Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. Younger Workers Want Office Return More Than Older Ones: Surveys

Eric Westbrook

There is an increasing body of evidence that the age cohort that most wants to return to the office is younger workers.

Surveys since the novel coronavirus pandemic sent so many scurrying to work remotely—and threw the market for office space into such tumult—suggest that it’s not older workers who might not be as familiar with telecommuting technology that want back into physical workplaces but the tech-savvier likes of millennials and Generation Z.

Some 70 percent of Generation Z and 69 percent of millennials surveyed by Cushman & Wakefield for a summer analysis called “Future of Workplace” reported challenges in working from home. That was compared to 55 percent of baby boomers.

The main challenge? Finding space. Older workers are likelier to have dedicated workspace at home, according to the Cushman & Wakefield report. They’re also less likely to have distractions such as roommates—or their baby boomer parents themselves as many younger workers have moved back in with family amid the pandemic upheaval. Finally, younger workers are also likelier to be caregivers at home, either to older parents and younger children, including ones in need of home-schooling.

2. What CEOs Really Think About Remote Work

CEOs and other executives say they’ve seen enough to judge whether remote work is working. But the verdict depends on whom you ask.

Here’s what some leaders are saying about working from home and the value of an office:

“I don’t see any positives. Not being able to get together in person, particularly internationally, is a pure negative.” —Reed Hastings, co-chief executive of Netflix Inc., on working from home

“I don’t believe BlackRock will be ever 100% back in office. I actually believe maybe 60% or 70%, and maybe that’s a rotation of people, but I don’t believe we’ll ever have a full cadre of people in [the] office.”—Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock Inc., speaking at the digital Morningstar Investment Conference on Sept. 17

3. Silicon Valley's workforce is falling out of love with massive tech campuses. Experts predict what will take its place are networks of satellite offices.

When will it be safe for tech employees to return to the office? What happens to employees who want to leave Silicon Valley? And what does the future of the office look like? These are the questions that major tech companies are grappling with as the coronavirus crisis stretches into the fall.

Many large tech firms, including giants like Facebook and Google, have pushed back plans to return to the office until summer 2021, and have said they anticipate a rise in remote work.But experts told Business Insider that the office — and Silicon Valley — will look very different by then.

With workers leaving the Bay Area and companies wary to have thousands of employees all in one place, San Francisco may not be the central tech headquarters it's been for decades.

4. Remote Work's Appeal Shows Signs of Fading

The remote work model may have an expiration date.

Last week JP Morgan startled the financial world by indicating that its productivity is falling as its employees continue to work from home, particularly on Mondays and Fridays.

CEO Jamie Dimon made these comments in a private meeting with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts, according to a report in Bloomberg. Now the bank is urging workers to return to the office

Another sign of corporate disillusionment with the WFH model comes, albeit subtly, from Google CFO Ruth Porat who told Bloomberg TV that employees having the chance to work together in-person is key to fostering innovation.

5. The Uncertain Future of Corporate HQs

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen tens of millions of Americans engage in a gigantic experiment in working from home — one that looks to be more permanent than anyone might have imagined. Corporation after corporation has announced that they won’t be reopening their offices until mid-2021, at least.  Some commentators are even predicting the death of the office and the end of cities.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Now, more than ever, the issue of where we work — of place and location — remains a fundamental question.

Pandemics and other crises can disrupt or change the status quo, but history shows they can also accelerate trends already underway. The question of where to locate corporate facilities has been increasing in strategic importance for a long time. 

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. Email Is A Distraction Treasure Chest

A lamp shade in your living room is diffused. It’s unfocused and spreads light around, but it’s not going to impress anyone or win any awards. We have lamps in every room of our home and I never even think about them. They do their job and softly light a room, but they do not stand out.

But a spotlight at a show, a laser or even yes, a light beam through a magnifying glass, has amazing powers. Those beams of light contain incredible strength to gather our attention. The military uses lasers as a weapon and movie stars want to be in…the spotlight.

Simply focusing the energy of light has a dramatic impact on its effectiveness.

And this principle applies not only to light, but to you and me.

2. Papa John’s to open HQ in Atlanta, create 200 jobs

Pizza delivery company Papa John’s plans to move its global headquarters to Atlanta from Kentucky next year, adding 200 jobs as it expands and rides a huge surge in business, thanks to the coronavirus.

Papa John’s International will relocate development, human resources, menu innovation and other departments to the Atlanta area from its hometown of Louisville. The company’s IT and logistics departments will remain there.

Company president and CEO Rob Lynch told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the COVID-19 pandemic has helped Papa John’s have the best year in its history. As people work and attend school from home, sales have soared.

3. Productivity Drops as Work From Home Fatigue Sets In, Survey of Employers Finds

OLI SCARFF/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Nearly six months into the forced large-scale work-from-home experiment that the coronavirus pandemic caused, companies have started to report a drop in productivity as remote work fatigue starts to set in, a survey by architect and design firm Vocon found.

Vocon surveyed the heads of nearly 50 businesses around the country and found that 40 percent of them have started to see decreases in productivity as staff work remotely. Meanwhile, a quarter of them added their employees were feeling exhausted working from home every day. That runs counter to what the leaders told Vocon early on in the pandemic, when 56 percent of them in April rated productivity as “excellent.”

“That was a really big indicator for us that things were starting to fracture,” said Megan Spinos, the director of strategy for Vocon. “What we’re seeing in the comments is that there were other implications. Companies were having a really hard time keeping their culture together and a really, really difficult time onboarding employees. The workplace was really a critical place for them.”

4. Amazon Plans to Put 1,000 Warehouses in Suburban Neighborhoods

Melissa Lyttle/Bloomberg

mazon.com Inc. plans to open 1,000 small delivery hubs in cities and suburbs all over the U.S., according to people familiar with the plans. The facilities, which will eventually number about 1,500, will bring products closer to customers, making shopping online about as fast as a quick run to the store. It will also help the world’s largest e-commerce company take on a resurgent Walmart Inc.

Amazon couldn’t fulfill its two-day delivery pledge earlier this year when shoppers in Covid-19 lockdown flooded the company with more orders than it could handle. While delivery times have improved thanks to the hiring of 175,000 new workers, Amazon is now consumed with honoring a pre-pandemic pledge to get many products to Prime subscribers on the same day.

So with the holidays approaching, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is doubling down by investing billions in proximity, putting warehouses and swarms of blue vans in neighborhoods long populated with car dealerships, fast-food joints, shopping malls and big-box stores.

