Saxum promotes five after banner year for investments, development – Real Estate NJ

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By Joshua Burd

Saxum Real Estate has promoted five members of its Summit-based team, following a year in which it reached more than $1 billion in capitalizations.

Rising to the position of principal and chief compliance officer is Lee Samuelson, who joined the firm in 2020 as general counsel and chief compliance officer. He has since led Saxum in the structuring of its joint ventures and provided legal counsel on risk management, operational, transactional and other business issues, while spearheading the growth of its legal department to include three in-house attorneys, matching the trajectory of the firm’s portfolio.

The veteran team has more than 60 years of combined experience, which Saxum said provides a notable execution advantage for it to transact quickly and efficiently at scale, according to a news release. That was critical in 2023 as Saxum marked its most successful year to date, with $1.05 billion in total deal capitalizations across nine projects with more than 3.7 million square feet of cold storage, industrial and multifamily assets.

“Lee is an enormously talented individual with an incredible legal mind,” said Anthony Rinaldi, founder and managing principal of Saxum. “The versatility, depth and span of his legal expertise across multiple disciplines including commercial real estate transactional, leasing, financing, structural, tax, employment and corporate law make him a rare talent and an invaluable asset to the firm. He has made significant contributions to our firm and we are grateful for his partnership.”

Meantime, the company has promoted Mehul Desai to project executive within its construction vertical. Since joining the firm in 2021, he has completed two dry industrial warehouses and five cold storage facilities totaling 1.4 million square feet, having also overseen the completion of a 297-unit multifamily project in Philadelphia’s Fishtown section and the start of another 490 units in the Northern Liberties neighborhood.

Overall, Desai has managed or completed 10 projects at the firm and helped to establish and finalize Saxum’s Design-Build Institute of America and American Institute of Architects contracts processes.

“Mehul brings his all to each and every project,” said Kieran Flanagan, principal and head of construction. “He’s a great teammate with an ability to solve difficult challenges with his depth of experience, and he eagerly teaches colleagues about the technical side of construction.

“Mehul’s insatiable appetite for continuous learning and achieving along with his skill at managing people enable him to deliver the highest-quality buildings for Saxum.”

Rising to acquisitions associate is Brandon Stern, who focuses on industrial deals and was a key member of the team that acquired a 1.2 million-square-foot portfolio in East Hanover with partner Morgan Stanley, in a $217 million deal that was New Jersey’s largest in the asset class last year. According to the news release, Stern also performed underwriting and analyzed more than 120 opportunities across 10 markets in 2023, including acquisition, ground-up speculative development and redevelopment.

Stern previously worked at Velocity Venture Partners, a boutique real estate private equity firm in Philadelphia that focused exclusively on industrial assets, where he had an integral role in closing more than 30 transactions across 4 million square feet and totaling $500 million in capitalization.

“Brandon’s promotion is a direct reflection of his growth in acquisition underwriting, his consistent high-quality work product, and his consummate team player attitude,” said Steve Feinberg, the firm’s director of investments for industrial. “He continues to excel regardless of the circumstances and we are grateful for his contributions to the team.”

The firm has also promoted Spencer Kopko to acquisitions associate, noting that he focuses on asset classes such as multifamily, industrial and student housing. He had an integral role in the acquisition of Saxum’s North Florida Logistics Park project adjacent to Jacksonville International Airport, a 10-building, master-planned industrial park that will yield more than 3.7 million square feet of high-end industrial space.

Prior to joining Saxum, Kopko was an active deal team member at Nomura Securities, where he supported more than $10 billion in aggregate transaction value through financial modeling, valuation analysis and the creation of client advisory materials.

“Spencer’s strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and work ethic have made him a valuable asset and have led him to excel across verticals at Saxum,” said Sean Gilbert, Principal and Head of Acquisitions. “He is a tremendous team player and an active contributor across the organization.”

Additionally, Saxum has elevated Daniel Servidio to development manager. He joined the firm in 2020 and has been instrumental in facilitating the inception, growth and active execution of its housing platform, the news release said, citing his work with the development and construction team to manage the life cycle of its more than 1,400 multifamily units.

That includes the successful capitalization and commencement of the $215 million, 466-unit luxury apartment project in Northern Liberties, the firm said. Servidio will continue to focus on growing Saxum’s housing platform across the U.S., with projects slated to begin this year in Monmouth County and New York’s Westchester County.

“Dan is an extraordinary team player, bringing his experience and intellect to every project,” Flanagan said. “He consistently listens, learns and applies his knowledge which ultimately enables us to develop best-in-class multifamily buildings. We love having Dan on our team and look forward to seeing how he will excel in his new role.”