Economic Advisory & Institutional Strategy

Where Mission
Meets the Market.

Hard problems. High stakes. Executed.

AJP Associates advises governments, anchor institutions, nonprofits, and mission-aligned investors on the most consequential development challenges at the intersection of public purpose and private capital. We don't just analyze — we've been the decision-maker in the room.

Our Work Our Services
Anthony J. Perno III, J.D.
Founding Principal · AJP Associates
$2B+
Investment Catalyzed
$970M+
P3 Transactions Structured
$200M+
Federal & State Grants Secured
J.D.
Legal & Transactional Expertise
What We Do

Advisory Built for
Complexity

AJP Associates operates at the intersection of economic development strategy, institutional real estate, and public-private partnership — serving clients who need more than analysis. They need a partner who has done it.

01
Economic Development Strategy

Place-based investment strategy for cities and communities navigating transformation.

  • Catalytic project planning & anchor institution partnerships
  • Federal & state grant strategy (HUD, EDA, CDBG, Choice)
  • Neighborhood revitalization frameworks
  • BID formation, operations & clean-and-safe strategy
  • Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)
02
Institutional Real Estate & P3 Advisory

Structuring the partnerships and transactions that transform institutions into community anchors.

  • P3 structuring, ground lease negotiation & developer selection
  • Campus master planning & capital program governance
  • Alternative financing: tax credits, energy performance contracts
  • Asset disposition, acquisition & portfolio strategy
  • JPA formation & governance frameworks
03
Distressed Asset & Turnaround Advisory

Navigating institutional crisis — healthcare, higher education, and urban assets — with precision and care.

  • Institutional wind-down, restructuring & bankruptcy navigation
  • Healthcare & higher education distressed asset strategy
  • Workforce transition management (CBA / WARN Act)
  • Asset preservation through structured disposition
  • Community hospital & anchor retention strategy
04
Governance & Organizational Development

Building the institutional infrastructure that makes complex programs perform with discipline.

  • Capital allocation policy & decision governance frameworks
  • Board development & stakeholder convening
  • Nonprofit organizational scaling & revenue diversification
  • Multi-entity governance across subsidiaries
  • Merger, consolidation & integration strategy
Signature Work

A Track Record Built,
Not Described.

Three decades of consequential work across urban economic development, institutional real estate, and academic healthcare — told through the projects that defined cities, universities, and communities.

Camden, NJ · Delaware Waterfront
$2B+
Chapter 01
1999 — 2018 · Camden, NJ

Camden City
Revitalization

Cooper's Ferry Partnership, Inc. — President & CEO

Appointed CEO of a nonprofit on the verge of insolvency in one of America's most economically distressed cities. Over 19 years, catalyzed $2B+ in private and public investment — forging landmark partnerships with the Philadelphia 76ers, Lockheed Martin, American Water, Live Nation, Rutgers University, and the Cooper Medical School. Built the institutional infrastructure that made it possible, growing organizational revenue 400% and staff to 80+.

$2B+
Investment catalyzed citywide
$200M+
Federal & state grants secured
400%
Organizational revenue growth
19 yrs
As President & CEO
76ers
Anchor Institution Partnership · Camden Waterfront
Philadelphia 76ers Training Facility
Originated the partnership and site development that brought the 76ers organization to Camden's Delaware waterfront — a defining moment in the city's transformation
Corporate Headquarters Attraction
Lockheed Martin, Subaru North America & American Water
Drove the anchor corporate relocations and headquarters transactions that anchored Camden's economic transformation with thousands of jobs and long-term institutional commitment
Institutional Expansion & State Legislation
Rutgers, Rowan & Cooper Medical School
Developed institutional master plans integrating university and healthcare expansion — and co-authored state legislation restructuring NJ's medical and higher education systems
Chapter 02
2023 — Present · Glassboro, NJ

Rowan University
West Campus Activation

Rowan University — Vice Chancellor, Real Estate & Capital Projects

Inherited a 600-acre west campus dormant for two decades. Delivered New Jersey's first veterinary school, a new nursing school, two miles of new infrastructure, and an Advanced Engineering & Manufacturing Center. Structured the $850M+ Wellness Village P3 and built the university's first enterprise capital governance framework — replacing fragmented approvals with transparent, criteria-based decision-making that generated $25M in capital avoidance on a single project.