5. Cushman, Industrious Form Alliance as Office Industry Rallies Behind Flex Space

Cushman & Wakefield PLC, one of the world’s largest commercial-real-estate-services firms, has launched an alliance with Industrious, a startup co-working firm, to build market share in one of the few growing office-space businesses during the pandemic.

The office industry has mostly gotten pounded this year, creating pain for investors in firms like Cushman, CBRE Group Inc. and JLL. Because of health concerns, millions of workers continue to work from home. Leasing and sales activity has evaporated, eroding billions of dollars of value.

But one of the few office businesses that is staying relatively strong has been managing properties for landlords. That business also has great growth potential because it is already beginning to play a major role in the workplace changes taking shape in a world of Covid-19.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Email Is A Distraction Treasure Chest

I was 6 years old when my younger brother Mike and I made the most amazing discovery. Mom had a magnifying glass in her desk drawer. While she was distracted, we scooped it up and we were instantly amazed at our new view of the world. We looked at most everything in the living room, giggling at how funny everyday household items looked under magnification.

Then we went outside and the real magic was about to unfold. We uncovered an awesome capability of this tool…we could focus the SUN! We started by burning a few blades of grass (yes, this was unwise). But then we realized we had just uncovered a new superpower – heat from the sun was ours to use! We burned our names into a hapless white pine. If Mom hadn’t finally noticed her kids were TOO quiet, we might have started marking our territory on the side of the house. But we were busted and sent on to less risky activities.

Focus Can Create Your Own Superpowers

A lamp shade in your living room is diffused. It’s unfocused and spreads light around, but it’s not going to impress anyone or win any awards. We have lamps in every room of our home and I never even think about them. They do their job and softly light a room, but they do not stand out.

But a spotlight at a show, a laser or even yes, a light beam through a magnifying glass, has amazing powers. Those beams of light contain incredible strength to gather our attention. The military uses lasers as a weapon and movie stars want to be in…the spotlight.

Simply focusing the energy of light has a dramatic impact on its effectiveness.

And this principle applies not only to light, but to you and me.

Email Can Make You A Lamp

Listen, I know the siren song of constantly responding to emails and texts. I’ve been guilty too. We want our clients or prospects to know that we are ON IT. For many years, I wanted clients to know I would respond in minutes to an electronic communication – almost like the walkie talkie’s we used as kids.

The volume of communication during this pandemic seems to be skyrocketing. I know well the angst of being away from email for a few hours or – God forbid -  even half a day. How long will it take to “dig out” of the many messages pouring in?

But there is a trade-off for this level of communication: constant interruption which causes you to lose focus on the task or person at hand. This makes you a lamp, not a high-powered laser...which makes you unremarkable.

Given the distraction capability contained in email (and yes, social media or streaming news), is it any wonder that we can get ANYTHING done anymore?

Quadrant 2

Steven Covey talked about his Four Quadrants of time management in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. While we won’t cover all four quadrants posed by Covey here, a simple Google search will bring you lots of information on his concept. Reading (or re-reading) the book would be a great use of your time.

However, we can discuss the much-vaunted Quadrant 2: an area where one is focusing on the important but NOT the urgent.

Spending time in the important but not urgent quadrant covers a lot of really important things in life. Key elements of your business, your most important clients, your significant other, your kids, your Mom and other areas of your life where you may need to spend more and more quality time.

But not email. Email is the opposite of Quadrant 2 and works masterfully to pull you away from some of the most important things in life. The treasure chest of distractions in many, many messages from mostly well-meaning people.

So, What Do I Do About the Daily Barrage of Messages?

There is a whole genre of business books on how to manage these issues. See Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy, for example or Discipline Equals Freedom, by former Navy Seal officer Jocko Willink. Both will get you thinking hard about this issue.  

But you know the real answer: intentionality and discipline. Scheduling time to focus on Quadrant 2 issues FIRST during the week is the intention part. The discipline is what is required to actually implement.

The power of focus can turn you into an amazing performer in the business world. It can be the elixir in your most important relationships and make you stand out in a huge way to your friends and loved ones.

With a new approach to managing distractions, you can become a focused listener and I guarantee that your tribe will notice. Focus and authentic listening are so rare that it really is an easy way to stand out in 2020.

Step. Away. From. The. Phone. On a consistent basis. You will be a better person for it.

Oh, and don’t try to use that magnifying glass on the cat, but that’s another story.

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. Netflix’s Reed Hastings Deems Remote Work ‘a Pure Negative’

AUSTIN HARGRAVE/NETFLIX

Launching Netflix in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail movie-rental service with Marc Randolph, Mr. Hastings grasped early that the internet was the future of distribution. First with old movies and TV shows that Hollywood studios and networks were more than happy to sell, then with original programming such as “House of Cards” and “Stranger Things,” the streaming giant has built a global subscriber base approaching 200 million households world-wide.

Along the way, Mr. Hastings has built a distinctive—and, to some, cutthroat—corporate culture. The Netflix way encourages staff to take big risks, typically without the need of approval from a chain of bosses, and to communicate with blunt candor. Leaders often practice what is called the “keeper test,” in which they ask themselves: If a staffer were offered a job elsewhere, would you fight to keep that employee? If the answer is no, the person is let go.

In his new book “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention,” Mr. Hastings likens being employed at the streaming giant to being part of a sports team: Getting cut is disappointing but carries no shame. “Unlike many companies, we practice: Adequate performance gets a generous severance package,” reads one of Netflix’s mottos.

2. JPMorgan Summons More Investment Bankers to Offices: WFH Tracker

Half of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s investment bankers are now coming into their London and New York offices.

The U.S. bank has requested that 50% of its dealmakers be in the office on a given workday, up from 25% previously. The increased presence started Monday in London and Tuesday in New York with bankers working from home or the office on alternating weeks.

Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG are also boosting the number of employees returning to their London offices.

3. Dear Wall Street, Your Boss Wants You to Come Back to the Office

Up and down the new virtual Wall Street, the question has started to creep in: When will the bosses order us back to our real offices?

Almost six months after the coronavirus pandemic emptied towers and trading floors in New York and beyond, JPMorgan Chase & Co. executives have discussed compelling people to come back into the city and other places where Covid-19 has subsided, according to people familiar with the matter.

The bank already asked some new analysts to report into offices in New York and London to get up to speed in person after online classroom training. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised recruits to station themselves near its offices should they be called in. And Blackstone Group Inc. has encouraged investment professionals to return.

4. Re-imagining Your Core Office Space for a Flexible Workforce

About 22 percent of respondents found that collaboration and participation in meetings waned since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted by Colliers.

