Lawrence Russo, Jr. founded Russo Development in 1969 after several years as a commercial real estate broker. Since that time, Lawrence has focused Russo on developing some of the highest quality office and industrial buildings in northern New Jersey. His reputation as a superior developer is reflected in the quality of the product that he has brought to this competitive market. Lawrence’s ability to weather severe market downturns during his career reflects his success as a dedicated real estate professional. His accomplishments include over fifty development projects for outstanding companies such as Polo/Ralph Lauren, Fuji Photo Film, First Union National Bank (Wachovia), Boise Cascade, Coach Leatherware, and JP Morgan Chase. Lawrence’s strengths include site planning and permitting for sites with complex development constraints. Lawrence has deeply woven his values of selective development, extensive site planning, and superior construction into the Russo team.

Ed Russo has been the President of Russo Development, a developer of industrial, residential, and mission critical real estate in New Jersey, since January 1, 2001. During the past fifteen years, Mr. Russo has transformed the business his father founded in 1969 into one of the most active development companies in New Jersey. Projects completed under his tenure include over two million square feet of mission critical space for various clients including JP Morgan Chase, NYSE Euronext, Credit Suisse, and Bloomberg. Ed has also overseen the development of built-to-suit industrial facilities for various clients including the Pepsi Bottling Group, Macy’s, and HD Smith. In addition to over three million square feet of commercial and data center projects in its pipeline, Russo has over 1,500 units of multifamily apartments under construction and another 2,000 units planned during the next three years.

As the company’s chief executive, Ed oversees all day-to-day operations including land acquisition, design/engineering, entitlements, construction, leasing, finance, and property management. Mr. Russo has focused on strengthening the company’s core competencies and in-house capabilities, as well as its growth and expansion across all property types including industrial, retail, data center and multifamily residential. With an aggressive acquisition strategy and over $300 million in development projects planned through 2021, Russo Development is well positioned for future growth.

Ed graduated from Lafayette College with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business in 1999. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and earned numerous academic awards including honors recognition for his senior thesis titled “The 1990s REIT Boom; An Empirical Analysis of the Market Capitalization of Real Estate Investment Trusts.”

Ed has served on the Foundation Board of Hackensack University Medical Center, the Executive Board of the Northern New Jersey Council for the Boy Scouts of America, and the Foundation Board of The Arc of Bergen & Passaic. He is an active member of many business trade organizations including NAIOP, ULI, the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce, and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

Michael J. Pembroke began his career with Russo Development in 2002 and since that time has been an integral part in Russo’s expansion into multifamily and mission critical development initiatives while driving the core industrial business and portfolio management.

In his role, he is responsible for growing the portfolio through development, leading the team from acquisition and entitlements through construction and stabilization.

Michael supports the strategic direction of the company which includes a pipeline of more than five million square feet of industrial development along with the delivery of approximately 1,000 apartments per year in the New Jersey Metropolitan Area. He has completed commercial transactions for notable clients and tenants such as the New York Stock Exchange, Bloomberg, Macy’s, JP Morgan Chase, Credit Suisse, and Pepsi Bottling Group, among others.

Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware and is a member of the National Association of Office, and Industrial Properties (NAIOP) and the Industrial & Office Real Estate Brokerage Association (IOREBA).

Sam Pallotta joined Russo Development to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Accounting Department as well as the execution of annual financial statements. Sam operates as a strategic liaison to Ownership with oversight of all financial reporting, cash flow management and payment processing for the industrial, commercial, and residential mixed-use sectors of both Russo Development and Russo Property Management.

Sam was formerly the Vice President and Chief Risk Officer and Treasurer for Rockefeller Group. At Rockefeller Group, he managed the Treasury Department, including global cash management, cash forecasting, payment processing, and risk management. Sam worked on capital market transactions including working with lenders to raise required corporate and project-level financing. As a member of the Strategic and Capital Planning group, Sam partnered with senior management and colleagues across the organization on key strategic initiatives including capital allocation and evaluation of prospective investments. While at Rockefeller Group, Sam obtained substantial experience in real estate investments across multiple property types including industrial, multifamily, office, and mixed-use developments. Sam has over 25 years of corporate finance experience and has worked in the real estate industry for the last 15 years.

Before joining Rockefeller Group, Sam worked for over five years at General Motors’ New York Treasurer’s Office, holding positions in the Capital Markets, Overseas Finance and Worldwide Pension Funding and Analysis departments. Prior to General Motors, Sam worked for Johnson & Johnson in corporate finance and accounting. Sam holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Bucknell University and an MBA from the University of Virginia (Darden Graduate School of Business).

