Robert S. Goldsmith

Bar Admissions

• New Jersey, 1977
• New York, 1989
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1994

Representative Matters

• Provided counsel to SIDs throughout New Jersey, including those located in Newark (both Downtown District and Ironbound), Teaneck, Bayonne, Atlantic City, Westfield, Keyport, Collingswood, Jersey City (both Central Avenue and McGinley Square), Haddon Township, Bergenfield, Gloucester City, Teaneck, the Highlands, West Orange, Red Bank, Bound Brook, Seaside Heights, Ocean City, Summit, Rahway, Montclair, Bunker Hill, Hackensack, Freehold, Spring Lake, Boonton, Toms River, Washington, Pompton Lakes, Newton, Cranford, North Wildwood, Wildwood, Millburn, Gloucester City, Hackettstown, Livingston and Springfield.
• Served as special redevelopment counsel to municipalities throughout New Jersey, including Morristown, Woodbridge, Princeton, Westfield, Millville, Netcong, North Wildwood, Park Ridge, Robbinsville, Chatham Borough, Belmar, and Harding.
• Served as special counsel for redevelopment projects throughout New Jersey, including those located in Woodbridge, Rahway, South Amboy, Jersey City, Morristown, South Bound Brook, Matawan, Dover, Wildwood, Stanhope, Linden, Netcong, Phillipsburg, Trenton, Aberdeen, East Brunswick, West Orange, Bloomfield, Hoboken, Newark, Pompton Lakes, South Orange, Linden and Cranford.
• Counseled an international Fortune 500 retailer on large-scale retail and commercial developments totaling millions of square feet across multiple locations, advising on redevelopment approvals, PILOT agreements, environmental remediation, land use and zoning, construction permitting, and leasing matters.
• Representing a major property owner in negotiations with the City of Hoboken for a $500+ million transit-oriented redevelopment, including planning, public benefits structuring, and anticipated redevelopment and financial agreements for a premier site adjacent to NJ Transit, PATH, and ferry terminals. 
• Advised on a joint venture between developer Jonathan Rose Companies and JP Morgan Chase on a mixed-use redevelopment project in South Orange, including title matters, redevelopment implementation, and negotiation of a $38.5 million construction loan. The high-profile project, a 215-unit LEED certified apartment building, retail space and a 500+ space parking facility, represented a significant milestone in the revitalization of the municipality’s downtown.
• Served as long-standing redevelopment counsel in Morristown, advising the Morristown Parking Authority for over four decades and leading legal strategy for more than $400 million in downtown redevelopment, including the $100 million Headquarters Plaza project and the $300+ million Epstein mixed-use redevelopment portfolio.
• Serving as redevelopment counsel to the Town of Westfield on multiple major initiatives, including the $500+ million transformation of its downtown core, advising on redevelopment agreements, land disposition, public improvements, financial agreements, bond-financed infrastructure, and public-private partnerships across several concurrent projects.
• Represented the City of Millville in establishing New Jersey’s first Revenue Allocation District, laying the groundwork for modern tax-increment financing and serving as a model for future economic redevelopment initiatives statewide.
• The firm is advising the prospective developer of an iconic building in downtown Trenton on a transformative adaptive reuse redevelopment. Our work includes including a redevelopment plan to preserve the building’s historic façade and the negotiation of a PILOT agreement.
• In the firm’s capacity as Special Redevelopment Counsel to a South Jersey municipality, we provide representation related to the proposed $294+ million redevelopment of a former port and rail terminal into a major energy-storage and logistics facility. Our role includes advising on redevelopment and financial agreements with the redeveloper and providing counsel on regulatory issues and public-engagement strategy for a large-scale cryogenic storage and infrastructure project with regional economic and environmental implications.
• Represented Thorlabs, Inc. in negotiating redevelopment and financial agreements for the transformation of a brownfield site in Newton into a $25 million corporate headquarters and advanced manufacturing facility.
• As part of the firm’s ongoing representation of Hartz Mountain Industries in various matters throughout the years, assisted this leading national real estate developer on land use approvals for a $500+ million master-planned project in Roxbury Township, encompassing nearly 2.5 million square feet of industrial development, residential units, public amenities, infrastructure improvements, and dedication of over 400 acres of open space.
• Represented Matzel & Mumford in the redevelopment of the former GAF manufacturing site in South Bound Brook into Canal Crossing, a 152-unit townhome community.
• Representing the Township of Harding on an $80 million mixed-use affordable housing and senior-living redevelopment and the $20+ million restoration of the historic Glen Alpin property, utilizing the provisions of New Jersey redevelopment law to satisfy the Township’s affordable housing obligations while preserving the landmark site. The engagement has included the negotiation of redevelopment and financial agreements, the resolution of Green Acres restrictions, securing municipal ownership of the property, and advancing a financially viable plan that integrates affordable housing, senior living, historic restoration, and long-term public access.
• Represented a leading real estate owner/operator on the $163 million acquisition of a multi-parcel, mixed-use redevelopment in Wood-Ridge with more than 400 residential units and retail space. Our team’s efforts enabled the assumption of existing redevelopment agreements and multiple PILOT agreements, addressed affordable-housing compliance and condominium ownership issues, and cleared municipal approvals critical to completing the acquisition and advancing the project.
• The firm served as counsel to the Morristown Partnership, a Special Improvement District established in Morristown in 1994.
• The firm served as Special Counsel to the City of Long Branch with respect to the oceanfront developments of Pier Village and Beachfront North.
• The firm represented KHovnanian Homes in the redevelopment of The Villages at Delaware Run in Trenton and the site of the former Essex County Psychiatric Hospital in Cedar Grove.

Memberships

• New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill’s Interdisciplinary Advisory Task Force member
• Downtown New Jersey Board of Directors; Past President
• New Jersey Future Board of Trustees
• Regional Plan Association: New Jersey Committee 
• The Counselors of Real Estate New Jersey Chapter
• NAIOP New Jersey: Legislative Committee (past co-Chair)
• New Jersey Builders Association: Mixed-Use Developers
• Newark Regional Business Partnership: Real Estate Council 
• New Jersey State Bar Association
• The American Downtown Revitalization Review: Advisory Editorial Board member

Announcements