Phillip Gesue of Strategic Capital | 75 Park Lane in Jersey City | A Home for Newcomers
Courtesy of Strategic Capital
A Home For Newcomers
This week we'll be talking to Phillip Gesue, the Chief Development Officer at Strategic Capital, a Jersey City-based development company that is a subsidiary of China Construction America. In this week’s episode, we will discuss how a 37 story high-rise, located just steps from the Hudson River, is set to become the city’s landmark condominium residence.
We will be speaking with him about how he has been involved with the architectural design and development of 75 Park Lane, his career at Strategic Capital, as well as how his team has implemented a number of technologies to increase energy efficiency and reduce the building’s waste. We will also discuss the buyer segment of Chinese nationals and Chinese Americans and how that has become intertwined with the macro-level topic of immigration in the greater New York City area.
“I think that the project was built for an American audience. I think that it appealed to an Asian audience because it was built in Jersey City. And I think we knew that that buyer segment was a large part of our audience. You know, an interesting thing that I’ve discovered because I’ve been in the condo business for a long time, is that Asians and Chinese in particular know a lot about condominiums. The way it’s a national pastime for us New Yorkers to talk about real estate and the price of real estate, you know, what have you got? Where’d you buy? And how much per square foot? They’re like that times 10, like they know everything about condos. They’re great at layouts. Even the average buyer will come in and just know everything about the finishes. And they’re really, really sophisticated.”
Courtesy of Strategic Capital
About Phillip Gesue
Phillip Gesue is the Chief Development Officer at Strategic Capital (the New Jersey-based investment arm of China Construction America (CCA), a subsidiary of state-controlled Chinese builder CSCEC), where he had previously served as head of real estate. As a Columbia University graduate of the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation with an MS in Real Estate Development and Bachelor’s of Science in Business and Economics from University of Pittsburgh, Phillip is an expert in the field. He is also a board member of New York's Art Omi International Arts Center.
Courtesy of Strategic Capital
Episode Timestamps
5:55 – When you were in New York, you worked for a number of well-known real estate developers, including Steve Witkoff and Francis Greenburger. What were the different things that you learned from each of those experiences?
8:55 – The project that we're going to focus on today is 75 Park Lane. Could you tell us about the specifics of its location and the Newport neighborhood in Jersey City?
13:55 – I want our listeners to be able to imagine themselves being at 75 Park Lane. So what is the experience as you enter the building and you walk up to you?
15:12 – In the design and the construction of the building, you were able to implement a number of technologies to enable energy efficiency and reduce waste. Could you talk about some of those technologies?
19:30 – 75 Park Lane was built for an audience of buyers that was largely Chinese nationals and Chinese-Americans. What would you say differentiates these types of buyers from others that you attract in your projects?
23:28 – Could you describe what the EB-5 program is?
29:33 – How do you see the profile of Chinese investors and developers in America having changed over time?
33:04 – What advice do you have for someone that is interested in a career in development?
Connect with Phillip Gesue:
LinkedIn (Phillip Gesue)
Instagram (75 Park Lane)
75 Park Lane
Strategic Capital
Courtesy of Strategic Capital
About your host:
Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of Commonplace, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Commonplace
Commonplace is a founding sponsor of American Building. It is a 100% minority-owned, real estate technology company founded in 2020 to make financing social impact development projects across the US easier. It is funded by venture capital investors Hometeam Ventures, Park West Asset Management, New York Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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