Samer Hanini and his brothers, Amer and Thafer, formed their real estate company, Hanini Group, in 2004 and bought their first building on Newark\u2019s Washington Street that year. Since then, they\u2019ve restored and rehabbed more than $300 million worth of real estate, and built high caliber, loft-style, residential, retail, and corporate spaces, many in Newark\u2019s downtown area.<\/p>\n
Samer says his company\u2019s success is due to its dedication to the community and \u201csweat equity\u201d\u2014personally putting in the work to move his projects forward. Whether it\u2019s redrawing financial models 30 times in one night or creating architectural plans\u2014and then executing them\u2014Hanini never shies away from hard work.<\/p>\n
The Hanini brothers grew up in Jersey City. Samer graduated from NJIT here in Newark and his brother, Thafer, graduated from Rutgers. \u201cMy mom is a teacher and my dad owned a deli. We come from a neighborhood family,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Hanini\u2019s parents also owned a small building in Jersey City and, as young men, the brothers did repairs for the tenants and took out the trash. So when they started \u00adbuying buildings, they \u201cknew a little about real estate,\u201d Samer said, \u201cbut mostly the handyman stuff.\u201d So why didn\u2019t they become contractors instead of real estate developers? \u201cWe enjoyed more of the deal making side, trying to make something out of nothing. We liked the whole concept of creating value.\u201d<\/p>\n
The brothers bought their first building at an auction in Newark. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say it was dumb luck, but we weren\u2019t that savvy back then,\u201d Hanini revealed. They poured hours of their own labor into the building\u2014and it paid off nicely. The high-quality work on that first building set the standard for what they could show to future investors. They used their investment capital to start buying and developing properties on \u00adMarket Street.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis whole process has been a learning experience,\u201d Hanini said. \u201cEvery year we learn something new.\u201d<\/p>\n
The future looks promising for Hanini if his present work and success is any indication. Consider one of their most recent masterpieces\u2014Hotel Indigo. A tall, slender, historical building on Broad Street, Hotel Indigo was originally built to be a residential building. But the city saw the need for a hotel close to Prudential Arena and Hanini Group was ready to take it on.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoing a historical restoration is a lot more challenging,\u201d Hanini said. \u201cBut all the buildings we do have sat vacant for 30 or 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Haninis\u2019 meticulous, hands-on approach has been key to the successful completion of similar projects in Passaic, NJ, and Brooklyn, NY. \u201cNow we\u2019re in the process of putting more work into Newark,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe\u2019re currently focused on two projects: converting St. Michael\u2019s Hospital into a mixed use building and converting the Maple Avenue School into apartments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hanini recognizes that Newark is a great place to build. Many of their projects stem from public\/private partnerships. But Hanini and his brothers know that the key to Newark\u2019s longevity and prosperity is its residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cNewark has a tremendous amount of infrastructure\u2014the airport, the building stock. But the people are an amazing asset, too,\u201d Hanini said. \u201cIt\u2019s the local residents that see Newark through the rough patches.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.20.2″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.20.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.2″ custom_padding=”|||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||” admin_label=”Column” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.20.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″ custom_padding=”35px||||false|false”] SAMER HANINI IS NOT your average hotel developer. He answers his cell phone, and you may just pass him while casually walking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,48],"tags":[83,80,84],"class_list":["post-645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-summer-2018","tag-hanini-group","tag-hotel-indigo","tag-samer-hanini"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/destinationnewark.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Indigo-76413213-H1-EWRBS_3440581958-1200px-1.jpg\")
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