FROM PLAYING AT CONSTRUCTION SITES AS A YOUTH TO CREATING LUXURY HIGH-RISES IN THE NATION’S TOP MARKETS, A REAL ESTATE AND MARKETING EXECUTIVE’S CAREER PARALLELS THE GROWTH AND EVOLUTION OF HIS INDUSTRY

BY LAURA D.C. KOLNOSKI • PHOTOS BY AMESSÉ PHOTOGRAPHY

When the real estate market tanked in the 1980s, K. Hovnanian Homes found itself with 100 unoccupied residences in its new development in Mahopac, New York. After a man they brought in sold a dozen in 30 days, the company chairman few in via helicopter with a b bottle of champagne.

“I just told him that if you have a good product, it’s not difficult to sell,” said Gabe Pasquale, who today is senior vice-president of sales and marketing for Landsea Holdings Corporation, demonstrating a “can do” attitude that’s propelled him throughout his career. Pasquale has sold modest single-family homes to luxury developments, resort homes, and master-planned communities across the country; completing deals for more than 10,000, in fact. Considered a guru in the development and implementation of strategic marketing plans, and the designer of thousands of marketing campaigns, he explained that multiple factors contribute to a project’s success.

“Market research, understanding where there is a niche for growth, in addition to appreciating an underserved opportunity within the market are some of the key elements that must be clearly understood early in the process,” he said. “When you hit the bull’s eye for your target market, you know instantly based on acceptance.” He believes a marketing campaign should be visually and intellectually engaging. (“No smoke and mirrors. It should be clear—simple and easy to interpret.”) Pasquale is also a _ rm believer in knowing and narrowing one’s demographic. Designing “street presence,” a brand name, product square footage, interior speci_ cations, and amenities should align with the demographic and target audience.

“My style is, and I feel the most important thing, is to understand who you are trying to market and sell to,” he said, “then create a position for your property that will resonate with that target pool in a thoughtful and responsive way.”

Those philosophies are currently being applied at a high-profile project in Weehawken, where a centerpiece of the Port Imperial mega-project along the waterfront of three towns on New Jersey’s Gold Coast is rising. Avora, a sophisticated, contemporary residential condominium, blends modern style with high-level conveniences, unobstructed views of Manhattan and the Hudson River, and a LEED-certified standard with the latest in renewable energy technologies and sustainable practices. Its resort-like amenities include an outdoor landscaped deck with a pool, sun deck, an amphitheater with fireside seating, and a grilling area. Interior amenities include a multi-purpose gaming room, pet spa, virtual golf and other digital gaming, and concierge level services.

Ground was broken in January, the sales office opened in early September, and completion is scheduled for 2018. The 11-story Avora will have 184 luxury one-, two-, and threebedroom homes of an average 1,500 square feet (including a limited offering of duplex penthouses), more than 35,000 square feet of amenity space, approximately 6,000 square feet of retail, and it will be the closest residential for-sale development to the Weehawken Ferry Terminal. Prices begin at
$800,000.

The luxury of Port Imperial is a fair distance from the construction sites Pasquale played in as an eight-year-old in New York’s Rockland County, where he grew up.

“Back then I liked to imagine what a home would look like once completed,” he said. “I always enjoyed playing around the dirt. It was in my DNA as a child, and I aspired to be a builder. My dad had a very strong work ethic. My parents were leaders within the community, who taught me and my siblings about giving back to those who have less than you. I’ve always had an interest in real estate and marketing; intrigued by the homes and buildings I was surrounded by. I started working in real estate right out of school, and I am very passionate about what I do.”

Interestingly, Pasquale also aspired to become a doctor, but elected to change careers while in his second year of medical school at New York University.

“I guess I just realized that real estate was my true love, and so I transferred to the NYU School of Real Estate,” he recalled.

Although he loved science and medicine, the strong seller’s market of the early ’80s factored in his decision. Six months after obtaining his real estate license, Pasquale, working out of a small trailer, sold about half of a 13-home subdivision his first weekend. and his fate was sealed. During that heady time, buyers would line up at new listings, generating multiple offers.

