Kris Kolluri, the CEO of the Gateway Development Commission, submitted his resignation July 18. In the role, Kolluri has been leading the $16.1-billion Hudson Tunnel Project and $1.7-billion North Portal Bridge on the Northeast Corridor rail line between Newark, N.J., and New York City. Kolluri’s resignation is effective Aug. 16.

In his resignation letter to Gateway’s board of commissioners, Kolluri highlighted the team’s successes in the two years since he was appointed to the role with the recommendations of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. Gateway completed contracting for several pieces of the tunnel project, started construction on both sides of the river and recently secured the final piece of funding for the work with a record $6.9-billion capital investment grant from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA). 

“The progress we have made together is historic, meaningful, and measurable,” he wrote in the resignation letter, which was obtained by ENR. 

Kolluri drew praise for his work at Gateway. Tom Wright, president and CEO of the Regional Plan Association, and Sophie Cappello, RPA’s advocacy campaigns manager, said in a statement that “it is truly impressive to consider how much Kris and his team accomplished in two years.” Carlo Scissura, president and CEO of the New York Building Congress, said in a statement that Kolluri deserves thanks from the industry for his communication and partnership.

“Kris Kolluri took an entity that barely existed and turned it into a multi-billion dollar operation — no small feat, because the stakes couldn’t have been higher,” Scissura said.

As a reason for his departure, Kolluri referred in his letter to the anticipated start of major tunnel construction this fall. “It is the right time for me to step down and let the next leader oversee the construction phase,” he wrote. His resignation also follows that of Eric Daleo, who was Gateway’s chief program officer until he left the organization earlier this month. On social media, Gateway shared that Daleo was “critical” in securing the FTA grant. 

Kolluri did not offer a more detailed reason for his departure and did not immediately respond to ENR's request for comment.

In addition to coming shortly after securing the final piece of funding for the Hudson River rail tunnel, Kolluri’s resignation follows reports in the press that uncovered an apparent reference to him in the indictment of South Jersey political power broker George Norcross III. 

While Kolluri is not accused of any wrongdoing, a person matching his background is briefly referred to as “Individual-1” 69 pages into the 111-page indictment charging Norcross and five others with racketeering and related crimes last month. The person in question had been CEO of the Rowan University-Rutgers Camden Board of Governors, but moved to a role leading the nonprofit redevelopment organization Camden Community Partnership, formerly called Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, apparently because Norcross “wanted to move people around in Camden” and disapproved of Kolluri’s predecessor at the partnership, according to the indictment. The move freed up the university board position for former Camden Mayor Dana Redd, who was also indicted alongside Norcross. 

The commission’s board had been scheduled to meet July 16, but the meeting was canceled with a rescheduled date still pending. 

Prior to joining Gateway, Kolluri also held leadership roles with the New Jersey Dept. of Transportation and New Jersey Schools Development Authority. 

After Gateway was awarded the FTA grant, Kolluri posted a photo on LinkedIn of himself with leaders from both states holding an oversized novelty check. He simply captioned it, “Done.”