Home rule remains a major impediment in developing a state plan. "In the pressure of the current market, development takes place in the suburbs without any consideration of where the jobs are," noted Tim Touhey, chairman of the New Jersey State Planning Commission. "We need to bring in designers and develop a plan of how we want our cities to look in 20 years."

Paying for the infrastructure in and around cities will be another challenge. It's going to take money and with New Jersey facing a $5 billion budget deficit it isn't going to come from the state alone. "The state is broke. Ultimately, the only way to get urban development done is to get private investors involved," said Adam Zellner, executive director of the DCA's Office of Smart Growth.

In another notable session, Michael Desiato, editor-in-chief of Real Estate Media, had a one-on-one sit-down with Peter Cocoziello, founder of Bedminster-based Advance Realty Group. Cocoziello discussed his business philisophy, the growth of his company and what the future holds for Advance in the popular RealShare segment "Inside the Real Estate Mind."

Some of the state's major sources of real estate investment capital took part in a Town Hall meeting: NJ at the Crossroads. The high-powered panel included Mitchell Hersh of Mack-Cali Realty Corp., James Postell of Trammell Crow Co., Todd Rechler of Reckson Associates Realty, Jerry Sweeney of Brandywine Realty Trust, Joseph Taylor of Matrix Development Group and Eric Witmondt of GVA Williams. Eric Peterson, editor of Real Estate New Jersey, served as moderator.

While the state's economy continues to improve, most said the NJ markets remain challenged by vacancy here and in New York City. "Office is really speculative," noted Postell. "Until space is absorbed in certain areas, including Midtown Manhattan, absorption in New Jersey is going to be slow. We're not going to reach that equilibrium of 10% vacancy for four or five years."

US Attorney Christie told the conference that New Jersey also faces challenges on two other fronts: terrorism and government corruption. "They ask for your trust," he said. "They put their hand on a Bible and take an oath and than they steal from you."

He noted that the 66 people who have been convicted or plead guilty to corruption charges in his 33 months in office including two of the state's most prominent real estate developers. "You have to stand up to corruption," he said. "You are the ones who have to solve this problem. I can help. But you're the ones that have to solve it."