The survey, led by Colliers Workplace team, found that while half of respondents were able to maintain or increase their productivity while at home, about 41 percent found social interaction better at the office, as well as 22 percent for collaboration and participation.

The Colliers report proposes moving away from traditional occupancy patters in the office into managed occupancy patterns in a post-COVID 19 office environment, where workspaces in an office are scheduled or allocated to certain employees or teams in shifts or varying days.

5. SIOR Members Report Highest Transaction Volume Since Pandemic Began

SIOR’s fifth monthly Snapshot Sentiment Survey of its members finds that member transactions are at their highest levels since the pandemic began, and broker confidence is back to 6.58 on a 10-point scale after declining in July.

The survey found that 45.2% of all deals are going through as planned, compared to 26.1% in April.

Cancelled transactions also decreased in August, with the industrial sector reporting 13.2%, the lowest levels since the pandemic began. Canceled office transactions also dropped, down to 18.8% from July’s peak of 19.7%.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. The Stockdale Paradox: Prevailing in Crisis

Nearly 55 years ago on an exceedingly pretty day, Admiral (Commander at the time) Jim Stockdale jumped in his A4 Skyhawk. He was excited but confident, having flown nearly 200 missions thus far in the Vietnam War. He was highly decorated having earned numerous awards and medals.

Another day, another battle.

The plane lurched from the deck of the aircraft carrier The USS Oriskany and the mission was under way. The squad was headed back, yet again, to take on the enemy in the jungles of North Vietnam. As the fighter pilots got close to their assignment, Admiral Stockdale came in low at the top of the trees, hoping to avoid anti-aircraft fire. But luck wasn't headed his way today: there was a "flack trap" in the very top of one of the trees. The enemy fired and within seconds the A4 was on fire. Stockdale had to make the decision to bail out in about two seconds. 

His parachute deployed, but the enemy started shooting at him from the ground. Stockdale later reported that a "thundering herd of men" ran towards him. The moment he landed, the crowd beat him to within an inch of his life. 

2. Publicly-Traded REITs May Be Better Offer in This Recession Than the Last One

Although it might feel like the publicly-traded REIT sector as a whole is in the midst of a “sky is falling” crisis, real estate experts say the outlook for REITs is more sunny than cloudy. In fact, they maintain that REITs are better positioned financially today than they were during and after the Great Recession.

“While the coronavirus crisis is not yet over, it does appear that the REIT sector is likely to avoid the type of long-term, lingering pain that was felt by the sector during the financial crisis, when it took nearly eight years for the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index to recover to pre-recession highs,” says Alex Pettee, president and director of research and ETFs at Rowayton, Conn.-based investment adviser Hoya Capital Real Estate LLC.

To be sure, the REIT landscape is uneven right now. As of Aug. 31, year-to-date total returns for three pandemic-battered subsectors sat in double-digit negative territory, according to Nareit: lodging (-47.7 percent), retail (-37.3 percent) and office (-25.6 percent). By contrast, the pandemic has lifted three key subsectors into double-digit positive territory: data centers (+32.5 percent), infrastructure (+14 percent) and industrial (+11.7 percent).

3. Becoming a More Patient Leader

Linda Raymond/Getty Images

eading effectively — especially during a crisis — takes patience. If you can’t retain your composure in the face of frustration or adversity, you won’t be able to keep others calm. When your direct reports show signs of strain, you need to support them, not get irritated. Solutions to new challenges usually take time to put into practice. However, in my work teaching and coaching high-potential leaders, I have seen that many just don’t have patience and don’t know how to find it. They want quick fixes and can’t wait for strategies to take hold. This tendency is only reinforced by our agile digital work world, which seems to prize hyperspeed.

To learn more about how patience affects a leader’s influence on direct reports during challenging times, I surveyed 578 full-time U.S. working professionals from a wide range of industries during the recent Covid-19 lockdown. Their average age was 39, most were college graduates, and more than half were in managerial roles themselves.

I asked about their immediate supervisor’s leadership behaviors and level of patience and had them self-report their own levels of creativity, productivity, and collaboration. Their responses revealed that patience had a powerful effect: When leaders demonstrated it (meaning their employees’ ratings put them in the highest quartile), their reports’ self-reported creativity and collaboration increased by an average of 16% and their productivity by 13%.

4. Interest In This Autonomous Construction Tech Has Doubled Since March

Built Robotics

The construction industry was already suffering from a labor shortage when the coronavirus pandemic struck. Within one of the least-digitized industries in the U.S., many contractors have seen timelines extend as labor has become harder to find.

Over the past two years, San Francisco-based Built Robotics has deployed an artificial intelligence guidance system that may help insulate construction firms from further business disruption. The system can be retrofitted to existing machinery, such as excavators and bulldozers, and allows machines to work without a human operator.

Potential customer interest in the technology has doubled since March, Built Robotics Director of Communications Erol Ahmed told Bisnow. Prior to the pandemic, customer interest was more focused on researching the capabilities of that technology. Now they want to use it.

5. Here Are 14 Retailers That Are Still Expanding in a Pandemic

COVID-19’s toll on the retail sector has been drastic. But some retail chains have been uniquely well-positioned for a recession in which many people are spending a lot of time at home.

While some retailers are closing thousands of physical stores and cancelling expansion plans due to sharp increases in online shopping and widespread shutdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus, other brands are still growing their bricks-and-mortar footprints.

In fact, some are planning to add dozens and even hundreds of stores in 2020 and beyond.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

The Stockdale Paradox: Prevailing in Crisis

Admiral James Stockdale, Source: WarHistoryOnline.com

“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end
—which you can never afford to lose —with the discipline
to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality,
whatever they might be.” ~ Admiral James Stockdale

Nearly 55 years ago on an exceedingly pretty day, Admiral (Commander at the time) Jim Stockdale jumped in his A4 Skyhawk. He was excited but confident, having flown nearly 200 missions thus far in the Vietnam War. He was highly decorated having earned numerous awards and medals.

Another day, another battle.

The plane lurched from the deck of the aircraft carrier The USS Oriskany and the mission was under way. The squad was headed back, yet again, to take on the enemy in the jungles of North Vietnam. As the fighter pilots got close to their assignment, Admiral Stockdale came in low at the top of the trees, hoping to avoid anti-aircraft fire. But luck wasn't headed his way today: there was a "flack trap" in the very top of one of the trees. The enemy fired and within seconds the A4 was on fire. Stockdale had to make the decision to bail out in about two seconds. 

