Commercial Real Estate Breakfast

Shane Connell, Executive Vice President at The Connell Company 

As the Executive Vice President of The Connell Company, one of the largest diversified, privately held companies in the United States, Shane Connell currently leads the $500 million transformation of The Park at Berkeley Heights. The Park is a collegiate-inspired, mixed-use campus spanning 185 acres and offers a variety of flexible workspaces, including the elevated coworking and social club – Round Table Studios; a robust suite of shared amenities; concierge services; as well as fitness and nutrition programming — all operated under a hospitality-focused ecosystem. 

Community is paramount to The Connell Company, which the Connell family has led for five generations. The company has been a long-time champion of Berkeley Heights, supporting the fire department, rescue squad, police department, schools, and local events—continually striving to make a positive impact on the surrounding community, both on an individual and collective level. 

Jennifer Ellis-Rosa, Workplace Strategist at Gensler

Jennifer has over 20 years of professional experience in design, client engagement, workplace strategy and project leadership, supporting clients from a wide range of industries throughout NJ. As a NCIDQ certified designer, she is the perfect complement of design and strategy.

Her highly collaborative process engages the client team to better understand their specific culture, spatial requirements and project vision. She develops real estate strategies, workplace programs, change management plans and layouts that are uniquely informed by client engagement, peer benchmarking and research data. Jenn is known for her enthusiasm to understand each client and project, and her desire to qualify the impact of emerging trends.

Andrea S. Hsu, IIDA, CHID, EDAC, Principal, Interior Designer, at NK Architects, P.A.

As an interior designer specializing in healthcare and wellness developed over 20 years in the field, Andrea brings a deep understanding of how aesthetics and functionality meet within successful healthcare facilities. She has led projects at all scales within the United States, Asia, and the Middle East, creating innovative and lasting design solutions. Andrea is passionate about design that involves complex problem solving; from aligning institutional goals and user needs to forward-thinking operational strategies to improve workflow.

An avid enthusiast of fine arts, Andrea often finds inspiration in the intersection of artistic expression and architectural design, believing that knowledge across all design disciplines is key to creating spaces that are relevant and impactful.

Andrea holds a B.S. in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University. Her professional affiliations include membership in the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), the Association of Medical Facility Professionals (AMFP) New York Chapter, and the Health Leaders Cohort at the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Shuli Sadé, Multidisciplinary and Mixed Media Artist

Shuli Sadé is a New York-based cross-disciplinary artist who seamlessly integrates art and technology to create innovative, interactive placemaking artworks. Drawing inspiration from architecture, her data-driven practice spans diverse disciplines, crafting maps of urban memory that reflect the “DNA” of a city and the transient identity of its inhabitants.

Her recent public art installations include works at Sea-Tac Airport in Tacoma, Washington; Huntsville City Hall in Alabama; Montefiore Einstein Medical Campus at Hudson Yards, NYC; and MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has also created augmented reality installations at Battery Park City and Riverside Park in New York City. Currently, Sadé is working on hospital projects in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Mass General Hospital in Boston; and University Health in San Antonio, Texas. 

Frank Vitolo, Esq., Partner at Sills Cummis & Gross P.C.

Frank J. Vitolo, a Member of the Sills Cummis & Gross Real Estate Department, is a recognized leader in planning, zoning and redevelopment law. He served as lead development counsel for many of the region’s major real estate projects, including Valley Bank’s new Morristown headquarters and the planning and redevelopment of M-Station Morristown – Deloitte’s new headquarters in New Jersey. Mr. Vitolo has also obtained favorable outcomes for clients involved in complex partnership and real estate disputes, and won dismissal of product liability and consumer fraud actions in federal and state courts. He has practiced law in New Jersey and New York for over twenty years.