2020 Power 100

Commercial Real Estate’s Most Powerful Players

By July 27, 2020 9:00 AM
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2020 Power 100.

When Commercial Observer discussed the concept for this year’s Power 100, we were in a slightly apocalyptic frame of mind.

While many people in the business have a vested interest in putting the sunniest possible slant on every misstep or ominous sign from the marketplace, very few are even paying lip service to those sentiments these days.

It’s bad out there. Bad as it’s ever been. Even those who have protected themselves from over-leveraged traps that plunged real estate into years of long, painful recession, have reason to worry… about everything, not least of which involves taking a step out of their home and dying a few weeks later of a horrible disease.

But even if we’re talking strictly business matters, everything is vulnerable. Multifamily has always been a safe bet (no matter what, people are going to need somewhere to live), but if nobody can afford their rent, how safe is it really?

When we first began putting together this list we thought: Who would be safest in a crisis like this one? (Answer: Industrial, suburbs, multifamily, life sciences and tech—and owners whose portfolios are unleveraged.) Who would be most damaged? (Hospitality, retail, empty new office.) Who will be most needed in the coming months? (Public health figures, proptech inventors—and definitely lawyers.) And who could offer the most amount of help? (City and state politicians and bureaucrats … there are so many that they got their own sidebar on the list.)

Yes, the landscape is bleak. Maybe not as grim as “Mad Max,” “Planet of the Apes” and “The Terminator.” But we have tried to spell out who from the real estate world—and beyond—will lead the city, the state and the nation’s real estate out of this crisis and into a better tomorrow.—M.G.

1 +33

Andrew Cuomo

New York State

2 +2
4 -3

Ric Clark and Brian Kingston

Brookfield Property Partners

6 -3
7 +5

Larry Silverstein and Marty Burger

Silverstein Properties

8 +5
10

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

11 -1

Jeff Bezos

Amazon

12 -6

Rob Speyer

Tishman Speyer

13 -8

Steven Roth

Vornado Realty Trust

14 +7

Douglas Harmon and Adam Spies

Cushman & Wakefield

15

Mary Ann Tighe

CEO of CBRE’s Tri-State Region

16 -5

William Rudin

Rudin Management Company

17

David Levinson and Robert Lapidus

L&L Holding Company

18
20 -1

Anthony Malkin

Empire State Realty Trust