His parachute deployed, but the enemy started shooting at him from the ground. Stockdale later reported that a "thundering herd of men" ran towards him. The moment he landed, the crowd beat him to within an inch of his life. 

Those terrifying few moments started an unimaginable time in enemy territory as a prisoner of war. Stockdale was held in the infamous Hoa Lo Prison - the "Hanoi Hilton" for the next 90 months, or 7.5 years. Stockdale was tortured routinely and the enemy denied him medical attention for a severely damaged leg that was injured during his capture. 

The Admiral was the highest ranking Navy officer to be held captive during the Vietnam War. Very quickly, he developed and enforced a code of conduct for all U.S. prisoners in the complex which governed their behavior and secret communications.

The Commander was in command. 

The Stockdale Paradox

Many men in the Hanoi Hilton, desperate and sad, died in captivity. How in the world did Jim Stockdale make it out alive 90 months later? 

In the early 2000's, bestselling author Jim Collins interviewed the Admiral and shared his notes in Good to Great and also a recent YouTube video: https://youtu.be/GvWWO7F9kQY 

Collins notes about Stockdale's captivity: “It just seemed so bleak—the uncertainty of his fate, the brutality of his captors, and so forth…how on earth did he deal with it…?”

When Collins asked that very question directly to Stockdale, he replied, “I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”

Collins followed with another question: “Who didn’t make it out?”

“The optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart….”

This is a very important lesson in the time of COVID-19 and here is the Stockdale Paradox - on the one hand, you need unwavering faith that you can and will prevail. At the same time, you need the discipline to deal with the facts as they actually are. 

Suck it up Buttercup

I was talking with my friend Tommy Newberry about the subject of perseverance in crisis. What can you and I do given that we are in our own version of COVID prison? We, just like Stockdale, don't know how this will end. We will get out, but we don't know when. 

Here are seven things Tommy and I discussed that we CAN do to help us make it through this mess:

1) Fortify your Foundation - make sure you eat clean, get good sleep and exercise. Self-care in a crisis is critical.

2) Strengthen your strengths. Focus on what you are good at and try to get even better. If you are a writer, runner or singer...do more of it!

3) Optimize what you say to yourself. You are your own worst critic, and you know that. Flip that on its head and give yourself permission to praise.

4) Hang out with encouragers and supporters. You are who you surround yourself with. Select high character, motivated folks to spend time with. 

5) Don't worship at the god of other people's opinion. As Tommy says, "What you think of me is none of my business."

6) Become more valuable. Become faster, stronger and more focused. Find three areas of your life that could use intense focus. 

7) Finish what you start. Become a completer, which a huge part of building self-confidence. 

Listen, we are in a tough spot. But if the Admiral could stare at us with his intense gaze, he would call us to attention and tell us - you WILL make it through. But I need you to get real about your situation. Both sentiments together will get you out alive and well.

Be smart, be practical and continue to work hard and we’ll get out of this together. An Admiral told me so.

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. The Office Isn't Dead Yet. And Now's the Time to Get a Sweet Deal

Getty Images

At-home health testing service LetsGetChecked began 2020 growing at a fast clip and with plans to find a location for its next customer call center office. Then came Covid-19. 

The New York City- and Dublin-based startup moved fast--it raised $71 million in the spring to develop an at-home Covid test and won FDA approval for it in May. As of July 2020, LetsGetChecked is seeing more than 800 percent year-over-year revenue growth.

While the company has begun to rapidly expand its customer care team, the virus has kept staff remote. But LetsGetChecked is continuing its search for office space, trying to take advantage of shifts in the commercial real estate market that have created opportunities for businesses not available even six months ago.

In the second quarter of 2020, office vacancies nationwide hit 13 percent. Available subleases made up 2.7 percent of all available space on the market, reaching a level not seen since 2010, according to an analysis by commercial real estate firm CBRE.

2. Transforming Aging Buildings Into Modern Workplaces

Takata Photography

Everything old is new again. This adage comes to mind as organizations look for innovative ways of housing, inspiring and protecting their workforces. This doesn’t have to mean constructing shiny new buildings.

Workplaces are being constructed in aging commercial structures, as renovation repositions them for their next chapters. In fact, adaptive reuse creates an opportunity to not only update the aesthetics of a structure, but to push the envelope in design and construction by transforming aging buildings into high performing workplaces.

Renovating can translate into better resiliency for an organization. The move away from a typical cubicle grid setup to a more adaptive, activity-based office, with various types of spaces and reconfigurable work areas, allows businesses to pivot quickly and react to changes, such as the need for physical distancing.

3. Why Office Leases Are Getting Shorter And What That Means For Valuations

Wikimedia Commons

Tenant demand in the office market has been increasingly favoring shorter-term lease deals, a trend that complicates how much buildings are worth.

This shift has created more flexibility for tenants who don't want to be locked into a long-term lease, and it has helped landlords fill spaces in their buildings that may otherwise sit vacant. Despite the move toward shorter-term leases, office buildings still achieve higher valuations when they have the stability of long-term leases, and landlords have had to work to make lenders and investors more comfortable with the flexible deals their tenants crave.

Lease terms can have a variety of effects on a building's valuation, but experts agreed that buildings with longer-term leases are consistently more valuable than ones with shorter deals. But as the market evolves, some see a growing acceptance of lease flexibility that could increase the perceived value of more flexible leases.

4. Real Estate Notebook: Atlanta tech leasing volume near the top of U.S. markets, new apartments for Pullman Yard 

Hines

Atlanta posted just over 722,500 square feet of leasing volume within its technology sector during the second quarter and saw the largest year-over-year increase in tech leasing activity of any U.S. market, according to new data from CBRE Group Inc.

The U.S. markets where tech companies leased the most space in the April-June period were Washington D.C., with 1.4 million square feet; San Francisco, with 774,607 square feet; and Atlanta with 722,517 square feet, CBRE said.

Atlanta’s office leasing volume driven by tech companies was up 71% from the same time in 2019. In contrast, San Francisco’s leasing volume fell by 74% and Manhattan’s by 72%.

5. S&P: Foot traffic to shopping centers reaching pre-pandemic levels

Depositphotos

As retailers try to forecast demand going into the holiday season, customer behavior amid the pandemic remains a massive question mark, making it difficult to plan for product and cash needs, and generally making running a retail business very difficult.

S&P provides some needed good news for retail, though within it is a disparity between types of centers. And other data shows lingering declines in traffic. A tracker from another foot traffic analytics firm, Placer.ai, shows that shopping center traffic is still down about 27% year over year, while traffic to apparel retailers — which occupy many of those malls and outlet centers — is down 30%.

