For an organization that seemingly thrives on complexity — from vast construction projects to its intricate capital stacks to managing public- and private-sector stakeholders — the success of New Brunswick Development Corp. has hinged on one rather simple objective.

Chris Paladino can’t help but crack a smile at something that sounds so obvious or intuitive.

“Helping public officials fulfill their vision is a very good strategy,” said Paladino, the organization’s president, whose team has developed everything from government office buildings to sweeping campus expansions for Rutgers and Stockton universities.

“It’s helping them get to where they want to go and using skills and resources that we have, because they’re aligned with what we’re trying to do,” he added. “We’re trying to create jobs and redevelop and make New Jersey’s cities a better place to be.”

Straightforward as it may sound, there is nothing easy about what New Brunswick Development Corp. has done for the past three decades, during which it has completed 8.3 million square feet of development with a combined $3.5 billion in investment. The not-for-profit organization, better known as Devco, is also unlike any other developer in New Jersey with respect to how it functions and the scale at which it operates.

All the more notable: It has never done the same project twice, despite having a formula that it has repeated and refined from one high-profile development to the next.

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