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Brownstone Company bound by vision for Hudson

Real Estate Weekly
Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The genesis of the Hoboken Brownstone Company is a story of two personal friends and their vision for New Jersey's Hudson River "Gold Coast".

Nearly 30 years ago, college friends Daniel Gans and George Vallone evaluated real estate market conditions and saw great potential in Hoboken, NJ.

"After graduation, we returned home and began separate careers," recalls Mr. Gans, who serves as chief executive officer. "Two years later, we decided to combine our knowledge and interest in real estate development. We recognized Hoboken was poised for significant growth and the ideal place to start."

The Gettysburg College graduates joined forces and established roots in the historic mile-square city. The varied expertise and talents of Mssrs. Gans and Vallone quickly proved fruitful. Their first project - a renovation of four condominium at 210 Third Street in 1980 - was the perfect springboard to the creation of a diverse real estate company that specialized in development, construction, brokerage and management of urban properties along the Hudson River waterfront and beyond.

The development of large- and small- scale residential and commercial buildings over the past three decades provided Mssrs. Gans and Vallone with great insight into the housing market and strategically positioned the company to identify new urban development acquisition opportunities.

"One of our strengths is a comprehensive background in all facets of the industry," points out Mr. Vallone, who serves as President. "It enables us to keep a keen eye on market needs and adapt our development plans to capture new niches. For example, in the 1990's, we introduced a residential design called "The Brownstone" which filled a void for buyers seeking surburban style living with private garages, large multi-bedroom homes and outdoor spaces in an urban environment."

The concept translated to success at six residential projects throughout the city. Two of the projects ñ 60-68 Jefferson Street and 82-92 Madison Street ñ received the first and second Historic Preservation Awards ever given to new construction projects in Hoboken.

In 1998, the company turned its attention towards the waterfront and embarked on its largest venture ñ the redevelopment of the former Maxwell House Coffee property into over 800 condominiums, 210,000 Sq. Ft. of retail and commercial space, the creation of Hoboken's largest park with a natural sand beach and the completion of a major section of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. Then the company sold the property to a publicly-traded homebuilder.

Their next project will take the vision of Hoboken Brownstone Company to new heights and serve as a model for Green Building practices. The company is preparing to develop a 438-unit "Green" condominium community on the site of the Van Leer Chocolate Factory in Jersey City that will improve green building practices and change the way environmentally aware buildings are created and measured.

To better incorporate and promote Green Building technologies, Hoboken Brownstone is not only pursuing a LEED Certificatation for the project, but is looking to make dramatic changes in the way "Green" building is done in this region. They have put together a Green Team of specialists and are trying to influence change by meeting with the National Green Building Council ("GBC") in order to establish special LEED categories for multi-family residential for-sale housing with special certification programs.