Sam currently serves on the Board and is Treasurer for the St. Philip the Apostle Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that provides financial assistance to Salesian organizations, primarily tuition grants to young students to attend Salesian High School in New Rochelle, NY. Sam is an adjunct faculty member at New York University, teaching Real Estate Finance

Chris Erb brings an extensive breadth of experience motivating and affecting profitable outcomes in all facets of the real estate industry to Russo Development. An operational strategist with a record of successful performance over his more than 20-year career, Chris’ has led teams that have completed over $6 billion in development and real estate transactions ranging in size from small triple-net out parcels to complex multi-story mixed-use communities.

Prior to joining Russo Development, Chris was Head of Development for Macy’s and led its $6.5 billion development program, including the identification, cultivation, and execution of development projects throughout Macy’s national 600+ property real estate portfolio. He also oversaw all asset underwriting for Macy’s real estate monetization program, which created over $2 billion in value for Macy’s over five years and led the organization’s initiative to up zone the company’s iconic Herald Square location to accommodate an additional 1.2 million square foot office tower, leading an internal and external project team of over thirty team members.

Prior to Macy’s, Chris spent 15 years in various leadership roles at DDR Corp. (now known as Site Centers, NYSE: SITC) ultimately serving as Senior Vice President of Development and a member of the company’s investment, management, and executive committees. The youngest person in the company’s history to oversee the day-to-day operation of all development and construction activities for DDR’s nationwide ground up and redevelopment platform, during his tenure Chris led a team that created, managed, and completed a pipeline of close to 200 projects representing an investment of more than a billion dollars and that averaged double digit cash on cash returns every year. Chris was also the national account manager for Target, Costco, and Home Depot, serving as a critical liaison between DDR and each company for all operational issues and new deal generation.

An active member of ULI and ICSC, Chris is a graduate of Colgate University, and a proud alumna and former student outdoor education instructor of the university’s nationally recognized Outdoor Education Program.

Dominick has over nearly 40 years of experience in construction management with Russo Development. He has served as the project supervisor for over 25 construction projects during his tenure, including large-scale distribution facilities, build-to-suit data centers and multi-family residential complexes.

Dominick graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University with a bachelor’s degree in Construction Engineering in 1983. He has extensive experience in all aspects of construction including building layout, site excavation, and interior renovations. Dominick’s responsibilities include bidding, scheduling, project coordination and quality control for all of Russo Development’s construction projects. Dominick also works closely with the property management team in the routine maintenance and capital improvement projects of all Russo properties.

Adam Pasternack joined Russo Development in late 2009 and is responsible for the property management and leasing activities of the company’s three million square feet of existing properties, as well as new commercial and residential development sites in the NY Metro area. Adam has over 19 years of real estate management, leasing, sales and investment analysis experience.

As President of Russo Property Management, Adam’s focus is on both the day-to-day operations of the company’s diverse portfolio including leasing, marketing and maintenance as well as long term company policy and procedures. Adam and his team play a key role in the development of new communities, providing financial, design and operations guidance in the underwriting, planning and construction-design stages of new projects. Finally, Adam maintains and initiates Russo Development’s environmental sustainability goals across the portfolio and development projects.

Adam came to Russo from First Industrial Realty Trust where he was a Senior Investment Analyst in their Net Lease Investment group. Prior to joining First Industrial, Adam garnered extensive experience in the New Jersey commercial real estate market as a leasing and sales broker for CB Richard Ellis and Colliers Houston & Co. His expertise included lease negotiation, financial analysis, and the acquisition and disposition of space on behalf of landlords and tenants, with nearly 3.5 million square feet of leasing and sales transactions behind him.

Adam is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park. He has pursued additional graduate studies in Real Estate at New York University and Monmouth University. Adam currently sits on the Executive Committees of NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties) and IOREBA (Industrial and Office Real Estate Brokers Association). Adam is active in community programs including coaching youth baseball and basketball.

Doug Bartels joined Russo Development with ten years of design and engineering experience in various fields of land development. His experiences have included most aspects of site-civil design and permitting for single family and multi-family residential, commercial, and industrial developments. Doug has a strong technical background and is well-versed in the planning/zoning board process and the various NJDEP regulations encountered on most land development projects.

