February 10, 2014

John J. Cali, a Leader in New Jersey Real Estate, Dies at 95

John J. Cali, the co-founder of a family business that became one of the nation’s largest real estate investment trusts, died on Feb. 1 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 95.

His death was announced by Montclair State University in New Jersey, the home of the John J. Cali School of Music.

The son of a coal miner, Mr. Cali helped create a real estate empire that today, through the Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, encompasses 279 office buildings and a dozen multifamily rental buildings in the Northeast.

Mr. Cali was born on Aug. 8, 1918, in Tercio, Colo., a coal-mining town. He later moved with his family to New Jersey and attended schools in Passaic and Clifton. He worked his way through college at Indiana University, where he studied sociology and psychology, by playing saxophone and clarinet in jazz bands.

A passionate music lover who became a noted philanthropist, he donated $5 million in 2008 to establish the music school that bears his name.

After working for Western Electric, Mr. Cali used money from the G.I. Bill of Rights to provide training and job placement to returning veterans. He founded Cali Associates, a home developer, in 1949 with his brother, Angelo R. Cali, and a close friend, Edward Leshowitz.

In 1969, Cali Associates built its first office property, in Cranford, N.J. In the 1970s and 1980s, Cali Associates developed suburban office buildings in New Jersey, including the Liberty Hall Corporate Center in Union and the International Financial Tower at 95 Christopher Columbus Drive in Jersey City. By the 1990s, it had evolved into an acquisition and management company.

Mr. Cali was chairman when Cali Realty went public in 1994 as an investment trust. In 1997, the company merged with another New Jersey office development firm, the Mack Company, to form the Mack-Cali Realty Corporation. Mr. Cali retired as chairman in 2000 and as chairman emeritus in 2003.

Mr. Cali’s first marriage ended in divorce, and his second marriage ended tragically. In 1973, his wife, Renee, and his stepdaughter, Leslie Grant, who was two months pregnant, were found dead in the basement of the family’s mansion in Upper Montclair, N.J. The police initially believed the women had died in a suicide pact, but Mr. Cali and other members of the family insisted they were victims of an attacker. A window washer who had been occasionally employed by the Calis was later convicted in the murders.

Mr. Cali is survived by his third wife, Rose; three children, Brant, Jonna and Christopher Cali; two stepsons, Michael and Joshua Nevins; and nine grandchildren.

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