Breakthrough Awards Breakfast
View Finalists
Join us in Celebrating the Largest Deals, Developments & Influential Teams Defining 2026
Commercial Observer’s Breakthrough Awards Breakfast celebrates the most influential investments, financings, leases, innovations, developments and leaders of the past year. This special event convenes executives representing all sides of the deal to reflect on the ingenuity and moxie behind the year’s biggest headlines.
Awards are presented under four main categories:
- Leadership
- Transactions and Investments
- Innovation
- Developments
Don’t miss your chance to access a room full of today’s most prominent leaders as we close out the year toasting the 2026 Breakthrough Finalists and Winners. Contact events@commercialobserver.com to learn more about the event and how you can secure your table.
About the Starrett Lehigh Building:
Starrett-Lehigh, a 2.3 million-square-foot workplace destination, is home to influential companies across fashion, entertainment, media, architecture, design, and technology. As an anchor of Manhattan’s West Side for nearly 100 years, the building serves as the professional and cultural hub at the center of the Meatpacking District’s retail and lifestyle growth, the commercial expansion of Hudson Yards, and the residential development in Chelsea and the surrounding neighborhoods.
The office campus is designed for innovative businesses looking to thrive in a global marketplace. A recent $150 million capital investment has transformed the property into a hub of modern convenience, featuring 100,000 square feet of premier amenities including the 601 Athletic Club, flexible amenity bays, and Level Ten with its two-story rooftop terrace. It also features diverse dining options including: Hav & Mar, the seasonal seafood house from acclaimed chef and restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson, The Yacht Club, the waterfront destination within Level Ten known for its elevated seafood-driven menu and sweeping Hudson River views and Olly Olly, the building’s food market.
Host Sponsor
RXR is an innovative real estate investment manager, operator, developer, and place-maker committed to applying a customer and community-centered approach to acquiring, operating, and building properties and to providing services and products that create enduring value for all stakeholders. Headquartered in New York with a nationally-scaled platform, RXR is an approximately 450 person, vertically integrated investment manager with expertise in a wide array of value creation activities, including acquisitions, asset and portfolio management, property operations, development, construction, leasing, and technological innovation. RXR is an active investor in real estate credit, rental housing, commercial property, and property technology through value-added and opportunistic investment strategies. The RXR platform manages 108 commercial real estate properties and investments with an aggregate gross asset value of approximately $16.4 billion, comprising approximately 30.9 million square feet of commercial properties, a multi-family residential portfolio of approximately 9,400 units under operation or development, and control of development rights for an additional approximately 3,000 multi-family and for sale units as of September 30, 2025. Gross asset value compiled by RXR in accordance with company fair value measurement policy and is comprised of capital invested by RXR and its partners, as well as leverage.
Coffee Sponsor
Keller Augusta is a national, full-service boutique executive search and advisory firm specializing in commercial real estate with offices in Boston, Dallas, New York, and South Florida. Highly sought for our ability to align clients and candidates with job opportunities within all CRE industry disciplines, we provide a 360 approach to recruitment and development management, including guidance for diverse and equitable hiring, compensation and benefit analysis, leadership development, organizational optimization, and succession planning.
For 25 years, our team has demonstrated success in delivering effective staffing solutions and consulting services from boutique real estate businesses to large institutions. With a deep understanding of national recruitment trends, we are well versed in the shifting dynamics of candidate identification and placement, providing exemplary search placements for entry level to senior management.
Program Sponsors
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer is one of the world’s leading global law firms, operating in the markets where our clients need us. We combine unrivalled scale and depth in disputes and transactions with a clear focus on tackling the issues that are shaping our clients’ future. We are committed to a culture of collaboration and high performance, and to embedding market-leading legal technology – empowering our people to deliver outstanding results.
King & Spalding is a leading international law firm with a global platform and deep local roots. With approximately 1,300 lawyers across 26 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, the firm advises clients on complex transactional, regulatory, and dispute matters in more than 160 countries. Celebrating over 140 years of service, King & Spalding represents a broad spectrum of clients, including more than 250 public companies and approximately half of the Fortune Global 100. The firm offers full‑service capabilities across key practice areas, including private funds, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, litigation, and regulatory matters, and is known for building long‑standing, trusted client relationships. King & Spalding is consistently recognized by leading legal directories for the depth and quality of its work. Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Legal 500, and U.S. News & Best Lawyers regularly rank the firm among the top law firms worldwide, noting its strong bench, integrated global approach, and practical, business‑oriented advice. Clients and industry rankings frequently highlight the firm’s ability to handle high‑profile, complex matters with efficiency, responsiveness, and a collaborative, cross‑border approach.
Berkadia, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Jefferies Financial Group, is a leader in the commercial real estate industry, offering a robust suite of services to our multifamily and commercial property clients. Powered by deep relationships and industry-changing technology, our people sell, finance, and service commercial real estate, providing support for the entire life cycle of our clients’ assets. Our unique ownership structure allows us to put the client’s interests first and creates a marketplace that delivers a superior experience.
Clarion Partners is a leading commercial real estate investment manager headquartered in New York, with a presence in major markets across the United States and Europe. The company manages over $73 billion in total assets on behalf of nearly 500 global institutional investors across roughly 1,350 properties. With more than 40 years of history focused exclusively on real estate, Clarion Partners offers strategies across the risk/return spectrum through both fund and separate account formats. Clarion Partners is an SEC-registered investment adviser and a majority-owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton.
Association Partner
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