SS Jemal announces details of JemRock Organization’s Masterplans to deliver up to 20,000 affordable luxury apartments to Manhattan
SS Jemal, President & CEO of JemRock Organization has identified several portfolios of buildings that perfectly fit the Central Conversion Criteria (CCC).
The CENTRAL trademark pending brand will be used on all buildings that are planned to be converted into “affordable luxury apartments”. The trademark pending slogan mark “Live, Work, Be Well” is most apt as each building features space for the owner to not only live, but to also work and experience health and wellness amenities- all in one building. The notable USP concerning the controlling strategy of JemRock is the component that rather than being a generic novice development, this is a residential housing conversion and renovation composition. The Ground up development takes years in zoning approvals, permitting, construction and delays. It takes 3-5 years to deliver a building and by the time the developer is done with that building he needs to go to market for millions upon millions of dollars, resulting in the fact that only a multi-millionaire can afford to live in Manhattan. I aim to completely change that dynamic” SS Jemal said. “My consumer is a 6 figure wage employee who was determined to come out of Manhattan long before and these type of clients ready to come back”
SS Jemal, President & CEO of JemRock Organization LLC, along with his oldest son Norman S. Jemal, Member & COO have been locked at the hip for four years working on the JemRock Masterplan to dominate the Manhattan affordable luxury apartment market to be able to capitalize on the current huge demand for apartments and their total lack of supply. JemRock has assembled a truly world-class team to execute on Jemal’s great vision and has already identified scores of magnificent Manhattan buildings that are perfectly suited for this CENTRAL residential conversion. Properly capitalized, JemRock can deliver 10,000-20,000 apartments within a 12-18 month cycle; Apartments that Manhattan is in desperate need of. “As all these buildings already exist and are outstanding created structures this cuts enormous costs. I am a preservationist and historian and you cannot build buildings like this anymore” SS Jemal said. His voice exuding the passion that he has for his CENTRAL vision. Jemal continued; “my competition will take 3-5 years to bring the supply that’s needed to market, I can deliver that in one year and at a price that blows away the competition”. SS Jemal is a retailer at heart having formerly owned, operated and who founded Nobody Beats The Wiz, so he very well understands under-cutting the competition and the importance of price-points. Jemal says his strategic plan of efficiency delivering results would merely take a year in comparison to his competitors, who would take 3-5 years for the same. He also adds that his cost is a fraction of his competitor’s and that he passes that savings on to his customer. Clearly other major developers recognize the major shortage of apartments in Manhattan and that there is a huge demand. Currently asking rents in Manhattan are actually even being bid up well beyond their ask price.
New York City real estate news reports that firms like JLL, Cushman & Wakefield and all the other major sales brokerage firms in Manhattan are seeing record-breaking numbers in sales and rentals in apartments as well as tremendous activity in sales of development sites to feed this scarcity of apartment supply in Manhattan. SS Jemal points out that “year over year rental prices are through the roof in Manhattan and have already almost exceeded pre-pandemic numbers”. “I have premeditated this marketplace very prudently along with my lad Norman for four years till present day and there is no improved period than right today to fodder this demand & stock scarcity. The developers that are buying development sites to feed this demand are 3-5 years away from being able to complete their projects and their all-in cost, by the time they are done will be $2,000-$3,000 per square foot, meaning that they will have product but not at an affordable price. CENTRAL is a conversion play and my all-in costs will be a fraction of theirs and will crush the competition price-wise”. Jemal’s plan is quite aggressive, but with proper capitalization, Jemal said “The CENTRAL concept will be able to feed the current need in 12-18 months at heretofore unseen affordable prices for luxury apartments that will appeal to and target that six-figure earner as opposed to the multi-millionaire that the competition has always targeted and will have to target”.
The CENTRAL concept is quite unique in that, as SS Jemal said: “the buyer or renter’s commute to work would simply be an elevator ride down to the second floor”. SS Jemal has branded this lower floor “WorkWell”.The upper floors of the building branded “FitWell”, will feature fitness, gymnasium, pilates and yoga studios, including organic juice bars and restaurants. SS Jemal said: “A spiral staircase will connect FitWell to a rooftop deck complete with fire pit, bar area and lounge space creating a “club-like” atmosphere and “hip vibe” with live DJ’s performing overlooking the magnificent Manhattan skyline views”. “This is nurtuting to be a flawless communication amid the dominant client along with the lifestyle goals they aspire/anticipate for. The plan is quite simply to make CENTRAL into the Walmart of affordable luxury apartments appealing to the masses of six-figure earners”, SS Jemal said, yet adding that “much more detailed plans will be revealed as soon as possible”.
