THE TEAM

MHS Architecture is a premier architectural, planning, urban design, and interior design firm with a 42-year history of award winning, groundbreaking, and placemaking projects in New Jersey. MHS Architecture designs impactful mixed-use buildings that influence each neighborhood creating places for people. The firm has an extraordinary record of completed architecture projects ranging from multifamily buildings to high-rise mixed-use developments as well as impressive land planning and urban design projects servicing various New Jersey communities. The firm’s larger volume of work is currently underway in Jersey City’s Journal Square district. Dean Marchetto, FAIA and A. Nelessen Associates prepared a Vision Plan for Journal Square in 2008 which led to the Redevelopment Plan and current building boom.

MHS Architecture approaches design with a concerted effort to provide modern amenities in a visual architectural language that is respectful and relevant to its local context, drawing creativity from its neighbors to create places, not just buildings. Placemaking projects ranging from 5 to 40 stories and located in downtown areas provides MHS Architecture with opportunities to work hand in hand with municipal teams responsible for planning and community development. MHS Architecture engages in meetings with members of the public to ensure transparency and to involve community stakeholders. Commercial objectives are balanced against community engagement throughout the planning and design process to ensure safe movement of pedestrians and cars and to minimize traffic congestion in favor of walkable public spaces. As a result, completed projects have been popular, well-received, and well-utilized.

Collaboration between MHS Architecture, developers, and each city has brought the creation of sensible growth that foster vibrant cities and towns, provide access to safe, affordable and aging-friendly neighborhoods, and fuel a stronger economy.

As Associate Director of Planning Services, much of Charles’ work at Dresdner Robin is focused on the key components of land use and environmental planning. He places a strong emphasis on development feasibility, redevelopment, environmental and fiscal impact analysis, and sustainability.

His skillset includes development feasibility, community engagement, environmental/fiscal impact analysis, and population/planning/variance studies. Because of his wide base of experience in residential, commercial, mixed-use, industrial, and institutional projects, Charles demonstrates a facility with effective project management. He is often called upon as an expert witness in planning before local and regional boards throughout the tri-state area.

Before joining Dresdner Robin, Charles was a key contributor to the early development of the Sustainable Jersey certification program with the Sustainability Institute (formerly New Jersey Sustainable State Institute). He continues to collaborate on various projects with the Center for Urban Policy Research, including the annual National Historic Preservation Tax Credit Report.

Charles Heydt earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from The College of New Jersey and a Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) degree from the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. A long-time member of the American Planning Association (APA) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), he continues to serve on the APA-NJ Executive Committee.

Eugene T. Paolino is a Partner in the Firm’s Jersey City, NJ office and a member of the Land Use & Approvals, Commercial Real Estate & Redevelopment, Corporate Law & Business Transactions, and Complex Commercial Litigation Practice Groups as well as the Land Development, Education and Real Estate Industry Groups. A Jersey City native, Mr. Paolino has practiced law in New Jersey for more than four decades. He brings deep knowledge, experience and practical skills to his clients’ real estate development, tax abatement, commercial, zoning, land use and redevelopment law matters. In addition, he has significant experience with municipal, county and state developer incentives as well as education and corporate law, with litigation experience in all these areas.

During his career, Mr. Paolino has worked on numerous projects, large and small, in Jersey City and throughout the State of New Jersey. He brings a broad spectrum of experience and expertise to the representation of each of his clients. Mr. Paolino has played a critical role in obtaining governmental approvals and financing for some of the most iconic and significant real estate projects along New Jersey’s Hudson River “Gold Coast” and in Jersey Jersey City, including:

• 77 Hudson Street
• 101 Hudson Street
• The Beacon (formerly Jersey City Medical Center)
• Saint Peter’s MacMahon Student Center
• Saint Peter’s Tower McGinley Square (proposed)
• One Journal Square
• The Rise at 711 Montgomery
• Crescent Park in the Grand Jersey Redevelopment Area
• 30 Journal Square
• 65 Bay Street

Mr. Paolino serves as General Counsel to Saint Peter’s University. He was Assistant Corporation Counsel to the City of Jersey City and Special Environmental Counsel to the City of Hoboken. In addition to his robust commercial real estate law and development practice, Mr. Paolino has significant litigation experience, having argued complex contract disputes and corporate claims at every level in the trial and appellate courts.

Our approach to the redevelopment/renewal process is based not a state statute, which outlines and provides the legal mechanism for a municipality to undertake a redevelopment initiative, but on the broader promise of what redevelopment is intended to accomplish: to renew and restart a community.

Scores of successful redevelopments have risen since the passage of the Housing Act in 1949. At the same time, the redevelopment landscape is littered with failed projects, dashed hopes, and scars of failed redevelopment efforts. For every failure like the Columbus Homes in Newark, there are successes like Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

Whenever community and elected leaders consider a redevelopment project, it sparks intense community debate. There is no shortage of answers, along with disappointment and disillusionment, during the long, complicated process toward reaching a common consensus. Municipalities are tasked with numerous essential services, from safe streets to good schools. But often, the most complicated challenge it faces is revitalizing a troubled neighborhood or declining business district.

The redevelopment process is a complex, multi-disciplinary effort that requires cooperation from many disparate groups with various goals and agendas. Moreover, most municipalities work with limited resources or mismatched skill sets, which limit their ability to sustain focus on redevelopment initiatives. At Grid Real Estate, we understand this process and the promises and pitfalls intimately, though 35 years’ experience at the leading edge of numerous redevelopment efforts. As advisors, we can assist local governments and community groups as they maneuver the complicated redevelopment process and help them reach a clear consensus on the necessary milestones and goals needed to embark upon any community renewal.