New Jersey's main commercial real estate trade group is getting its first new leader in more than a quarter of a century, and he'll be dealing with issues the industry has been grappling with for years.
Dan Kennedy will succeed Michael McGuinness as CEO of New Brunswick, New Jersey-based NAIOP New Jersey, effective Aug. 1. McGuinness recently announced he will retire at the end July after serving as CEO for more than 26 years. Kennedy is slated to join NAIOP on June 19 to work with McGuinness during a six-week transition period.
NAIOP NJ described Kennedy as "an accomplished leader who brings an extensive background in association management, public affairs and government relations, strategic planning, coalition building and policy."
Kennedy is a trade-group veteran. He had served as senior director/director of Environmental and Utility Operations for the Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey since 2017. That organization, headquartered in Wall Township, New Jersey, represents about 1,000 member firms in the public and private sectors that are active in heavy, highway, utility, and marine construction, as well as site work including remediation of brownfields and contaminated sites.
Prior to that, Kennedy was a senior official in New Jersey state government. He has a Master’s Degree in city and regional planning from the Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. He also holds a New Jersey professional planner license.
Under McGuinness's tenure at NAIOP NJ, which has roughly 850 members, the group has championed and lobbied for the real estate industry regarding various pieces of legislation and public policy. For example, the organization was in favor of reinstatement of Garden State tax incentives programs that had lapsed, including breaks for developers and film and TV producers, that it said would draw businesses to New Jersey. That legislation, supported by Gov. Phil Murphy, was passed.
And NAIOP NJ successfully fought against a proposed bill that would have set tough restrictions on warehouse development.
But the real estate industry still has many items left on its agenda. NAIOP NJ has supported reform of what it and Murphy have described as the state’s antiquated liquor license laws. But the pushback from restaurant and bar owners has been strong. And environmentalists and activist groups are still working to get more restraints on industrial development. Those will be among the agenda items that Kennedy will have on his plate.
Kennedy declined to be interviewed by CoStar News before officially starting in his CEO role, but he provided a statement when his appointment was announced.
“I am appreciative of the selection committee’s confidence in me, and am honored to have the opportunity to carry on the important work of this impactful organization,” Kennedy said. “In the interim, I very much am looking forward to my shared time with Mike, who is such an accomplished and respected leader for this group and the larger New Jersey commercial real estate and business communities.”
McGuinness has been a well-liked CEO who appeared to take a collaborative approach to getting NAIOP NJ's positions heard and taken into account by state and local officials. Before joining NAIOP NJ in 1997, McGuinness was acting director for Gov. Christine Todd Whitman’s Office of the Business Ombudsman in the New Jersey Department of State, which served as a focal point of the administration’s regulatory reform efforts. In his current role, he guided the growth of NAIOP’s Garden State chapter.