HornRock Properties looks to spend $125M on Northeast development sites

David and Maurice Hornblass, brothers, co-founders and principles of the prolific development company HornRock Properties, are pushing to acquire more than $125 million worth of development sites, according to Real Estate Weekly. After leaving Wall Street for real estate and working in the industry for more than a decade, the brothers said they feel that now is the right time for aggressive acquisitions.

“We have the ability to be aggressive and to make new deals quickly because we are a private company coming into the market with no debt,” Maurice Hornblass said. “All we have to consider is our evaluation: is this a good deal? There is nothing to interfere with our logic and there is no red tape to cut through. If we like a deal, we are going to do it. We are at the stage now where we can literally dissect a deal in minutes and determine if it is right for us.”

HornRock recently purchased an 8.379-acre site in the tony Morris County, N.J., borough of Mountain Lakes through a distressed asset purchase. The firm plans to build a 47-home community in a wooded corner of the town, known as Legacy of Mountain Lakes.

The brothers are also looking at a number of residential properties throughout the Northeast.

“We are ramping up on staff right now and aggressively pursuing the right acquisitions,” Maurice said. “We are making it known that we want to be a major player in this industry, but we are also moving forward in a controlled manner.” [REW] —Christopher Cameron