Rutgers University is partnering with O’Connor & Company to provide high-quality consultation to Jersey Central Art Studios and the Cranford Downtown Management Corporation. The following is a short profile of the two key consultants on the project.
Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP
Leonardo Vazquez is an urban planner with expertise in community development, local economic development, organizational development and strategic communications. He is on the faculty of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy of Rutgers, the State University and is the founder and Director of the School’s Professional Development Institute. He teaches courses in planning history and theory, leadership, client relations, and economic development at the graduate and professional levels. In addition to his teaching, Leo is a practicing urban planner with more than 10 years of experience in community and local economic development. He is a principal of Strategy One LLC, which provides planning and management consulting services. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a licensed Professional Planner in New Jersey.
Leo specializes in helping small and disadvantaged communities and organizations get the most out of their limited resources. In the New Jersey region, Leo was instrumental in helping the East Ward of Irvington Township receive an Urban Coordinating Council designation in the late 1990s. His Neighborhood Revitalization Zone plan for the Walnut-Orange-Walsh community of Waterbury, CT helped generate thousands of dollars in new housing. He is now working with the Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association on smart growth planning along the Route 130 corridor in Mercer County.
Patience O’Connor
Patience O’ Connor is the principal of O’Connor & Company, and is managing the development of the new Broadway Arts Center in Long Branch. She has over twenty-five years of experience in retail asset management including planning/developing/leasing and marketing commercial projects. She has developed and managed projects in America, UK, France, Denmark, Austria and Italy. During her time in the UK, as Director of Management, Marketing and Public Relations for Europe’s leading designer outlet developer and operator,
BAA McArthur Glen, O'Connor worked with The Prince's Trust for Regeneration and organized the first commercial symposium for HRH Prince Charles at the Great Western Railway Works.
Prior to working in Europe, she was a Senior VP at The Mills Corporation, a publicly traded company based in Virginia; a partner at Evans Development Company of Baltimore, Maryland; and a VP at The Rouse Company of Columbia, Maryland. At Mills, she, along with the Director of Anchor Store Leasing, created the outlet department store strategy and succeeded in securing Saks Fifth Avenue for its first outlet store, which opened at their project in Philadelphia. She spent a year working with the Saks team to successfully implement the outlet concept at Franklin Mills. She was in charge of Asset Management, Marketing, Research and Public Relations for the retail and entertainment centers.
At Evans, O'Connor developed, managed, leased and marketed The Pavilion at the Old Post Office as well as properties for Brown University, The Arcade in Providence, R.I. and projects for Mass Mutual Insurance. She is a City Board Commissioner for Historic St. Mary's City, MD.
Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP
Leonardo Vazquez is an urban planner with expertise in community development, local economic development, organizational development and strategic communications. He is on the faculty of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy of Rutgers, the State University and is the founder and Director of the School’s Professional Development Institute. He teaches courses in planning history and theory, leadership, client relations, and economic development at the graduate and professional levels. In addition to his teaching, Leo is a practicing urban planner with more than 10 years of experience in community and local economic development. He is a principal of Strategy One LLC, which provides planning and management consulting services. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a licensed Professional Planner in New Jersey.
Leo specializes in helping small and disadvantaged communities and organizations get the most out of their limited resources. In the New Jersey region, Leo was instrumental in helping the East Ward of Irvington Township receive an Urban Coordinating Council designation in the late 1990s. His Neighborhood Revitalization Zone plan for the Walnut-Orange-Walsh community of Waterbury, CT helped generate thousands of dollars in new housing. He is now working with the Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association on smart growth planning along the Route 130 corridor in Mercer County.
Patience O’Connor
Patience O’ Connor is the principal of O’Connor & Company, and is managing the development of the new Broadway Arts Center in Long Branch. She has over twenty-five years of experience in retail asset management including planning/developing/leasing and marketing commercial projects. She has developed and managed projects in America, UK, France, Denmark, Austria and Italy. During her time in the UK, as Director of Management, Marketing and Public Relations for Europe’s leading designer outlet developer and operator,
BAA McArthur Glen, O'Connor worked with The Prince's Trust for Regeneration and organized the first commercial symposium for HRH Prince Charles at the Great Western Railway Works.
Prior to working in Europe, she was a Senior VP at The Mills Corporation, a publicly traded company based in Virginia; a partner at Evans Development Company of Baltimore, Maryland; and a VP at The Rouse Company of Columbia, Maryland. At Mills, she, along with the Director of Anchor Store Leasing, created the outlet department store strategy and succeeded in securing Saks Fifth Avenue for its first outlet store, which opened at their project in Philadelphia. She spent a year working with the Saks team to successfully implement the outlet concept at Franklin Mills. She was in charge of Asset Management, Marketing, Research and Public Relations for the retail and entertainment centers.
At Evans, O'Connor developed, managed, leased and marketed The Pavilion at the Old Post Office as well as properties for Brown University, The Arcade in Providence, R.I. and projects for Mass Mutual Insurance. She is a City Board Commissioner for Historic St. Mary's City, MD.
