While working on the New Jersey waterfront in his teens, Michael Sonnenfeldt envisioned the conversion of the 2.5 million square-foot Harborside Terminal warehouse in Jersey City into a new frontier for Manhattan’s high-tech office expansion. Originally built in 1929 for intermodal freight and warehousing, the Harborside Terminal had long been in decline. After unsuccessfully pitching his redevelopment idea to the owners of Harborside, Sonnenfeldt recruited a seasoned development partner, David Fromer, with whom he was able to secure the financing necessary to acquire the Harborside Terminal and execute the redevelopment on his own terms.

Building a staff of nearly 100 people, Sonnenfeldt and Fromer undertook the transformation of the Harborside Terminal, in what was then the largest commercial renovation in the United States. The immense efforts required to complete the redevelopment were well worth it: when the renovation began, there wasn’t a single commercial high-rise under construction on the Jersey City waterfront; when Harborside was sold after the first million square feet of conversions four years later, the surrounding area had transformed. The Governor’s Waterfront Development Office told the New York Times that the renovation of the Harborside Terminal “helped to spur interest in all waterfront development” on the Hudson River across from Manhattan. The transformation of the Harborside Terminal warehouse into the Harborside Financial Center remains one of the most successful real estate deals in New York Metropolitan History.