DENHOLTZ PROPERTIES, WHICH RECENTLY RELOCATED ITS HEADQUARTERS TO DOWNTOWN RED BANK, IS DEVELOPING COMMUNITY FOCUSED REAL ESTATE IN NEW JERSEY’S FAST GROWING TOWNS
BY JESSICA JONES GORMAN • PHOTOS BY PATTY PIXELS
For Steven Denholtz and his real estate development and Investment Company, 2019 was a transformative year. After undergoing a major rebranding in May, shifting the company name from Denholtz Associates to Denholtz Properties and introducing a new logo and website to better represent the firm’s continued evolution and growth, the CEO elected to packed up his longtime headquarters in Matawan and move the business to downtown Red Bank. He also brought on a brand new set of directors and hired an investor relations team. Why so many changes? Denholtz said that it’s all about growth, and his company’s ability to capitalize on new opportunities.
“We’ve expanded our footprint over the past several years, and I think the next phase in this company’s history includes investing in emerging markets like central New Jersey and Florida,” he said. “We are focused on industrial, office, retail, and residential development in transit oriented hubs, so it only made sense to move into one of those areas ourselves.”
Located on Chestnut Street and part of a mixed use project known as The Rail at Red Bank Station (which Denholtz is developing), the company’s office space encompasses 15,000 square feet and will be neighbor to 57 luxury residential units and an expanse of retail space when the project is completed.
“This is a great community with a wonderful professional and politically active population that cares,” Denholtz said. “I feel this move has truly energized the company.”
Committed to providing community focused real estate in New Jersey, Denholtz reported that he’s currently intent on building up the west side of Red Bank, including acquiring and upgrading existing assets. He is also working on a parcel near the scenic Navesink River waterfront, developing 10 luxury condominiums between West Front and Union streets.
“We are excited to have such a presence here in Red Bank,” he said, detailing the so called Southbank project, which is scheduled for completion in 2021.
Denholtz’s company, founded in 1952 by his father, Jack a homebuilder who spent a large part of his career building housing for the disadvantaged and poor has built an estimated 4.1 million square feet of both commercial and residential space throughout its 68 year history, about 60 percent of it in New Jersey. In 2019 alone, the company was responsible for 164 total leases and amendments.
Because of those strong business ties, its CEO is deeply involved in the Garden State community. A campaign co-chair and ardent sponsor of the Count Basie Theatre, Denholtz also supports the Two River Theater, Open Heart Yoga, Students for Sober Living, and Lunch Break, which provides food, clothing, life skills, and fellowship to those in need in Monmouth County and beyond. He’s also a professor at Monmouth University, has been a board member for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, acted as treasurer and a board member for the New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, and served as a board member of Meridian Health Affiliated Foundations.
He is also a consistent supporter of local arts, recently commissioning a mural by Kathleen Palmeri for the exterior of his new headquarters, and featuring the photography of Eric Sambol in a number of his office spaces.
In his role as CEO, Denholtz, who joined the family company in 1983, is responsible for its strategic direction and capital structure, as well as for supervising development activities and spearheading business development. Together with company president, Stephen Cassidy, he recently expanded Denholtz Properties to include an office in Orlando, Florida. (“We have properties in Orlando, Tampa, St. Pete, and Palm Beach,” he noted.)
But the company’s diverse New Jersey portfolio remains one of its greatest strengths. “We’re on a very focused path right now with the development of industrial properties in a variety of locations,” Denholtz said, detailing his latest project: two parcels of land in Forth Monmouth, which closed as an official U.S. Army installation in September of 2011.
In the years since then, the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority was created to guide the investment, growth, and integration of Fort Monmouth with the surrounding communities. Denholtz Properties was recently commissioned to develop the two parcels into separate modern mixed use facilities, featuring technology, research, office, and retail functionality. It is also working on projects in Eatontown and Robbinsville.
“It’s an exciting time there is a lot of growth going on,” Denholtz concluded. “But growth is always a nice problem to have to deal with.”
Denholtz Properties
116 Chestnut Street, Suite 102, Red Bank 732.388.3000 / denholtz.com