What You Must Know About Construction
10am - 10:45am - Room Jed D. Satow
Kenneth Morrison - Moderator
CEO, Lemor Development Group
Kenneth M. Morrison is the President of Lemor Realty Corporation, a second-generation mixed income housing developer and property manager in business for over 30 years. He co-founded Lemor Development Group in 2014 which focuses on real estate investments, consulting and development. Mr. Morrison’s companies have worked with various municipal agencies including the NYS HCR, NYC HDC, NYC HPD, City of Newark, NJ and HUD.
Mr. Morrison has successfully developed affordable housing for sale and rent throughout the City of New York and Newark, NJ. Lemor Development is currently working in partnership with various development partners and the New York City Housing Authority to rehabilitate over 2300 units throughout the borough of Manhattan. LDG has various development projects in development including: “The Robeson” a 79-unit new construction located on Lenox Avenue in Central Harlem; “Mt. Hope Renaissance” a 515-unit preservation development in the South Bronx in partnership with NCV Hope LLC and Mount Hope Housing; “Balton Commons” a new construction mixed use development partially financed with Low Income Tax Credits in partnership with Apex Construction.
Jovana Villanueva
CEO/Founder, JV Construction & Consulting
Jovana Villanueva established JV Construction & Consulting LLC by herself in 2017. Jovana started her career in construction in 2001 as a project assistant at a construction company and quickly rose through the ranks in every department in the industry, eventually becoming a Senior Project Manager for a major general contracting company. Jovana has extensive experience in all aspects associated with construction including: estimating, bidding, pre-construction, expediting, site safety management, fire safety management, project management, risk management, material management, project closeouts, and contingency planning.
With over 20 years of experience, Jovana Villanueva has been the direct Construction Project Manager of numerous projects worth over $200 million dollars. Jovana has worked on different types of projects such as: affordable housing, mixed-income, market rate, private sector, commercial, educational, hospitality, and high end residential. She strongly believes in working hard to consistently deliver excellence.
Albert Odjidja
Executive Vice President,
McKissack & McKissack
Albert Odjidja is Executive Vice President of Construction and Construction Management Services at McKissack. He has 30 years of experience in the design and construction industry and his experience is comprised of a variety of complex project types for healthcare, higher education and institutional clients. Albert is well versed in interfacing with owners and prime contractors and directing the project team managing the total budget, schedule, and construction process from the conceptual stage to owner occupancy.
Since joining McKissack in 2006, Albert has led more than $1 billion in construction, including healthcare, education and institutional projects. Albert began his career at McKissack serving as Senior Project Manager for the new $185 million, 194,000 SF School of Science, Health and Technology Building at Medgar Evers College for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, which won the 2012 Brooklyn Building Award by Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. He also served as Senior Project Manager for NYC Economic Development Corporation
(NYCEDC)/NYC Health+Hospitals Corporation (HHC) Henry J. Carter Specialty Skilled Nursing Facility, a new six-story building which was part of the overall $285 million project.
Currently, Albert serves as Project Executive for several McKissack projects, including the $150 million NYCEDC CM Retainer contract and the $800 million NYCEDC/HHC Coney Island Hospital Campus Renovation project.
Robert Horsford
CEO, Apex Building Corporation
Robert Horsford, President and Chairman of Apex Building Company, is a third generation real estate professional, having cut his teeth in the industry while working with his immigrant entrepreneur grandfather, Victor Horsford, founder of Victor Horsford Realty Corp., a real estate fixture in Harlem since 1945. Robert earned a BS degree in structural engineering and business economics from Brown University. Prior to founding Apex in 1997, he worked as a project manager for Verizon Global and as a project engineer at Gilbane Building Company. Robert sits on the Greater Harlem Real Estate Board and the New York State Association for Affordable Housing.
Apex Building Co. is a Harlem-based full-service, MBE-certified general contracting, construction management and real estate development firm. The Company actively works to strengthen and revitalize urban communities via development of new and restoration of existing affordable and mixed-income housing in New York City and the greater Tri State area. The Company has completed more than $200 million in new and moderate construction enabling the addition or preservation of more than 2,300 affordable residential units in New York and New Jersey. As a developer, Apex has commissioned more than $65 million in mixed-use and affordable housing.
Though a for-profit enterprise, the mission of the Company is to address a pressing need for housing for heavily rent burdened lower income earners through strategic partnerships with like minded organizations with access to capital, land, and/or supportive services to house and assist our community’s most vulnerable populations. To that end, Apex continues to collaborate with firms interested in making high-quality residential, institutional and commercial properties a reality in the Tri State area. Today, Apex is distinguished as an experienced general contractor and developer who delivers mixed-used and affordable housing on time and on budget.
Marc Michalewsky
Vice President, True & Associates
Marc is currently the Senior Vice President of the Surety Division of True & Associates and manages the agency’s over 130 clients. Prior to joining the firm, Marc was an underwriting supervisor at a division of Kemper Insurance Co. and was responsible for handling the New York and New Jersey territory. Marc’s team of six underwriters dealt with over 40 agents, supported over 200 construction companies ranging from heavy highway contractors to general contractors and specialty trade contractors which generated
$20,000,000 in premium revenue.
Right out of college Marc spent five years working for a medium sized public accounting firm where he gained extensive experience in preparing corporate financial statements, corporate tax returns, personal tax returns and field auditing experience. This unique financial insight gives True & Associates’ clients a huge advantage when dealing with CPA firms and surety carriers.
Marc maintains a close pulse of the construction industry by participating in a number of construction trade associations such as UTCA, CFMA, BCA, & NJSA. Marc’s education includes a BS degree in both accounting and finance from LaSalle University.