For more than 65 years in the building and development industry, Mitchell Berlant has carefully followed the lead of the market, seizing opportunities, making smart decisions and investing wisely. Mitchell has seven grandchildren, and they are his life. “A lot of what we do today is for their future,” said Mitchell. Mitchell got an early start in the trade, building his first house in Nutley, New Jersey at the age of 16. He had already been in the residential and commercial building industry for over a dozen years when he was contracted by Victory Development Corp., a company owned by Aristotle Onassis, and Arlen Realty & Development, Corp. in 1972 to rescue Olympic Tower, a 52-story luxury apartment building on Fifth Ave. and 52 St., which was foundering during the gas crises and New York City’s financial problems. Olympic Tower was one of the premier ultra-luxurious, high-rise condominium in the world. Mitchell was in charge of construction, marketing and sales. He also built custom apartments for some of the world’s most famous people, such as Gucci, Marcos (of the Philippines) and Khashogi (the Saudi arms dealer), who purchased two floors with a swimming pool suspended between the 46th and 47th floors. After his monumental success with Olympic Tower, Mitchell was again contracted by Arlen Realty to help with several of their nationwide projects, including Aventura, a residential and commercial complex in North Miami Beach, Florida. Besides the mid-rise buildings which Mitchell built for Arlen, he also purchased property within the community on which he constructed for himself a number of high-rise condominium buildings and owned and ran a 38 salesperson real estate office for over three decades. In the mid 80’s, Mitch turned his focus back to his native New Jersey, building several residential communities and numerous commercial projects.

Upon graduating from Grover Cleveland High School, in Caldwell, New Jersey, Mitchell attended the University of West Virginia. Mitchell became a self-taught, successful real estate developer and builder. Over the years, Mitchell has developed real estate projects from Florida to New York City, not to mention throughout the world. Mitchell is known as one of the premier zoning and approvals experts in New Jersey and has been responsible for numerous landmark legal land use cases in New Jersey.

Mitchell’s son, Robert, joined forces with Mitchell upon graduating college and is taking over the reins. Mitchell and Robert primarily own, develop and manage commercial buildings for their own account, however, they do difficult zoning for major building companies and project workouts for some of the major banks. Over the years, numerous companies owned by Mitchell have been awarded the “Award for Excellence” for Commercial Building of the Year, given as a special recognition for superior land planning and development.

Mitchell is an animal lover and has been involved in protecting animals in danger, including domestic and endangered species, which showed especially during the years of 1997-1998 when Mitchell purchased the Scotch Plains Zoo (f/k/a Terry Lou Zoo) and donated over 300 animals to zoos all over the Country for safe living in order to protect the animals

After graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1987, with a degree in economics and finance, Robert Berlant joined his father, after all, there is no better mentor. Robert is the Broker of Record for Realty Network and heads Monogram Building & Design Corp., the construction company. If it involves real estate, it is in Robert’s wheelhouse. Robert’s expertise includes real estate development, expediting permits and approval process, general contracting, construction management, property management, contract negotiations, sales and leasing, and brokerage, to name a few.