RE Seminar: Dave Gibbons
Date: Thursday, October 6th
When: 4:30-6:30 with reception to follow in the Statler Hotel’s Regents Lounge
Where: Beck 198
Attire: Business
Dave Gibbons serves as president of David O. Evans, Inc., the operating company for his family’s third-generation commercial real estate business.
He began his career at David O. Evans, Inc. in 1996, before joining Seagis Property Group in 2005, a new venture focused on the acquisition and management of industrial real estate funded through a partnership with a single source of institutional capital. At Seagis, Dave headed the New Jersey office, overseeing acquisitions, development, and asset management of a portfolio that grew to over two million square feet, becoming a partner in the firm in 2008. He also served as a board member to the family business throughout that time. He returned to David O. Evans, Inc. in May of 2011, as part of a succession plan to continue operation of the business into the third generation of his family.
The affiliates of David O. Evans, Inc. own and operate approximately 2 million square feet of commercial space in northern New Jersey, most of it industrial and warehouse space in the vicinity of Newark airport and the port of Elizabeth / Newark. Many of the assets the company continues to own were constructed many years ago in the 1960’s in an area that is now urban and fully developed, constrained by a lack of land available for additional development. The firm has spent much of the past ten years renovating or redeveloping its well-located, older assets, upgrading them to better meet the demands of today’s tenants. Additional redevelopment is planned for much of the next ten years, as existing leases terminate and assets become available for reinvestment. The company recently signed one of the largest build-to-suit leases in New Jersey in the past several years, and is currently constructing the 524,000-square-foot modern warehouse contemplated through that transaction. The company also has modified the portfolio through several local acquisitions and select sales during the past fifteen years, and also owns and operates approximately 100,000 square feet of retail properties.
Dave entered the real estate business after graduating Cornell Law School as in-house counsel, drafting and negotiating all types of commercial leases, construction contracts, and brokerage commission agreements, and supervising outside counsel on all matters not handled internally, including evictions, litigation, municipal approvals, environmental issues, and bankruptcy. He became a member of senior management with primary responsibility for the business issues of leases, acquisitions, and construction. Throughout his career, he has led the leasing of approximately 4 million square feet of commercial space, including many transactions with well-known corporate tenants. He has overseen several acquisitions totaling in excess of $100 million invested. Acquisitions have included leased buildings, vacant buildings, and land for ground-up development. He also has acquired both leases and buildings out of bankruptcy. He has supervised several different types of construction projects with aggregate expenditures totaling approximately $35 million, including renovations and redevelopments of existing assets, new ground-up development, and tenant-improvement work before or during occupancy by tenants. Much of his construction oversight and asset management has required different forms of environmental remediation.
He has overseen the disposition process for several sales. He also has provided leadership for obtainment of various land-use governmental approvals required for new development or renovation, including approvals from NJDEP, NJDOT, and local approvals in several New Jersey municipalities.
Throughout his career, Dave also has served multiple boards of directors of for-profit and non-profit entities at any given time. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Newark Legacy Charter School, as a Director for a local community bank, and as a Trustee for NJ-NAIOP. He formerly served as a Director for Synergy Bank and Trinitas Hospital. He chaired the board of Synergy Bank, a former NASDAQ company, for the two years prior to its sale in October, 2007. He also is a past chairman at Elizabeth Development Co., a quasi-governmental economic development agency, and the YMCA of Eastern Union County.
He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.S. in Finance, and Cornell Law School. He and his wife, Susan, live in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, with their three boys, Peter , Sam, and Jimmy. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, baseball, running, paddle tennis, and hiking.