Headquarters:

One Corporate Commons
100 West Commons Blvd.,
Suite 100
New Castle, DE  19720
Ph: 302-325-1111
Fx: 302-325-0111


 

BIOS
Ernest F. Delle Donne

President

James P. Collins, Jr. Esquire

Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Gary M. Ciaffi, CPA Senior Vice President, Finance/Leasing/Asset Management
Edward F. Lacy, III Senior Vice President Construction
Paul J. Jannelli, CPA Controller
Nan Schulte Property Management
Anthony Barba

Property Management



Ernest F. Delle Donne  

     Ernest F. Delle Donne is president of Delle Donne & Associates, Inc., Delaware's largest commercial real estate development firm.  The firm specializes in structuring creative financial, leasing and construction packages.  Mr. Delle Donne pioneered the concept of public/private sector development partnerships in the City of Wilmington.  He has over fifteen years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, development, land rezoning, property management and real estate financing and has developed over 3.5 million square feet of office and retail space.  As an example of his recent work, Mr. Delle Donne formed a cooperative venture with the Wilmington Parking Authority to develop a 550 car parking garage, pre-engineered to accommodate 200,000 square feet of new office space and 8,000 square feet of retail in the City of Wilmington.

     Mr. Delle Donne graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University in 1979. He is a member of the Wilmington 2000, a privately-funded economic development partnership between Wilmington's business community and the Mayor's office formed to establish comprehensive strategies that will increase the economic vitality of Wilmington and strengthen its role as a center of cultural and social life.  He serves as Honorary Board Member of the Delaware Minority Business Trade Fair and has been an active supporter of the Catholic Charities of Delaware.   Recently he donated land to New Castle County for the development of a new public library in Bear, Delaware.



James P. Collins, Jr. Esquire

     James P. Collins, Jr., Esquire has served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Delle Donne & Associates since 1984.  Previously he had been in private law practice for 10 years with Healy & Collins, specializing in real estate and construction matters while representing owners, developers and contractors.

     He is a graduate of Temple University Law School where he was an editor of the Temple Law Review and received recognition for excellence in several areas of study.  In 1974, he was law clerk to the Supreme Court of Delaware.

     Collins and Ernest F. Delle Donne, company president, together negotiated a build-to-suit lease with Chase Manhattan Bank's credit subsidiary, Chase USA.   This 400,000 square foot award-winning building in Wilmington, Delaware serves as Chase's national credit card headquarters.

     He assisted Delle Donne in structuring and securing six Industrial Development Bonds for retail and office developments and was instrumental in the formation of the first public-private sector development partnership in Wilmington.  These ventures between Delle Donne and the Wilmington Parking Authority developed and own two 600 car parking garages adjacent to Delle Donne's Corporate Plaza office complex.

     On the retail side, he has negotiated leases with many national tenants including Thriftway, ShopRite, SuperFresh, Tandy Corporation, Rite-Aid, Sports Authority, Service Merchandise and Regal Cinemas. He also supervised the development of the nationally recognized Brandywine Commons Restaurant / Hotel project on Route 202, which resulted in the sale of five restaurant and two hotel parcels to nationals users including Red Lobster, Olive Garden, TGI Fridays, Lone Star Steakhouse and Homewood Suites.

     Mr. Collins was an Army officer in Vietnam where he received the Bronze Star for service.  He is admitted to practice law in Delaware and U.S. Federal Courts.



Gary M. Ciaffi, CPA

     Gary M. Ciaffi is a senior vice president of Delle Donne & Associates, Inc.  Mr. Ciaffi joined the firm in 1985 as the company's controller and treasurer and was made partner in 1989.  Prior to joining Delle Donne & Associates, Inc., he worked in the area of public accounting with a regional firm located in Baltimore, Maryland in the area of audit and tax services.

     Initially, Mr. Ciaffi assisted Ernest Delle Donne in setting up the Company's operational and financial infrastructure to support project development and project management. Currently, Mr.Ciaffi's responsibilities within Delle Donne & Associates, Inc. include finance, leasing and asset management.  Within the past five years, he assisted Mr. Delle Donne in procuring and restructuring over $150M in debt financing, as well as negotiated and completed leases with corporate and national retail tenants.  Mr. Ciaffi also oversees the operation and management of the Delle Donne real estate portfolio which is comprised of approximately $200M in assets consisting of office, retail, apartments, garage and warehouse developments.

     Mr. Ciaffi is a graduate of the University of Delaware, where he was a member of the Beta Alpha Psi Accounting Honor Society and Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity.  Mr. Ciaffi is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Delaware.



