Michael McGuinness, NAIOP NJ’s CEO. “Their long-standing relationships with some of our state’s most prominent tenants and industry leaders are the greatest testament to their accomplishments.”
As a classic local, hands-on owner, developer and operator, VREP is well known for its deep roots and experience in the New Jersey marketplace. The company is recognized for identifying properties with great potential and transforming them into superior assets. The net result? A track record of creating highly desirable accommodations for tenants, sound financial investment for partners, and performing, quality ratables for host towns and municipalities.
VREP is an offshoot of Vision Equities, LLC, which Morreale co-founded in 2006. Rebranded in 2014 following significant growth, VREP focuses on value-add, opportunistic, and select core and core-plus investment activities concentrated in the greater New Jersey/New York metropolitan area. The full-service firm maintains complete in-house capabilities and partners with national and global institutions, as well as private equity.
VREP has distinguished itself by embracing the win-win nature of public/private partnerships that combine shared vision, expertise and teamwork excellence. The company’s 67 Whippany Road campus is a shining example.
Vision Equities and Rubenstein Partners purchased the 194-acre former Alcatel-Lucent property in 2010, and subsequently master-planned one of the largest-scale, mixed-use redevelopment sites in Northern New Jersey. It subdivided and sold 94 acres to Bayer Healthcare, and then designed, executed approvals and developed a 675,000-square-foot, build-to-suit East Coast headquarters for this global industry leader and long-time New Jersey corporate citizen. That recently completed facility is driving forward the project’s residential, retail, hospitality and, potentially, additional office components; VREP currently is master planning the 100-acre “South Campus” parcel.
Already, the Whippany campus has been recognized with high-profile honors from NAIOP New Jersey, NJBIA, the Morris County Economic Development Corporation and United Way of Northern New Jersey.
Two additional hallmark projects in Whippany reflect VREP’s mission to create the highest and best use for its properties. The firm, again in partnership with Rubenstein, is just completing a multi-million-dollar redevelopment at 115 South Jefferson Road. The renovated and rebranded Crossings at Jefferson Park office property includes 525,000 square feet of Class A space in three buildings. Additionally, VREP’s 10-acre, mixed-use Whippany Village, currently under development on Route 10, has attracted national tenants CVS and JP Morgan Chase to anchor its 65,000-square-foot retail component. The project also will introduce 49 high-end multifamily rental units for this supply-constrained market.
“New Jersey’s tenant base is maturing, our buildings are getting older and workplace environments are changing,” Morreale said. “The opportunity for transformation is clear; our challenge and responsibility as commercial real estate practitioners is to create momentum for change in New Jersey. The good news is that we are a collaborative community, in a region with great potential. Working together, we can make that type of positive impact – and uphold our state’s viability as a great place to live, work and play.”
VREP currently owns and manages, or has developed more than 2 million square feet of space and has approximately 100 acres in land parcels available for mixed-use and build-to-suit opportunities. Other flagship properties include Mountain Lakes Corporate Center (Mountain Lakes), Parkway 120 (Matawan) and Mountain Heights Corporate Center (Berkeley Heights). The firm remains in active growth mode.
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