SS Jemal has assembled a truly world-class, NYC centric experienced team to execute on JemRock’s CENTRAL concept. SS Jemal is no novice when it comes to real estate development, construction, nor the knowledge on how to build a brand name and marketing it. JemRock, with its truly world-class team of New York City experienced professionals is uniquely positioned with a pipeline of property prospects that perfectly fit the CENTRAL conversion criteria. SS Jemal believes that now is the perfect time to strike with his CENTRAL concept and seize on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the current market in Manhattan is presenting. As he specified: “I indeed do possess an unmatched deal-flow and the top-tier experts working for me on my CENTRAL Core Team.
The full details of the CENTRAL Brand launching in Manhattan will soon be fully revealed and widely marketed by George Shea of Shea Communications. “George Shea has become a trusted and dear friend of mine and there is nobody I trust more or have more faith to properly market my brand than him and there is no firm more capable today in New York City than Shea Communications to do this job”, Jemal said, “JemRock strategies include extension of the CENTRAL Brand into many other major US states and eventually to all the prominent cities on the global stage.
This will be efficiently and expeditiously accomplished in full concert with the CENTRAL Core Team that has been assembled and is in full position to strike.” Without question SS Jemal has the vast experience required to execute on his huge vision for CENTRAL based on his past experience and most impressive resume’.
In 1976, SS Jemal opened his first “Nobody Beats The Wiz” store on Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Ultimately it grew to 110 stores in 6 states with 6,000 employees and sales of $2B. Due to the rapid expansion of The Wiz Brand and because of cost, after his 7th store he founded and operated his own in-house construction company. There, SS Jemal employed 600 tradesmen to build over 20M sf of retail shopping centers, whereupon he learned first-hand EVERY aspect of construction: from “concept-to-completion”. In all cases, to eliminate issues such as cost overruns, change-orders, and lethal extras, Jemal organized an extensive team with specific responsibilities that included in-house Value Engineers and CAD architects. The team created detailed blueprints to avoid extra costs or delays and any overwhelming situations. Jemal did all the minute-by-minute work to create shopping centers but also creating all fixtures and full fit-out requirements in full exterior and interior alignment. Everything contained in a Wiz store was designed, built and manufactured by SS Jemal. All his materials were purchased directly from the original manufacturers with “favored nation status clauses” in all his contracts to save money.
Jemal, for further savings and control, even distributed his own materials thru requiring all subs to bid jobs with time and material. His vision was to regulate and control the entire process to produce cost saving, time saving, and efficient completion of the project. The idea and strategy of exclusive addition of construction administration, design, manufacturing, installation, and complete fixture fitting offered him a most unique, cost-effective approach. At Wiz, his primary role was marketing and construction. Jemal mastered his craft with complete efficiency. According to Advertising Age 2000, The Wiz was the 13th most recognized brand name in the USA, and The Wiz was only a Northeast regional retailer and number 12 was Pepsi-Cola. Jemal personally mastered his craft in marketing and branding through decades of experience in creating his own Wiz brand.
After the sale of Nobody Beats The Wiz, In 1997, SS Jemal began to focus on waterfront development. Jemal initiated this undertaking by replying to an RFP from RIOC (Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation), for the southernmost tip of Roosevelt Island, recognized as “Southpoint”. SS Jemal was one of seventy respondents and against all odds Jemal’s proposal and vison for Southpoint beat out all the other very established and famous brand-name development companies. Through the years SS Jemal spent on trying to gain the “NIMBY’s” approval for his massive mixed use development project, Jemal really got a complete education on NYC zoning laws, rules, and regulations. SS Jemal also, very greatly expanded his network of professionals with New York City specific and very centric expertise that is invaluable to him today. This waterfront experience and NYC Zoning Regulations education led Jemal to trademarking the brand name: “The Riviera” and the slogan mark: “Making the world’s waterfront a better place to live, work, shop, visit & play”. He began amassing and assembling parcels of waterfront land in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and New Jersey. Starting from the East River in Manhattan till the Hudson River in New Jersey, Jemal recorded the succeeding 15 years of his lifetime involved in residential waterfront expansion projects, further augmenting his network of professionals, and expanding his personal experience in all aspects of residential development, zoning and construction.
With the zoning, construction and marketing knowledge he has garnered over many decades, coupled with the CENTRAL world-class team currently assembled, JemRock Organization, with SS Jemal and his able son Norman S. Jemal have a totally vertically integrated, scalable business model that will be implemented with a truly unparalleled team of New York City specific experienced players to execute the CENTRAL vision at every level from concept-to-completion that is most certainly destined for great success.