$850M+
Wellness Village P3
$120M+
Engineering Center P3
$60M
Siemens energy contract
$2B+
Active capital portfolio
Rowan University · Glassboro, NJ
350AC
$200M
Historic First · New Jersey · Academic Capital Delivery
New Jersey's First Veterinary School
Delivered NJ's inaugural College of Veterinary Medicine — a $200M landmark academic achievement and the centerpiece of Rowan's west campus transformation
$24M
Academic Capital · Governance-Driven Cost Discipline
Rowan University School of Nursing
New state-of-the-art nursing school facility — delivered with capital governance that drove millions in cost avoidance through disciplined design validation
$850M
Public-Private Partnership · $850M+ · Fairmount Properties
Wellness Village — Mixed-Use P3
University-anchored mixed-use development integrating healthcare, wellness housing, medical office, hospitality & research — structured with layered tax credit monetization delivering ~25% net cost reduction
Chapter 03
2018 — 2023 · Philadelphia, PA

Hahnemann & St. Christopher's —
Chapter 11 Navigation

American Academic Health System — VP, Real Estate & Development

Guided a 4,000-employee academic health system through one of the most operationally complex healthcare restructurings in Philadelphia history. Maintained 24-hour facility operations and Joint Commission compliance through Chapter 11 bankruptcy — while directing $50M+ in asset dispositions, managing two rounds of workforce reduction, and navigating the structured sale of St. Christopher's Hospital for Children to preserve it as a community resource.

$50M+
Asset dispositions managed
4,000
Employee workforce managed
2M SF
Healthcare portfolio
Preserved
St. Christopher's as community hospital
24/7
Chapter 11 Operations · Philadelphia · 2019–2022
Hahnemann University Hospital
Maintained 24-hour clinical operations, Joint Commission compliance, and regulatory continuity through full institutional wind-down — including radiological decommissioning with Philadelphia Fire, Police, and OEM
$50M+
Structured Disposition & Community Preservation
St. Christopher's Hospital for Children
Navigated the structured sale of St. Christopher's — preserving one of Philadelphia's oldest pediatric hospitals as a community resource through a landmark transaction in the region's healthcare landscape
Anthony J. Perno III
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. The discipline is in the execution."
About

Anthony J. Perno III, J.D.

Anthony Perno has spent more than 25 years doing the work that most advisors only describe. He has run the organizations, negotiated the deals, structured the financing, managed the bankruptcies, built the campuses, and stewarded the communities.

As President & CEO of Cooper's Ferry Partnership in Camden for nearly two decades, he catalyzed $2 billion in public and private investment in one of the nation's most economically distressed cities — forging landmark partnerships with the Philadelphia 76ers, Rutgers, Rowan, Cooper Health, Lockheed Martin, and American Water.

At American Academic Health System, he navigated the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Hahnemann University Hospital and the structured disposition of St. Christopher's Hospital for Children — preserving a community hospital through one of the most operationally complex institutional wind-downs in Philadelphia's history. At Rowan University, he activated a dormant west campus, structured the $850M+ Wellness Village P3, delivered New Jersey's first veterinary school, and built the institution's first enterprise capital governance framework.

Education
J.D., Rutgers University School of Law
Reed Smith Clinical Excellence Award
B.A. Political Science, TCNJ
Truman Scholar — U.S. National Award
Bar Admissions
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Recognition
NJ Governor's Environmental Excellence Award
COSCDA National Sterling Achievement Award
NJ BIZ Top 40 Under 40
ULI University Development Council
Civic Service
Elected Councilman & Finance Committee Chair
Borough of Merchantville, NJ
NJ Governor Murphy Transition Team, 2017
Volunteer Firefighter
Who We Serve

Built for the
Mission-Driven

AJP Associates is retained by organizations navigating the intersection of public purpose and private capital — where the stakes are high, the complexity is real, and conventional advisory is insufficient.

  • Municipal & county governments
  • Universities & community colleges
  • Health systems & academic medical centers
  • Nonprofit economic development corporations
  • Foundations & institutional grant funders
  • Mission-aligned developers & institutional investors
The AJP Difference

Anthony Perno has been the CEO, COO, and senior principal in the situations we advise on — not a consultant observing from the outside. He brings JD-trained legal and transactional discipline, 25+ years of institutional relationships, and the hard-won judgment that only comes from having been accountable for the outcome.


We focus exclusively on mission-directed development projects that are complicated, high-stakes, and consequential to the communities they serve. If the project is straightforward, there are plenty of advisors. If it's not, call us.

Institutional Partners & Clients
Rowan University Rutgers University American Academic Health System Cooper Health System Virtua Health City of Camden Fairmount Properties Philadelphia 76ers Lockheed Martin Live Nation American Water Subaru North America U.S. HUD U.S. EDA CHOP University of Pennsylvania
Contact

Let's Talk About
Your Project

"The best strategic thinking happens around a table with people who are genuinely trying to win — and who have the scar tissue to know where the traps are."

Principal Anthony J. Perno III, J.D.
Email aperno@ajpassociates.com
Phone (856) 780-0564
Location Merchantville, NJ — Serving the Greater Philadelphia & South Jersey Region and Beyond