All that talk about New Jersey being a tough place to do business. Zygi Wilf isn’t buying
it.
The founder of Garden Homes — and billionaire owner of the Minnesota Vikings —
used his induction into the N.J. Hall of Fame Friday night at American Dream to
champion the state’s business climate.
“Contrary to many people saying differently, New Jersey is a great place to do
business,” he told BINJE. “We’ve been building here for 70 years, and we’ll continue to
build here. It’s a strong market.”
Wilf emphasized what many in commercial real estate already know — the state’s
location is its best asset.
“We’re right in the middle of all the traffic between Washington, Philly, New York and
Boston,” he said. “We’re the center of everything.”
Wilf said the need for affordable housing has never been greater.
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“We’ve always been a very major builder of a multi-family,” he said. “People need
housing, and with the programs that are in New Jersey right now for affordable housing,
it’s an incentive to be able to build the market-rate housing together with the affordable
housing.
“The programs under the Mount Laurel doctrine, which the Supreme Court ruled and the
governor has endorsed, allow us to build a significant amount of affordable housing. I
think it’s one of the best programs around the country.”
Wilf said he’s hopeful that multi-family will remain strong.
“I hope it will continue, depending upon how interest rates go, but I think it’s a great
incentive to be able to build all the housing that we have so far,” he said.
And while Garden Homes is not a player in the warehouse space, Wilf said he’s
watching that, too. He said he’s not overly concerned by a recent pushback against an
asset class that has spurred so much of the state’s growth in recent years.
“It always goes in cycles,” he said. “It used to be a NIMBY situation, where people didn’t
want any housing. Now they don’t want warehouses.”
In the end, the state’s location will be the driving force behind warehousing, he said.
“I think that, ultimately, with New Jersey being the central location of the entire Eastern
market, they’ll be able to accommodate the demand,” he said.