Still, according to Placer.ai's tracker, foot traffic in aggregate shows improvement from May and early June and vast improvement over the weeks when malls and retail stores closed during the spring while the country tried to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. Amazon Bets on Office-Based Work With Expansion in Major Cities

JUSTIN LANE/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Amazon.com Inc. is expanding its physical offices in six U.S. cities and adding thousands of corporate jobs in those areas, an indication the tech giant is making long-term plans around office work even as other companies embrace lasting remote employment.

“The ability to connect with people, the ability for teams to work together in an ad hoc fashion—you can do it virtually, but it isn’t as spontaneous,” said Ardine Williams, vice president of workforce development at Amazon. “We are looking forward to returning to the office.”

Amazon’s move to expand its footprint in various cities and set expectations for a return to the office contrasts with other major technology companies that have implemented remote work and predicted it will last long after the coronavirus pandemic.

2. Walmart sees 'remarkable shift' as shopper spending per visit surges 27%

AP

Walmart is seeing dramatic changes in how consumers are shopping amid the pandemic.

The company reported Tuesday that its sales soared in the second quarter compared to last year, with same-store sales rising 9.3% and ecommerce sales nearly doubling.

The major drivers behind the sales boost came from shoppers spending stimulus funds on groceries and household goods, as they spent more time at home, Walmart executives said.

The data further shows a shift in how customers are planning and executing their shopping trips. 

3. Target Sales Jump as Pandemic Speeds E-Commerce Shift

JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES

The coronavirus pandemic has widened the gap between retail’s winners and losers, boosting the fortunes of big U.S. chains that were able to stay open throughout the pandemic and feed America’s basic needs.

The evidence was stark this week as national retailers revealed they were exiting the summer months heading in different directions. On Wednesday, Target Corp. reported the strongest quarterly sales growth in its history, while Lowe’s Cos.’ sales growth was the strongest in decades. Meanwhile, chains like Kohl’s Corp. and T.J. Maxx that had to temporarily shut their doors posted sharp sales declines.

Like rival Walmart Inc., Target has benefited as coronavirus concerns fueled demand for services that let shoppers pick up goods in parking lots or skip trips to the store. Both companies also sell groceries and other household staples that have been in demand as Americans cook and clean more in their homes.

4. Hungry CRE Investors Building Huge War Chests

In July, the number of signed confidentiality agreements between potential buyers and sellers was down 17% compared with the same month in 2019, reports CBRE Deal Flow, the company's digital marketing platform for property sales. That compares with a 74% drop in April and May. 

Though such agreements are only a step toward a final sale, a recovering volume points to preliminary investor interest in property deals.

The number of confidentiality agreements signed during the second quarter of 2020 was 40% of the average total for the previous two years, with agreements involving industrial and multifamily properties more likely to be signed than any other property type. Investors also asked for lower prices, CBRE reported, as they expect values to decline by as much as 20% by the end of 2020.

5. $2T in Goods Flow Through Prologis Warehouse Facilities

A new report estimates that an economic value of $2.2 trillion in goods flow through Prologis facilities worldwide.

The “Future Flow of Goods” study from independent advisory firm Oxford Economics commissioned by the logistics real estate company comes at a time when some consumers are relying more heavily on e-commerce amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This study shows just how critical logistics real estate is to the vitality of the global economy,” said Prologis chairman and CEO Hamid R. Moghadam in a statement. “Every day, Prologis sees many of the goods that make modern life possible flow through our distribution centers, which in turn underscores the interconnected nature of global trade.”

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. Don’t Let the Pandemic Sink Your Company Culture

Todd Pearson/Getty Images

If you are like many of the executives with whom we’ve been talking over the last few months, you and your leadership team invested years cultivating an effective culture — one that is both strategically relevant, because it prioritizes the behaviors essential to the success of your business, and strong, in the sense that employees trust that it is real and value it. Such cultures help companies attract and retain great people and contribute to fantastic bottom-line performance.

But the Covid-19 pandemic could weaken your organization’s culture. Will your culture take a hit because people can’t meet in person, making it harder to solidify their shared beliefs? Will they be less able to use your culture as a roadmap for making good decisions in a tumultuous time? How can you continue to build and leverage your culture while your organization is operating mostly remotely?

Research has shown that even when you create a culture that is strategically aligned and strong (that is, widely shared and intensely valued), it won’t help you over the long run unless you also develop a culture that is adaptive in real time. In fact, a study that one of us (Jenny) conducted found that organizations that were strategically aligned, strong, and had built in the capacity to adapt quickly to dynamic environments earned 15% more in annual revenue compared to those in the same industry that were less adaptable.

2. Outdoor Space Is the Hottest New Office Feature

Outdoor spaces have proven to be safer than indoor ones since the risk of HVAC systems recirculating disease particles is absent and people have more room to stay spread out.

So why shouldn’t we invest in outdoor spaces for our offices? The value of these investments would likely last long past the pandemic. According to a survey from outdoor-focused clothing company L.L. Bean in partnership with Industrious, 86 percent of surveyed respondents want to be outside more during their workday. 

Some forward thinking landlords are already throwing their money out the window. One of Vornado’s new properties, the 172,700 square foot 512 W 22nd office buildings in New York City, has a substantial amount of outdoor space on site. According to David Greenbaum, Vornado’s New York division President, “Every floor in the building has an outdoor space attached to it.” Plenty of other offices have taken the same approach, too, from tech companies to co-working spaces.

3. 'The Robots Are Coming': Hotels Adjust To New Reality With Some Unusual Tools

Courtesy of Savioke

When the Hôtel Monville in Montreal opened in 2018, it was one of the first hotels in Canada that offered a truly contactless visitor experience. Guests at the 269-room hotel could check in via the hotel's app or website or at any of the four check-in kiosks in the lobby of the hotel. If a guest forgot a toothbrush, wanted an extra towel or ordered room service, a 3-foot-tall robot would deliver the item straight to their room. 

"From the moment you walk into the hotel, we offer a full contactless experience," Hôtel Monville Director of Sales and Marketing Jean-Cédric Callies said. "Guests loved that they could check in [in] 30 to 45 seconds and go straight to their room and get items without interacting with anyone."

In the midst of the coronavirus, reviewers have praised the contactless experience they've encountered at the hotel, Callies said. Hôtel Monville is one of several hoteliers looking into the further use of robots as a way to bring gun-shy visitors back to their hotels.

4. 2020 Hot 100 Retailers

The NRF Hot 100 Retailers, an annual ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing retail companies, is susceptible to volatility related to mergers and acquisitions, and this year appears to be more stable than the Top 100 Retailers, where mainstays are being battered by the changes wrought by the coronavirus.

