Annual scholastic competition offered five universities
an opportunity to propose waterfront redevelopment concept plans
CARTERET, NJ – Five prestigious universities participated in the 2024 Kislak Real Estate Institute Challenge, an annual redevelopment competition hosted by Monmouth University.
This year, the case study was to redevelop a portion of the Carteret waterfront situated between the forthcoming Carteret Intermodal Transportation Building, the hub of the Borough’s forthcoming ferry service, and Carteret Stages, a movie studio and hotel planned for nearby. Villanova University won the $10,000 first prize, while Monmouth University took second. Princeton University, Rutgers University, and the University of Baltimore also participated in the Challenge.
“Monmouth University’s Kislak Real Estate Institute is one of the most prestigious and reputable real estate schools in the country,” Mayor Daniel J. Reiman said. “We are honored that they chose Carteret’s waterfront as their case study. I have enjoyed looking at all the plans and wish the students well in what likely will be very successful real estate careers.”
Students were provided with a project map that included public access to the waterfront, a tax map, and Borough population demographics and income figures.
For the past five years, which is a little more than half of the Challenge’s tenure, Carteret planning consultant Andrew Janiw of Colts Neck-based Beacon Planning has been writing the case studies. Monmouth wanted to utilize the Carteret waterfront as a case study because movie studios are such a hot development topic in New Jersey, Janiw said.
“Plus, there’s the ferry,” he said. “Villanova did a wonderful presentation with great graphics. They gave a practical solution to the question. The judges look for the practicality of the response and the ability for the vision to have a foundation something that actually can be viable. The key is to not give us a crazy vision but to give us something sustainable.”
Raised in Carteret, Janiw also served as one of the Challenge’s seven judges of real estate, banking and legal professionals. A frequent guest lecturer at the Kislak Real Estate Institute and a member of its curriculum advisory committee, Janiw will be the recipient of the Institute’s Service to Industry Award at its annual dinner on May 30 at the university. Donald M. Moliver, the retiring founder of the Institute, will receive its Leadership Excellence Award.
The Kislak Co., the Institute’s namesake benefactor, is a family-owned redevelopment firm founded in Woodbridge and now based in Florida. For more about Kislak Real Estate Institute, visit monmouth.edu/kislak/. For more about Carteret’s waterfront and other redevelopment plans, visit carteret.net/latest-news/.
