Modern Spaces has welcomed veteran real estate professional and U.S. Army veteran Minni Chalana as Senior Vice President, strengthening the firm’s new development, commercial sales, and leasing capabilities across New York and New Jersey.
With a track record spanning multimillion-dollar development-site transactions and complex investment opportunities, Chalana brings a distinctive combination of Wall Street finance, real estate investment expertise, development-market knowledge, and more than 16 years of military leadership to Modern Spaces.
Over the past several years, Chalana has represented developers and high-net-worth investors in notable transactions throughout Jersey City’s Journal Square, establishing a reputation for strategically positioning development sites, land, assemblages, and investment opportunities.
Among her notable transactions was the $13 million sale of the former White Castle property at 2995 Kennedy Boulevard, a strategically located site near the Journal Square Transportation Center with significant redevelopment potential.
She later brought 3037–3041 Kennedy Boulevard to market, an approximately 11,000-square-foot development site capable of supporting either a six-story residential building or an eight-story mixed-use project. The marketing campaign attracted more than 100 developers and multiple competing offers, ultimately resulting in a $6.25 million sale.
“We were able to attract over 100 developers with multiple offers and finally achieve the ambitious asking price by creating buyer competition,” Chalana said following the sale. “It’s another proud moment for us in helping reshape the skyline of Jersey City.”
The transaction followed an earlier $6.2 million sale of a Cottage Street development assemblage, further establishing Chalana’s expertise in complex land sales, redevelopment opportunities, and investment transactions.
Before entering real estate, Chalana spent 10 years on Wall Street working with leading Fortune 500 financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, BNP Paribas, and Oppenheimer Funds, and later served as a Management Consultant with PwC.
Her background in financial analysis, portfolio and project management, strategic planning, and risk assessment gives her a distinct investment perspective when advising developers and multifamily investors. She combines financial discipline with real estate market insight to evaluate opportunities, assess risk and return, identify value-creation strategies, and position assets for long-term performance.
Chalana also served more than 16 years in the U.S. Army, where she developed the core Army values of integrity, discipline, leadership, resilience, and selfless service, along with a detail-oriented, strategic approach to decision-making and execution.
Those principles continue to shape her client-first approach: understanding the objective, developing a strategy, paying close attention to every detail, executing with discipline, and remaining focused on the outcome.
In her new role, Chalana will focus on new development sales and leasing, multifamily investment sales, development sites, and off-market opportunities throughout New York and New Jersey.
“Minni brings a rare combination of institutional experience, investment expertise, and an exceptional track record representing development opportunities,” said Jesse Toledano, Managing Partner of Modern Spaces. “As we continue expanding our new development business through New Jersey, her ability to advise developers, investors, and private clients aligns perfectly with our long-term vision.”
“Minni’s expertise and track record strengthen our position in new development and commercial sales. As we expand across New York, New Jersey, and now Florida, we’re building a stronger, more sophisticated platform for developers and investors while attracting top talent and delivering exceptional results for our clients. Minni will be instrumental in driving our next phase of growth.” said, Eric Benaim, CEO Modern Spaces.
With Modern Spaces’ marketing platform and brokerage capabilities, Chalana will leverage targeted market outreach and regional relationships to connect developers, owners, investors, and qualified buyers and tenants.
“Whether I’m representing a new development, positioning a multifamily asset, or identifying an off-market opportunity, my goal is to combine market intelligence, financial insight, and strategic execution to identify value, create demand, and deliver the strongest possible outcome for my clients,” said Chalana.
Chalana specializes in new development sales and leasing, development sites, luxury residential properties, multifamily real estate, mixed-use properties, and off-market opportunities across New York and New Jersey.
Developers, multifamily owners and investors, and property owners seeking representation for new development sales or leasing, multifamily sales, investment opportunities, development sites, acquisitions, or dispositions can connect with Minni Chalana through Modern Spaces at modernspaces.com.