The Hot 100 report provides as much of a look at the future of retailing as pundits can predict for a post-coronavirus world. The hottest retailers, based on last year’s sales volumes, include ecommerce merchants, food sellers and some bricks-and-mortar operators that feature treasure hunt-style shopping experiences.

These retail formats are consistent with those said to be best equipped to survive and thrive in the wake of COVID-19 restrictions and well into the future.

5. More Businesses Are Selling Their Warehouses For Quick Liquidity

Courtesy of Prologis

For decades, companies looking to give themselves a financial cushion during periods of economic uncertainty have sold their headquarters buildings to a third party and leased the property back from the new owner.

As the coronavirus pandemic has thrown many businesses' finances into disarray, these sale-leasebacks are becoming increasingly popular in the industrial real estate market.

About 13% of the country's sale-leaseback volume came from industrial deals in the second quarter, according to CoStar data, such as Big Lots’ $725M sale of its four distribution centers and cash-strapped grocery chain SuperValu’s unloading of eight distribution centers for $445M. A year earlier, the share of industrial in sale-leaseback deals was 4.7%.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

#CREi - People to Follow! The 2020 Top Twitter Influencers in Commercial Real Estate Full List

Here it is! The brand new #CREi: The 2020 Top Twitter Influencer’s in Commercial Real Estate list! We are very excited to present the full list of superb individuals. Congratulations and take a bow if you made it.

Over the past 2 weeks we rolled the list out 50 at a time. This blog puts everyone together on one list for easier reference.

Wait, what about Duke Long’s list?

Well, my friend Duke and I chatted. He knows of and supports this list. Plus, everyone knows Duke is the perpetual top on any #CRE influencer list and therefore he holds the rank as honorary number one on this list! I think Duke would agree that the more recognition and respect that these hard-working list members get, the better. I love to see people succeed and I love positivity. I hope that the #CREi: The 2020 Top Influencers in Commercial Real Estate list will highlight genuinely good people doing amazing things in our world.

Ok, but how is this list different?

We’ve loved Duke’s passion for lists for all these years and appreciate his leadership in first creating the idea over a decade ago. And yes, you will notice that a number of folks appeared on his 2019 list. This would be normal in a relatively small vertical like #CRE. We’ve flexed the list to approximately 150 folks to expand the recognition. The list is being finalized now.

The expert PR professionals at The Wilbert Group (@TheWilbertGroup) have helped by suggesting influential individuals they think merit inclusion. Also, Wilbert allowed the use of their sophisticated technology to help in screening and ranking. Put simply, the team brought some rigor to the process combined with differing perspectives of having multiple professionals suggesting names. We think you will agree, those on the list are true influencers! Thanks to Caroline Wilbert (@carolinewilbert) for your partnership!  

Also, the very talented Steve Fennessy (@stevefennessy), former Editor in Chief of Atlanta Magazine is helping us write short bios of everyone on the list. The list is intended to lift up those who great contributors and leaders in our industry. We want you to learn a little about them through the bios as opposed to simply a sequential line list of names.

Who can be on the list?

Exceptional individuals: Those who are producers in commercial real estate. Those who write about commercial real estate. Those who help producers including respected coaches, economist and subject matter thought leaders. We don’t include real estate company handles unless they serve jointly as the handle for a top executive and the company. Also, while we love their work, in most cases we think prop tech companies and their leaders can live on other lists. In general, we are trying to include ladies and gentlemen who are involved in doing or supporting commercial real estate deals of all kinds. We love the philosophy that former President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt shared in his Citizenship in the Republic speech (also known as The Man in the Arena quote and yes, insert men AND women in the text).

Can I help?

Sure! If you see someone doing something interesting, innovative or good in social media, then email us and let us know. Also, as you see new professionals join the social media world, please make us aware. We are keeping our master list updated throughout the year. Some estimates say there are 330 million handles on Twitter, so letting us know about folks we should be aware of his helpful! Let’s join together and lift each other up! Our team is excited about this project and the new list. We hope you like it and that you will reach and support the exceptional individuals that made this year’s honor roll.

Congratulations to all those who made it! And hey, a shout out to Ward Richmond for holding the list down at slot 150!

1: Natalie Wainwright

@natalie_CRE10X

Numero UNO! Congrats! Natalie is special and it’s been fun watching her grow on the Twitter platform. She is both very honest and transparent about her life and very kind. As vice president of LOGIC Commercial Real Estate, Natalie Wainwright represents companies in their lease or purchase of commercial real estate in the Las Vegas market. As a tenant rep, Natalie focuses on identifying office and flex space.

2: Casey Flannery

@FlannCasey

Casey Flannery is a true thought leader in social media. She and Melissa Alexander (below) started the platform known as #CREChat that is very popular with #cre types. Casey is a commercial real estate broker specializing in office landlord representation in Memphis, Tennessee. She is senior associate with Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Advisors.

3: Melissa Alexander

@mbalexan

Melissa is so passionate about #CRE. We love her contribution to the Twitterverse with partner Casey Flannery in #CREChat (above). Melissa is vice president for Foundry Commercial and works on the industrial services team in Nashville. Previously, Melissa was principal at the Cushman & Wakefield affiliate in Memphis, where she was the only female broker in the firm.

4: Coy Davidson

@CoyDavidsonCRE

Coy is the OG of Twitter for #CRE. Friend to many and inspiration to all. Follow his example and you cannot go wrong. Coy Davidson is senior vice president of office and healthcare services for Colliers International Houston. He maintains the CRE blog, The Tenant Advisor, at coydavidson.com. Coy’s focus on the healthcare sector has resulted in over $250 million in healthcare real estate transactions.

5: Michael Lagazo

@Michael_MBA

Michael Lagazo, is one of the most active and by many measures the nicest guy on Twitter. We at #CREi don’t know how he Tweets seemingly 24 hours a day! Michael, a San Diego-based broker serves as Wester Region real estate manager for Detroit-based Little Caesars Enterprises Inc. Michael has established himself as one of commercial real estate's most-recognized brokers, especially in the retail world. He's leveraged several social media channels to position himself as a retail real estate expert.

6: Adam Stanley

@ALSWharton

Adam L. Stanley is the real deal and one of the top executives in #CRE who is really on the Twitter platform. We love his views on inclusion and his leadership. Adam is Global CIO and Chief Digital Officer for Cushman & Wakefield. Under Adam’s leadership, Cushman & Wakefield was named to the CIO 100 for 2018, 2016 and 2015 by CIO Magazine. Adam was also Technology and Security Services Director for Aviva and Global Chief Technology Officer for Aon.