Doug’s responsibilities include feasibility research of potential acquisitions, coordination with Russo Development’s in-house architecture team and outside consultants, spearheading all land use permitting efforts and coordination of field issues with Russo’s dedicated team of construction managers.

Doug is a licensed professional engineer in the State of New Jersey, having received his Bachelor of Science degree, with a major in civil engineering and a minor in management, from New Jersey Institute of Technology. Prior to joining Russo Development, he worked for nine years with Birdsall/LGA Engineering in Belmar and Lakewood, New Jersey. Doug also served as President of the Ocean County Society of Professional Engineers during the 2007-2008 term.

Prior to joining Russo Development, Christopher Minks was an equity partner with the firm of Winne Banta Hetherington Basralian & Kahn, PC, one of the oldest law firms in the State of New Jersey, where he was a member of the Real Estate, Corporate and Business, Intellectual Property, and Land Use practice groups of the firm. During his 18 years of practice, Christopher has concentrated in the areas of commercial transactions and contract work, focusing in commercial, industrial and retail real property acquisition development, financing, leasing, syndication and sale. He has represented some of the nation’s largest and most prolific retailers, regional developers, and lending institutions during his many years with Winne Banta. In addition, Christopher brings extensive land use, planning and zoning experience, regularly appearing before many local municipal, County and State boards and authorities.

Christopher is a graduate of New York University, where he earned a BA degree in economics and sociology, and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire Law School (formerly known as Franklin Pierce Law) where he earned his Juris Doctor in 1993. He was admitted to practice in New Jersey in 1993 and maintains admission with the New Jersey State Bar Association and the American Bar Association, as well as the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. Mr. Minks holds the esteemed AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been published on a variety of legal topics related to commercial real estate development and land use. He regularly serves as a roundtable leader and speaker with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), a national commercial real estate industry group, at its national conventions, and has been a faculty member and lecturer with the National Business Institute and Institute for Paralegal Education.

Diogo Santos joined Russo Development in November of 2015 with ten years of experience in the land development industry. He has had the unique opportunity to gain experience in all facets of the development process as he is well versed in the acquisition, design and construction processes.

Diogo’s responsibilities include managing and coordinating Russo Development’s projects throughout all phases of development. He works with the in-house architecture and engineering team during the acquisitions phase of each project. He also manages the design phase and spearheads coordination between engineering, architecture, MEP and interior design teams. While projects are in construction, Diogo also works with Russo’s construction management team in streamlining the construction administration processes.

Diogo is a licensed professional engineer and registered architect in the State of New Jersey. He also holds his professional planners license. He has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a master’s in business administration from Rutgers Business School.

During Diogo’s free time, he enjoys spending time with his family and traveling. He is also active at his Alma Mater, where he is an adjunct professor.

Jessica M. Gyuris, Esq. is an Associate General Counsel with Russo Development. She earned her juris doctor degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. After graduating law school, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Francine A. Schott, J.S.C. of the New Jersey Superior Court in Essex County.

Jessica also has a B.S. in Environmental Science with a Soil and Water Concentration from Rutgers University, Cook College and a M.S. from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Occupational Health and Safety Engineering. Prior to attending law school, Jessica worked at Merck & Co., Inc in the Safety & Industrial Hygiene Department as a Staff Engineer.

Jessica is admitted to the bars of the State of New Jersey and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the New Jersey Bar Association, and the Bergen County Bar Association.

Lilian Pacheco joined Russo Development in 2018, bringing more than 20 years of experience in financial management for the residential and commercial real estate industries as well as the construction industry. She is responsible for managing the accounting team, financial reporting, audit and tax management, construction accounting, and cash management. Throughout her career, Lilian has worked for real estate companies including The O’Connor Group, Simon Property Group, the Lightstone Group, Dubai Investment Group, and Capodagli Properties. Lilian received her BSBA in Accounting from Northeastern University.

John brings over ten years of multifamily property management experience. He develops, implements, and oversees policies and procedures for the management company, leads marketing and leasing efforts, supervises on-site operations and maintenance teams, manages vendor relations and holds asset management responsibilities. John also engages with the Russo Development team in various aspects of the pre-development and development process.

Courtney joined Russo Development in 2019 with eight years of multi-family real estate marketing experience. Courtney is responsible for overseeing the marketing efforts across the portfolio for both Residential and Commercial Divisions. She is actively involved in all aspects of development, leasing and resident engagement and retention. Throughout her career, Courtney has worked for developers and property managers such as Equity Residential and The Durst Organization.