Steve is a licensed Associate Broker since 1999 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Real Estate from The Pennsylvania State University. Steve is a  Lackawanna County resident  and enjoys time with his wife Janice and three children.

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Mr. Azar joined the Hinerfeld team in early 2010, and will seek to grow the firm’s institutional real estate brokerage business on both a local and regional scale.  He will also focus on private equity fundraising, principal investments and consulting assignments.

Previously, Mr. Azar was an investment banker with JPMorgan in New York City for over 15 years, where he developed an extensive background and understanding of both corporate finance and commercial real estate.  Over the course of his career, Mr. Azar has executed over $35 billion in real estate mergers & acquisition assignments, and has raised over $30 billion in real estate debt and equity capital.

Mr. Azar was most recently a Managing Director within JPMorgan’s Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (”CMBS”) group, where he headed a team of professionals who originated commercial loans from the firm’s real estate investment banking clients.  During his three years heading this unit, Mr. Azar and his team successfully originated over $15 billion of fixed and floating-rate commercial loans, which were then either securitized or sold privately by the firm.

Prior to joining the CMBS group, Mr. Azar worked for nearly 12 years within JPMorgan’s Real Estate, Lodging & Gaming Investment Banking group.  During this period, he covered a large number of the firm’s institutional real estate clients, and was responsible for executing the full spectrum of investment banking products including mergers & acquisitions, property sales, mortgage placements, sale-leasebacks, syndicated loans, investment grade bonds, private equity placements, etc.

Prior to joining JPMorgan, Mr. Azar worked in the commercial real estate leasing division of Milstein Properties in New York City.

Mr. Azar is a graduate of Columbia University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, and participated in both NCAA track & field and football.  He currently lives in Clarks Summit, PA with his wife Megan and their two young sons, Rodman and Adrian.  Mr. Azar is also a football and track & field coach at Tunkhannock Area High School.

When Daron’s trucks rumble by, the vibrations are enough to rattle the porcelain cups and dishes right to the edge of the shelf.

For Evann Xanthis, it’s the dust. The chalky, pervasive dust that coats everything and jams air conditioners.

Ms. Xanthis can’t remember the last time she opened a window. Being across the street from Daron is “like living in a catacomb,” she said.

For Daron and its neighbors in Lower Green Ridge, this winter is the beginning of the end for what was an uneasy relationship from the start.

In November 2007, the masonry and concrete company announced it would relocate its plants from Scranton and Ashley to an industrial park in Archbald, with production beginning there in February.

Winding down

As Daron readies to move, there has been less truck traffic, and dismantling began of its heavy machinery. The 16-acre property at 530 Electric St., a tax-free Keystone Opportunity Zone through 2010, is listed at $3.5 million by Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate.

To residents, Daron’s departure is a relief, though bittersweet because it took so long.

Four lawsuits are pending against the company for the detrimental impact it allegedly had on residents’ lives, namely the dust, noise and traffic, which Daron denies. In 2005, the company paid a $3,700 fine to the state Department of Environmental Protection for air-quality violations.

Daron’s tenure in Scranton wasn’t rosy for the company, either. In 2007, it threatened to sue if city council banned trucks from Dickson Avenue. A few months later, it sued resident Daniel Hubbard and the Lower Green Ridge Neighborhood Association for slander.

Mr. Hubbard accused Daron of violating zoning law and causing “long-term lung damage.” The case was later discontinued, and Mr. Hubbard issued a public retraction as part of the settlement.

Repeated calls and visits to Daron in attempt to speak with general manager David Lewis about the move to Archbald were unsuccessful.

Breathing a sigh of relief

Daron’s presence has been maddening to perhaps no one more than Ms. Xanthis, who chokes back tears as she talks about her daughter’s breathing problems and the medical bills they have incurred.

After 20 years on Dickson Avenue, Ms. Xanthis is selling her home, though she would love to stay just long enough to see Daron leave first.

A block away on Sanderson Avenue, 20-year-old Katie O’Neil said Daron has been more of an annoyance than a bane, but she won’t miss needing to clean dust off the car and backyard deck.

Mr. Prendergast, one of the four residents suing Daron along with Ms. Xanthis, blames the city and believes officials could have better protected the neighborhood. He also worries about what will come in Daron’s place.

In recent weeks, council discussed rezoning the Daron property from light industrial, citing a DEP report that recommended such a change. But Dan Penetar, the zoning board solicitor, advised against that action, saying it would be illegal “spot zoning.”

Already, though, it is apparent the pall Daron cast on the neighborhood is lifting.

Look no further than Debbie Roth, who bought a house on Delaware Street in June. Ms. Roth said before her Realtor could convince her to move in, there was one thing she needed to hear — that Daron was moving out.

- Courtesy of The Times-Tribune

Although Franklin’s birthday was actually in January, the alumni group met Sunday at the East Mountain Inn to commemorate the day. Franklin is the founder of the university.

Each year, the alumni group picks a fun topic to celebrate. This year, the group chose “Ben and Me,” a book written by Robert Lawson in 1939, which tells a fictitious tale of how a mouse named Amos is really the one to be credited with all of Franklin’s great inventions.

Harry Rothstein, of Dallas, and a 1943 graduate of the university, played the part of Franklin, while Jeff Denis, of Clarks Summit, and a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, portrayed Amos Mouse. Since Denis was one of the main characters, and is on spring break this week, the celebration was held Sunday so that he could participate.

“I’ve never portrayed a mouse before,” Denis said. “But I’m excited about it. It’s kind of neat.”

Denis, 19, who is majoring in engineering and business, said his favorite part of the “Ben and Me” story is that when the mouse first introduces himself to Franklin, the inventor doesn’t even seem a bit fazed that a mouse is talking to him. “He just starts talking to him like he’s a person,” he said.

During the luncheon, Tony Brooks, the alumni chairman for the June 2008 100th anniversary celebration, announced that he has been making progress in contacting descendants of the four original founders of the Northeastern Pennsylvania alumni club.

“We’re proud of the fact the class song was written by a Wilkes-Barre resident,” Brooks, of Wilkes-Barre, said. William John Goeckel, born in Wilkes-Barre, and an 1896 graduate of the university, composed music for the song, “The Red and Blue,” as well as two other university songs, “Memories” and “Houston Club March.”

Bill Runner, president of the alumni group, said that on June 1 a celebration will be held consisting of local alumni, visitors from the university and descendants of the club’s founders. The Northeastern Pennsylvania branch of the alumni club has about 2,500 members.

The alumni association is also responsible for interviewing potential freshmen at the school, easing their tensions about attending college, and talking about their past experiences at the Ivy-league school in Philadelphia.

“No Penn alumni club has done this before,” Runner said about telling the story of Amos and Franklin. Normally, he said, groups focus on actual events, which the NEPA club has done and will do in the future.

“But this just makes it more fun,” Runner said.

In the book and in Sunday’s performance, Amos Mouse credits himself for the Franklin Stove invention, as well as bifocals, the printing press and electricity. “It’s a fun thing,” said Rothstein, who wrote the script. “As I began writing it, I found it easy to come up with dialogue.

“Of course, it’s a true story,” Rothstein joked. “And Amos has passed away, so we can’t get verification (that it happened).”

-Courtesy of The Times Leader