Troy Elias, 29

Real estate could give Hollywood a run for its money in the number of familial connections needed to make it in the industry. But Troy Elias proves that isn’t always the case.

Elias does not come from a real estate family, but was able to get a foot in thanks to alumni at Muhlenberg College who helped him land an internship at a small, now shuttered brokerage.

“It was just luck of the draw,” he said. “I knew nothing about real estate. I barely knew what commercial real estate was, frankly.”

But while Elias needed a little luck to start, the rest was all on him. After graduating, Elias cold-called all the major brokerages and eventually landed a role at Cushman & Wakefield. He made sure to get up to speed quickly — creating flash cards to remember everything from the major tenants to the geometries of certain buildings.

He’s been able to work on some major deals since like Touro College’s massive 243,000-square-foot arrangement at Rudin’s 3 Times Square in early 2022 and again when the college tacked on another 66,438 square feet last year. Elias and his team were able to arrange it in a way to help Touro avoid paying real estate taxes for the duration of its lease.

“We were able to structure it where Touro benefited from having this Class A [space],” Elias said. “They were able to get in at a relatively low basis, and then once you strip out the real estate taxes, the deal was even sweeter.”

He also worked on private equity firm Hg’s 14,000-square-foot lease at the Grace Building in 2023, and brokered an 80,000-square-foot lease for an investment bank he has to remain mum about.

The New Jersey native currently lives on Manhattan’s East Side. He recently got into art collecting, buying his first piece, a work by artist Gal Yosef.