East Windsor, New Jersey (May-June 2022) – For Carey Tajfel, property management is a family affair. He is the current president of TFE Properties and Hotels Unlimited Inc. and go this start in the business through his parents, who owned and managed hotels. In 1990, Tajfel and his brother got involved, helping oversee TFE’s transition from the hotel business to just about every type of property under the sun. Despite the expansion, TFE is still very much a family business. Tajfel’s wife, Francine Tajfel, is the company’s general counsel, and they have several children in the fold as well.
Unlike national companies that focus on build-for-sale projects, TFE focuses on rentals for their own portfolio. This approach allows Tajfel and his team to maintain control over their projects even as they’ve expanded into asset classes outside hotels, such as retail, self-storage, multifamily, and office space. It’s a perfect middle ground that allows TFE to maintain a small business ethos even while managing an ever-expanding range of properties.
“We had to learn as we went,” Tajfel said. “That gave us a very broad foundation. It gives us an edge that we can enter any sector and figure out a way to make a deal work. Or if it’s a deal that requires multiple components, we’re able to bring multiple disciplines to the table.”