EDISON, NJ- Fresh off Mack-Cali Realty Corp.'s $233 million deal with Keystone Property, furthering the REIT's shift from office to multi-family, CEO Mitchell E. Hersh will share his market insights as a “Power Panelist” at RealShare NJ in New Brunswick next week. He talked recently with GlobeSt.com's Antoinette Martin about Mack-Cali's latest moves:

GlobeSt.com: Mack-Cali Realty Corp. has now stockpiled close to $420 million in cash by selling non-core office buildings. Are you done with dispositions?

Hersh: For the moment. We have several more acquisitions in the pipeline in core markets, and we are moving forward with a multi-family site in Boston. I am looking to repurpose several of our undeveloped sites as multi-family including a couple of excess parking fields at our office buildings.

GlobeSt.com: Will you be working in concert with Keystone on the Philadelphia area office properties you traded as well as the multi-family sites you gained?

Hersh: We were able to create a prototypical structure for that deal. Because we re-invested about 10% of the sale price of the office properties back into the properties at a preferred rate of return, we remain as a participant. We participate in some of the management fees and share 50-50 in profits over a certain level. Going forward, we will be working with Keystone and Bill Glazer, who is a very talented and creative entrepreneur to reposition assets and create the Silicon Valley of the East.

GlobeSt.com: What's going to happen next as a result of the Keystone deal?

Hersh: As part of the unique aspects of that transaction, we gained control of several very, very good multi-family sites in the Philadelphia area. In Bala Cynwyd outside Philadelphia at 150 Mountain Road, we are looking at developing a mixed-use complex. We would deploy the Roseland part of our business to build the multi-family.

GlobeSt.com: Roseland is also at work on RiverPark at Port Imperial. So, Mack-Cali is on hiatus with office development for the forseeable future?

Hersh: The office market remains lackluster. We are moving in a very aggressive manner to build our multi-family platform.

Instant Insights /

RealShare Panelist Mitchell Hersh Discusses Mack-Cali's MF Focus

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