Edward F. Lacy, III

     Mr. Lacy joined Delle Donne & Associates in June, 1985, as Partner in charge of Project Management and Administration.  Prior to joining Delle Donne, he was in the Procurement Division at Hercules, Incorporated, Wilmington, Delaware.  His prior experience includes production tooling and facilities design for explosives operations.  He has extensive plant maintenance experience, including preparation and presentation of capital budget requests to U.S. Government operated facilities.

     While at Hercules, he was Project Manager for the Owner for their new corporate headquarters facility in Wilmington, Delaware.  He had also held positions in Project Management - Design and Construction, for commercial plants in Brazil.

     Mr. Lacy's responsibilities included the supervision of design and construction of various manufacturing facilities, including the first continuous TNT manufacturing facility in the free world.  He was Program Manager for one of the corporate participants in the federal industrialized housing project "Operation Breakthrough", as well as Program Manager for a solid waste reclamation analysis, performed for Monroe County, New York.

     He has also prepared and implemented corporate programs for appraisal and valuation problems associated with property tax, and state and federal claims.   Mr. Lacy has exclusive procurement experience in purchasing and contracting materials and services for corporate use.

     Mr. Lacy supervises construction and is responsible for value-engineering of all Delle Donne projects, including the Chase USA Headquarters Building, Governor's Square Shopping Center and various suburban office buildings.



Paul J. Jannelli, CPA

     Paul J. Jannelli is the controller at Delle Donne & Associates, Inc.   Mr. Jannelli joined the firm in 1987 and was named the company's controller in 1988.  Prior to his involvement with Delle Donne & Associates, Inc., he worked at one of the largest apartment management companies on the east coast with 90 projects and 15,000 units in 13 states.  Mr. Jannelli supervised the financial accounting, budget   preparation and monthly budget reporting on 25 to 30 projects at various times during his five years there as Regional Accounting Manager,  His prior experience was with a regional accounting firm in Philadelphia, PA. which specialized in auditing real estate entities.

     Mr. Jannelli is responsible for overseeing the daily "back-office" management operations of Delle Donne & Associates, Inc.  This includes financial reporting, tenant collections, lease implementation, cash disbursements, payroll, budgetary reporting, and cash flow projections.  Additionally, he is the company's computer network administrator.

     Mr. Jannelli is a graduate of LaSalle University where he also obtained his Masters of Business Administration degree in Finance.  He is a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants  and the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants. 



Nan Schulte

     Mrs. Schulte, a ten-year employee of Delle Donne & Associates, Inc. works under the direct supervision of Gary Ciaffi, VP for Leasing, Finance and Property Management, to oversee the day-to-day operations of all Delle Donne properties which include office buildings, shopping centers, parking lots and parking garages.

     Mrs. Schulte is responsible for providing cost effective management of all Delle Donne properties which includes awarding  contractual service arrangements necessary  to keep properties in top condition, both aesthetically and physically.

     Mrs. Schulte oversees all fire and safety systems for each property and to assure that appropriate municipal codes are met.  In addition, she disseminates work responsibilities and prioritizes the duties of her maintenance staff to assure that all routine maintenance and porter duties are identified and accomplished.  The staff consists of ten persons with varying degrees of skill and abilities which is reflected in their job assignments and range from  porters  to chief maintenance personnel.  Mrs. Schulte is the company's tenant liaison and works directly with all tenants to address any concerns or questions they may have regarding their occupancy in a Delle Donne property.

     Mrs. Schulte attended the University of Delaware for three years before accepting employment at Delaware Technical & Community College, where she took a number of courses in Industrial Engineering, Communications and Psychology.  During an 18 year period, Mrs. Schulte assumed various positions with increasing amounts of responsibility.  Before taking employment at Delle Donne & Associates, Mrs. Schulte worked as an Administrative Executive for the Campus Director.  Since joining the Delle Donne team, Mrs. Schulte has become an integral part of the property management component of the company.



Anthony Barba

     Anthony D. Barba is a property manager of Delle Donne & Associates, Inc.   Mr. Barba joined the firm in 1976 under the direct employ of the firms' founder,  to manage a multi-family real estate complex and shopping center.  In 1985, he moved on to manage several office buildings in the City of Wilmington that were purchased by the president, Ernest F. Delle Donne.  In 1987, he moved into the company construction division to work as a construction manager.

     Mr. Barba is responsible for managing, coordinating and administering tenant-related work.  Currently, Mr. Barba's responsibilities within Delle Donne & Associates, Inc. include relationships with other departments within the company including maintenance, administration and accounting.  He handles corrective  and preventative maintenance and any emergencies that may arise on site.

     Mr. Barba is a graduate of Delaware Technical & Community College with a degree in Business Administration and Accounting.

     Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) - Certified Property Management courses.

     Construction Education Management Corporation (CEMC) - Construction Superintendent courses.

     New Castle County Board of Realtors - Real Estate Licensing Course.