7: Tony Wilbert

@twilbert

Tony Wilbert is very well respected in #CRE circles and has served as journalist covering the vertical for over 25 years. He has a photographic memory and a wonderful sense of humor. Tony is a senior news writer at CoStar News. In a career that spans both journalism and public relations, Tony’s written more than 11,000 stories, most of them about commercial real estate.

8: Linda Day Harrison

@dayharrison

Linda Day Harrison had the vision to create the “Switzerland of CRE list” as founder of theBrokerList.com, an interactive, collaborative community of CRE brokers and other professionals. Linda is exceedingly positive online and brings much needed messages to the Twitter platform. A frequent blogger, Linda is based in Las Vegas.

9: Mark Toro

@MarkToro

Mark Toro is very well respected in the Atlanta community and is the top real estate developer using the Twitter platform anywhere in the world. Mark is a real thought leader on CRE issues and is cofounder of North American Properties’Atlanta office. A mixed-use developer, Mark is a strong advocate for transit and walkability. He has acquired, developed or redeveloped more than 70 projects totaling almost 30 million square feet.

10: Andrew Bermudez

@AndrewBermudez

Andrew Bermudez Andrew was born and raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and moved to the U.S. in 1993. In high school Andrew taught himself how to code software and design websites. He was very introverted and wanted to become more sociable. So, once he got out of high school he got a job where he would be forced to walk up to people and talk to them. This is how he got into commercial real estate leasing & sales. Today Andrew is founder and CEO of Digsy, a sales productivity and analytics platform that scours property listings to match available properties with prospective clients.

11: Blake Haggett

@blake_hagz

Blake Haggett handles all leasing and development for Avest Commercial. He also owns KZB Real Estate in Idaho and hosts The Blake Haggett Podcast.

12: Savannah Durban

@SavannahDurban

Savannah Durban is a p.r. pro who oversees communications for Cushman & Wakefield’s South region. A University of Missouri journalism graduate, she's also worked as a reporter.

13: Scott Stinson

@retailbroker

Scott Stinson is founding member of Central Realty, a Missouri-based retail property services company that services a portfolio of shopping centers in eight Midwestern states.

14: Dror Poleg

@drorpoleg

Dror Poleg is the Co-Chair of the Urban Land Institute’s Tech & Innovation Council in New York. He advises some of the world’s largest investors on the future of offices, homes, retail, and hospitality. He is the author of “Rethinking Real Estate: A Roadmap to Technology’s Impact on the World’s Largest Asset Class.”

15: Andy Pyle

@andyjpyle

Andy Pyle is Head of Real Estate for KPMG UK, and oversees all of KPMG’s services to property companies and investors in the UK. Andy has advised on some of the largest transactions in the European real estate market, particularly involving major shopping centers and portfolios of logistics warehouses. 

16: Jarred Schenke

@jbschenke

Jarred Schenke is a longtime Atlanta-based reporter for Bisnow, covering commercial real estate, growth, transit, and the economy.

17: Bryan Jacobs

@bryanjacobs3

Bryan Jacobs is president of Global IFM at Cushman & Wakefield in Los Angeles, where he previously served as Executive Vice President, Head of Global Operational Outsourcing.

18: Chris Bender

@cbenderatl

Chris Bender is a frequent insightful commenter on #CRE issues. He is an account manager at Cloudera, a software company that provides a software platform for data engineering, data warehousing, machine learning and analytics.

19: Magnus Svantegård

@magnus_s

Magnus Svantegård is a partner at Stronghold Invest, the leading property advisory, asset Management, fund management and PropTech company in Northern Europe.

20: Wendy Acho

@wendyNAIFarbman

Wendy Acho is a leasing and sales associate at Farbman Group, a full-service commercial real estate firm in Southfield, Michigan, which handles all facets of commercial real estate transactions.

21: Lauren Thomas

@laurenthomas

A South Carolina native, Lauren Thomas has been a reporter for CNBC in New York covering retail and retail real estate since 2017. While attending the University of North Carolina, Lauren spent her summers interning in New York City, interning at Bloomberg, CNBC, and TheStreet.com.

22: Steve Nson

@nson_legend

Steve Nson is founder and CEO of AnySizeDeals, a real estate events business for finding partners and closing deals. Steve was also the host of The Dealmaker Zone, a TV show that aired in Manhattan and focused on influencers in real estate, technology, and media.

23: Caleb Parker

@Caleb_Parker

Caleb Parker is founder and director of Bold, a creative boutique space-as-a-service brand designed to help entrepreneurs, innovators, SMEs and scale-up companies grow faster. He also hosts the WorkBold podcast.

24: Adam Lasoff

@alasoff

Adam Lasoff is a managing director with Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group, specializing in the sale of institutional office, industrial and mixed-use properties. Adam is responsible for originating, underwriting, and marketing investment properties for sale throughout Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

25: David Levitt

@dmlevitt

David Levitt is a commercial real estate reporter for Debtwire, based in the New York City area. Previously he spent almost 18 years as a reporter at Bloomberg.

26: Antony Slumbers

@antonyslumbers

Antony Slumbers is a software development and technology strategist who founded several PropTech companies. A futurist, Antony now consults real estate boards on their transformation, technology and innovation strategies. He blogs at antonyslumbers.com.

27: Rebecca Rockey

@beckywflyhair

Rebecca Rockey is global head of forecasting at Cushman & Wakefield. Rebecca studies how economies, demographics, financial markets and commercial real estate interact—both at the macro and micro level. 

28: Dino Moutopoulos

@Dinoatwork

Dino Moutopoulos is director of Place North West, a business-to-business website for property and regeneration professionals. Place North West, based in Manchester, England, is also an events organizer.

29: Darryll Colthrust

@dcolthrust

Darryll Colthrust was formerly director of business intelligence for American Express. He is  currently senior vice president of technology for a start up in “stealth mode.”

30: Aaron Richardson

@richardson_aj

Aaron Richardson is global director of communications for the Capital Markets division of CBRE. Aaron oversees communications for Investment, Office, Industrial, Retail, Multifamily, Hotels, and Valuation sectors of the business.

31: Ryan Simonetti

@rwsimonetti

Ryan Simonetti is CEO and co-founder of Convene, which designs and services premium places to work, meet, and host events. Since its founding in 2009, Convene has expanded to 32 locations throughout the U.S. and the U.K.

