Breakthrough Awards Innovation Finalists
Celebrating the Year’s Top Innovations, Developments, Transactions & Leaders
Commercial Observer’s 2026 Breakthrough Awards will recognize the teams, deals, developments, and executives across asset classes and verticals who have succeeded despite economic and urban challenges. Awards will be presented to the winning team at the Breakthrough Awards Breakfast on December 2nd in NYC.
Innovation Award Finalists Announced!
INNOVATION
Tech Advance of the Year
RCKRBX
Cove
EliseAI
Atrium Data
Trepp
PredictAP
CompStak
INNOVATION
Innovation in Office
One Bryant Park
NYC
Rosenberg & Estis, The Durst Organization, Bank of America
Bank of America’s 2.4M-SF lease at One Bryant Park
1540 Broadway
NYC
GFP Real Estate, BDT & MSD Partners, Fogarty Finger
The Repositioning of 1540 Broadway, NYC
T3 FAT Village
Florida
Urban Street Development, Hines
Florida’s first major mass timber office building
125 West 57th Street
NYC
Alchemy-ABR Investment Partners, Cain, FXCollaborative
Sanofi at M Station West
Morristown, NJ
SJP Properties, Sanofi, Villa Enterprises, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE, Gensler
INNOVATION
Innovation in Industrial
Warehub
Multi-State
Warehub
Warehub for its industrial leasing and operations solutions
Meta’s Northeast Louisiana AI Campus
Rayville, LA
Meta Platforms, Inc., Blue Owl Capital, DPR Construction, Turner Construction Company, Mortenson
CenterPoint JFK Logistics Center
Inwood, NY
CenterPoint Properties
Bronx Logistics Center
Bronx, NY
Turnbridge Equities
INNOVATION
Innovation in Residential
110 Boerum Place
Brooklyn, NY
Avdoo, Brent Buck Architects, Brook Landscape
Palm Tree Residences Miami
Miami, FL
PMG
Forma Miami
Miami, FL
Crescent Heights
262 Fifth Avenue
NYC
Five Points Development Group, Cottonwood Group, Meganom, Sotheby’s International Realty Development Advisors
INNOVATION
Innovation in Multifamily
Jasper at 50th Avenue & 5th Street
Queens, NYC
The Domain Companies, LMXD, Bridge Investment Group
SoMa at 25 Water Street
NYC
GFP Real Estate, MetroLoft Developers, Rockwood Capital, CetraRuddy Architecture, Compass Development Marketing Group
Figueroa Eight
Los Angeles, CA
Sentral


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.