Over the next 30 years, the real estate maven moved up and on. Prior to joining Landsea, he spent three years with Douglas Elliman Real Estate as executive vice-president. He also spent four years as senior vice-president of marketing and sales at RXR Realty in Uniondale, New York, where he spearheaded a national team of industry professionals in community and product design and development, marketing and media strategies, and sales management, winning awards for his approaches. With RXR, his major projects included the Ritz-Carlton Residences Inner Harbor in Baltimore, the first Ritz-Carlton Residences condos, and the Ritz-Carlton North Hills on Long Island. While vice-president and chief marketing officer for WCI Communities’ northeast U.S. region, he led the company to several national “Community of the Year” awards from the National Association of Home Builders, and was named Marketing Director of the Year in 1999.

While with Hovnanian, he helped lead the company into the luxury home and active-adult marketplace, developing K. Hovnanian’s active-adult brand Four Seasons, and created the company’s first interactive Home Design Gallery.

Given his association with desirable upscale developments in the Northeast, Pasquale has had his share of encounters with the rich and famous. He met Tom Clancy when the late author purchased a penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton in Baltimore, and counts among his friends the mother of Olympian Michael Phelps, Deborah, who also purchased from him in that city; a deal that evolved after Pasquale watched Phelps win his fifth gold medal during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

“During an interview, he said he was looking forward to getting back to Baltimore,” Pasquale recounted. “That’s when I decided I’d sell him a condo at the Ritz-Carlton.” Pasquale found Phelps’s manager and made contact. While the 23-time gold medal winner didn’t ultimately buy there, his mother, a principal in the Baltimore school district, did. “She still lives there and we’re still friends today,” he added with a smile.

When Avora developer, Landsea (one of China’s top 100 real estate companies and active throughout the United States), sought a top-level marketing executive, Chief Investment
Officer Paul Lee reached out to his sphere of influencers, three of whom highly recommended Pasquale. The two men met for what was supposed to be an hour-long breakfast and talked for over three hours. There, Pasquale revealed his affinity for the Port Imperial project, fostered when he kicked off one of the first successful residential developments there, Jacob’s Ferry, for Hovnanian in the late 1990s.

“That project started my passion for the Gold Coast of New Jersey,” Pasquale said. “We knew it would be a great rental market, but didn’t know if it would be successful as for-sale. We now know it is.” Once complete, Port Imperial will have some 6,500 residential homes, including luxury rentals, for-sale condominiums, a mixed-use hotel, and retail. Some projects are already completed, others are in various stages of development.

“Avora is a unique offering targeted to several groups— affluent empty-nesters, professional couples, international and celebrity clients, and second home purchasers,” Pasquale said. “The lifestyle associated with the community will be luxurious… world class.”

Now a resident of Blauvelt in Rockland County, he joined the track team in middle and high school and remains an avid runner. He snow skis in winter and water skis in summer, when he also enjoys boating, sailing, and all beach activities, mainly in Lavallette. Pasquale attended
Fairleigh Dickinson’s Teaneck campus, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing. He received a Masters in Real Estate Science from the Shack School of NYU, and holds a Masters in Residential Marketing accreditation through the National Association of Home Builders. He and his wife Jean have ten-year-old twins, Gianna and Gabriel, and an Italian Lagotto Romagnolo dog named Truffles. He is an active board member of the March of Dimes and former New York Giant Justin Tuck’s RUSH for Literacy organization, a member of the National Association of Home Builders, National Sales and Marketing Council, New Jersey Builder Association, and the Member Institute of Residential Marketing.

Pasquale feels that with Landsea, he’s in the right place at the right time in a changing real estate market with evolving consumer needs and demands.

“From an operational and organizational perspective, Landsea is an entrepreneurial environment,” he said. “They hire those who are highly skilled in their areas. They let me do my job. When someone has a high level of faith in you, you want to deliver.”

Avora Sales Gallery
500 Avenue at Port Imperial, Suite A, Weehawken
201.223.1168
avoraliving.com