2020 Power 100

Commercial Real Estateโ€™s Most Powerful Players

By July 27, 2020 9:00 AM
Loading the player...

2020 Power 100.

When Commercial Observer discussed the concept for this yearโ€™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.

Itโ€™s bad out there. Bad as itโ€™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 worryโ€ฆ 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 weโ€™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 techโ€”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 inventorsโ€”and definitely lawyers.) And who could offer the most amount of help? (City and state politicians and bureaucrats โ€ฆ there are so many that they got their own sidebar on the list.)

Yes, the landscape is bleak. Maybe not as grim as โ€œMad Max,โ€ โ€œPlanet of the Apesโ€ and โ€œThe Terminator.โ€ But we have tried to spell out who from the real estate worldโ€”and beyondโ€”will lead the city, the state and the nationโ€™s real estate out of this crisis and into a better tomorrow.โ€”M.G.

41

James Flynn

Deerfield Management

42 -3

Michael Gianaris

12th District

43

Eric Yuan

Zoom

44 +2

Sam Zell and Mark Parrell

Equity Residential

45

Jonathan Litt

Land & Buildings

48 +2

Jeffrey Feil and Jay Anderson

Feil Organization

49 -12
50 -17

David Simon

Simon Property Group

51 +4

Albert Behler

Paramount Group

52

Joel Marcus and John Cunningham

Alexandria Real Estate Equities

53 -4

Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs

RFR Holding LLC

54 -1
55 -17

Ziel Feldman and Nir Meir

HFZ Capital Group

56 +25

Jonathan Resnick

Jack Resnick & Sons

57 -6
58 +3

Daniel Moore

Rockefeller Group

59 -23

Bill de Blasio

New York City

60 -4

Joseph Chetrit

Chetrit Group