‘No Limit on the Possibilities.’ Michael Higgins, NJIT and the Long View of Building a City

Michael Higgins ‘90 believes the true measure of architecture is not the building itself, but what happens around it over time. The families who move in. The storefronts that open. The sidewalks that fill. The community that grows.

As managing principal and CEO of MHS Architecture, he oversees large-scale mixed-use and transit-oriented developments that are reshaping communities across New Jersey and beyond. His work spans entire blocks, neighborhoods and public spaces. Yet the philosophy guiding that work began years ago in the studios of NJIT.

“NJIT is the institution that had the most impact on my life,” he said. “More than any other aspect of my education, or any other thing in my life. It really put me on this path that I’ve taken, and I’m very thankful for just having decided on NJIT.”

Higgins arrived at NJIT from a construction background. As a child, he spent his days around job sites in his family’s business, absorbing the rhythm of crews and the tangible excitement of buildings rising from the ground.

“I always liked the excitement of buildings and being around people that were making buildings and the whole process. I met with the architects and enjoyed seeing what they were doing and the creativity. And that’s really what spurred me to go to architecture school and become an architect,” he said.

At NJIT, construction evolved into something far more expansive. Architecture became history, culture and civilization intertwined.

“What I really found very powerful was how interesting architecture was, how architecture is like a thread that from the beginning of time, it goes all through history, and it plays an important role in the developments of cities and human culture. I mean, just civilization, architecture was such a critical thing. And I thought that was amazing,” he remembered.

That understanding deepened when he left New Jersey for the first time.

During his third year, Higgins studied abroad in Barcelona, later traveling to Rome and Finland. The experience shifted his perspective from suburban surroundings to cities layered with history, density and design.

“Just being in these great cities and to see the importance of buildings — even nondescript, just vernacular buildings — the impact that architecture has on creating the entire type of life that exists in these places. I mean, it really left a lasting impression,” he said.

Barcelona, in particular, stayed with him. Years later, seeing photographs of the completed interior of La Sagrada Familia reignited that sense of awe.

“When I saw the pictures, especially of the interior, I was blown away by the quality of the light, and the space. I mean, just so amazing.”

La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece, has been under construction since 1882 and is expected to reach its main completion milestone in 2026, more than 140 years after work began. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Those experiences clarified something important. He did not simply want to design buildings. He wanted to shape cities.

NJIT’s New Jersey School of Architecture was still young when he was a student, but its professors left an indelible mark. In particular, professors like Jill Stoner and David Buege shaped his mindset, emphasizing rigor and discipline.

“They really stressed the importance of being rigorous, of being thoughtful and always putting forth high quality work, the best work you were capable of doing.”

But the most enduring lesson was about process.

“They both really stressed the process. Some of this is it’s not just about getting to the end. It’s about the journey along the way, and that’s where all the beauty comes from,” he said. “The process is the part that you can really get to experience and enjoy.”

That perspective has proven essential in a career defined by long-term urban transformation. Higgins has spent more than three decades working in Hoboken, completing more than 100 buildings that have gradually reshaped the city.

It is very satisfying to see a community get transformed over your lifetime.

“If you design in one place, like we did in Hoboken, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor your whole lifetime. You get to walk around the city, see the buildings and understand that you took these sort of empty parking lots and abandoned this and abandoned that, and were able to fill the buildings in, give it a continuous street wall that was very pleasant and a nice pedestrian experience,” he said. “You meet the people that run the shops, the people in your community, and you become part of it.”

That long view now guides his work in Newark, where he once lived on Halsey Street. At the time, much of downtown was quiet and underdeveloped. He saw opportunity even then.

Today, he is helping shape new transit-oriented developments near Penn Station and the Ironbound. His connection is deeply personal. “It’s taken a good chunk of my lifetime to get to the point where it is now, and it’s still got a long way to go. Newark is the most exciting thing for me to watch because I lived there, and I went to school there.”

Architecture is not only about the final product.

This year during the 20th Anniversary of Design Showcase, Higgins will return to campus to receive the Distinguished Alumni Impact Award. The recognition brings him back to the beginning.

“There was no limit on the possibilities when you were there. That’s the kind of feeling you had, the students were given as much creative freedom as they wanted. And that really stuck with me, that you could do anything you wanted.”

For students preparing to enter a rapidly evolving profession, his advice is grounded in experience.

“Find a community that you really want to become part of, wherever that may be, set your roots down in that community, get involved in that community. And if you stay there long enough, you’ll become sort of the expert,” he highlighted.

“You just have to always stay hungry for knowledge, always understand that you’re going to be learning your entire lifetime,” he added. “Then you just have to try to set goals that are important to you, and not to feel like those goals are unattainable. If you put your mind to it, and it’s something you want, you can do it.”

In many ways, his career embodies the lesson his professors taught him: architecture is not only about the final product. It is about the patient shaping of space, time and community.

And for Higgins, that shaping began at NJIT, with the belief that there was no limit on the possibilities.