Steven J. Pozycki, who founded SJP Properties in 1981, will be honored with NAIOP-NJ's Lifetime Achievement award at this year's May 9 gala at The Palace at Somerset Park. After developing 25 million square feet of suburban office space in New Jersey, Parsippany-based SJP put up a skyscraper at Times Square two years ago. It is currently at work on three urban-center projects in the Garden State: Panasonic's headquarters building in Newark, Pearson publishers' new home at SJP's Waterfront Corporate Center in Hoboken, and two residential towers beside the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee. Recently, he sat down with GlobeSt.com to talk a little about the past, present and future for his company.
GlobeSt.com: To start with, what's your current overall market weather report?
Pozycki: The economy remains unsettled and that still weighs very heavily on corporate decision-making. Uncertainty causes companies to hoard cash and not make financial commitments. If they do, they make them as slowly as they can
GlobeSt.com: Is it worse in New York, or New Jersey?
Pozycki: The Manhattan office market is lackluster at best; downtown is a disaster; Midtown South is a very tight office market, mainly for media and tech'. The only good news about the New York market as opposed to some parts of New Jersey is: If we have an aging office market, Manhattan is almost like a dinosaur. The deals we made at 11 Times Square happened because there are only a handful of buildings in Midtown with the cutting-edge technology and the LEED “gold” type of construction we do.
GlobeSt.com: Everyone knows the suburban office market is sorely troubled. Where will SJP be focusing in the immediate future?
Pozycki: We clearly will do more in the urban centers. Clearly, the younger employees want to be in the urban centers. When the corporations can finally make decisions, I see demographics pushing them into locations that are mostly urban. If they're suburban, they must have access to restaurants, bars, health clubs, hotels, and a 24-7 vibrancy.
GlobeSt.com: You are known for personal attention to detail in terms of the design and materials used in SJP buildings. Is this “perfectionist” tendency what got you where you are today?
Pozycki: It's a complicated business, and everyone has to execute. The golden rule when I was growing up was always: If you are not going to do something the best you can, just don't do it.
GlobeSt.com: Can you name your favorite SJP building?
Pozycki: 11 Times Square. In Manhattan, you have the historically great architecture. We feel what we did at 42nd Street and 8th Avenue is as good as anything we could have done. That's why, in a very tough market, we have 75% lease-up – and the only space left is at the top of the building where the views and the layout are perfect.
GlobeSt.com: Your proudest achievement?
Pozycki: My proudest accomplishment is the organization we've built over almost 30 years. The average longevity of our people at SJP is over 20 years. There is a tremendous amount of dignity and respect within the company.
GlobeSt.com: Biggest frustration?
Pozycki: It hasn't changed since we started the business. We are very, very committed to our investors. Then, you have developers coming in with the short-term view, making haphazard decisions, making promises to investors far from the truth. Some investors wind up horribly over-paying and the market just gets beat up.
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