The landscape is different. It’s a post-COVID, still-COVID, post-lockdown world that might re-enter lockdown any week now. The power shifted, and thus, being a power player in commercial real estate has new meaning.

Having power today is to be active, or somehow thriving, when it’s been 21 months since March 2020 and we’re still not sure when some of the biggest corporations in America will have all their employees back in the office at one time.

So the Power L.A. list is a reflection of the investors and developers that are still stirring the drink in the face of economic uncertainty. It’s the ones with the goods we need to operate in this new normal.

For sure, the flash comes from studio developers hitting the accelerator on the entertainment industry, as funding from around the country flies into Hollywood. So don’t be surprised by Michael Hackman or Victor Coleman after they brought us even more 10-figure headlines this year.

You also can’t escape the warehouse wave in Southern California. “Location, location, location” is being replaced by “industrial, industrial, industrial.” We can’t stop hearing about the overload at the ports of L.A. and Long Beach, and we know from every fundamental that the pandemic bolstered the e-commerce market. And Prologis and Rexford and Amazon are seemingly everywhere, from the coast to the eastern edge of the Inland Empire buying or building new warehouses or logistics space.

And, more than anything, it wouldn’t reflect California without acknowledging an exacerbated housing crisis. Multifamily remains a safe haven for investors because there’s never enough housing. That’s why Standard Communities and Waterford Properties are on this list. Where else have you ever seen developers flipping so many luxury apartments into workforce rents before?

Things were so difficult in 2020. And this list shows that 2021 wasn’t the best, but it was better than 2020. And we’re prepared for next year to be better still.