32: Scott Trubey

@fitztrubey

Scott Trubey is a staff writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he covers development and commercial real estate. He previously reported on banking and finance.

33: Lisa Gordon

@LYGordon

Lisa Y. Gordon is an advisory board member of the Urban Land Institute. Lisa is also president and CEO of Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, one of the top 10 Habitat for Humanity International affiliates in the U.S.

34: Robert Thornburg

@rgthornburgh

Robert Thornburgh is a regional president and shareholder with Kidder Mathews, the largest independent commercial real estate firm on the West Coast. Previously, Robert was the CEO of Heger Industrial, which in 2017 merged with Kidder Mathews.

35: Loren DeFilippo

@LorenDeFilippo

Loren DeFilippo is director of research at Colliers for the Ohio market. He prepares reports tracking current economic and commercial real estate market conditions and provides forecasts to assist brokers and clients in making informed business decisions.

36: Jarrett K. Smith

@JarrettSmith

Jarrett K. Smith is a commercial real estate advisor and city councilmember for Takoma Park, Maryland.

37: Joe Powell

@titlelawyerjoe

Joe Powell is vice president and managing underwriting counsel in the Atlanta National Commercial Services unit of Fidelity National Title Insurance Company.

38: Matt Maison

@mattmaisonRE

Matt Maison is director of research at Arbor Realty Trust. Matt’s focus is on multifamily markets and the economy. Previously, he led CBRE’s Manhattan research team, and was the Director of Corporate research at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.

39: Brad Dugard

@bdugard

Brad Dugard is a vice president of S+C Communications and managing director of the firm’s Toronto office. Prior to joining S+C, Brad worked 13 years for Cushman & Wakefield, most recently as vice president of communications.

40: Tom McGee

@TomMcGeeCEO

Tom McGee has been president and CEO of ICSC since 2015. Prior to joining ICSC, McGee was vice chairman at Deloitte. Tom is seen frequently on CNBC, Bloomberg and Fox Business and is frequently quoted in national media outlets.

41: Susan Freeman

@propertyshe

Susan Freeman is a partner in the real estate department at Mishcon de Reya, a London-based law firm. Susan hosts a podcast called Propertyshe, interviewing an eclectic mix of property personalities that define the real estate industry and built environment.

42: Bojan Nastoski

@Bojan_CRE

Bojan Nastoski is business development specialist at The Garibaldi Group, a New Jersey real estate firm.

43: Chris Broughton

@ChrisBroughtonT

Chris Broughton is a market investment analyst for TriBridge Residential.

44: Dave Conroy

@conroydave

Dave Conroy is director of emerging technology at National Association of Realtors, where he was previously R&D Lab engineer.

45: Barbi Reuter

@BarbiReuter

Barbi Reuter is CEO and principal of Cushman & Wakefield | Picor, Tucson’s leading independently owned, full-service commercial real estate company. Barbi leads the employee-owned commercial real estate firm’s activity in southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.

46: Josh Green

@joshgreen1234

Josh is the former editor of Curbed Atlanta, a website that tracked commercial and residential real estate trends in Atlanta.

47: Spencer Levy

@spencerglevy

Spencer Levy is chairman of Americas research for CBRE and senior economic advisor for CBRE. Spencer oversees the analytical activities of the CBRE research community within the Americas region, and is a frequent media source on issues related to real estate in the Americas.

48: Elie Finegold

@eliefinegold

Elie Finegold is venture advisor, working with MetaProp’s PropTech focused VC funds.

49: Keith Pierce

@KPierceResearch

Keith Pierce is research manager for Transwestern’s Southeastern region. He is responsible for tracking and analyzing statistical data creating quarterly market reports and working with clients on site selections and property evaluations. Previously, Keith was the Atlanta research manager for commercial appraisal firm NPV Advisors.

50: Mark Smukler

@smukleberry

Mark Smukler is director of product at Hello Alfred, a residential assistant concierge service. Previously he was co-founder and CEO of Bixby, a building amenity platform.

51: Chris Kirk

@ChrisKirk_CRE

Chris Kirk is managing principal of Colliers International’s downtown Salt Lake City offices. Previously he held a similar position at CBC Advisors.

52: Bjorik Mutize

@bjorik_CRE

Bjorik Mutize is an Associate with CBRE's Minneapolis/St. Paul office where he specializes in landlord and tenant representation for industrial clients.

53: Keith Auten

@KeithAuten

Keith Auten is owner and principal broker at Auten Realty, a brokerage that specializes in the acquisition and disposition of multifamily properties throughout the state of Texas, particularly in and around the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

54: Gabriel Gonzalez

@Gabriel_CREnerd

Gabriel Gonzalez is senior leasing agent for Regency Centers in Miami-Dade & South Broward County. Gabriel currently handles 3.4 million square feet of class A shopping centers in south Florida.

55: Diane Danielson

@DianeDanielson

After eight years as COO of SVN International, where she oversaw operations and brand development, Diane Danielson founded Future Proof Research, which works with enterprises—companies, non-profits, communities—on sustainability and adaptation.

56: Michael Magliano

@mmagliano16

Michael Magliano is a managing director for industrial and corporate real estate at Cushman & Wakefield, based in Chicago. Mike specializes in business development and client services, such as structuring and negotiating commercial leases.

57: Aaron Block

@aaronnblock

Aaron Block is co-founder and managing partner of MetaProp, a New York-based venture capital firm focused on the real estate technology industry. Founded in 2015, MetaProp’s investment team has invested in 100+ technology companies across the real estate value chain. Aaron is co-author of “PropTech 101.”

58: Nick Garzia

@ncgleasing

Nick Garzia is director of retail leasing for the Hines Southeast portfolio, including Atlantic Station in Atlanta.

59: Jim Garrett

@jimgarrettmcr

Jim Garrett is market president for the Charleston, SC market. Jim’s responsibilities include the management of Colliers’ Charleston area brokerage staff, recruiting and business development as well as community and civic affairs and economic development.

60: Chad Koenig

@ChadKoenig

Chad Koenig is managing partner for Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta Office Tenant Representation Services group. He provides strategic occupancy consulting and representation for tenants regarding office relocations, renewals, consolidation, sub-lease dispositions and other requirements.

61: Ray Sturm

@ray_sturm

Ray Sturm is founder and CEO of AlphaFlow, a tech-driven investment manager that provides professionally managed portfolios of real estate loans to institutional investors.

62: Beth Azor

@bethazor1

Beth Azor is founder and principal of Azor Advisory Services, a retail real estate management, development and commercial real estate education firm in south Florida. An executive coach, Beth also hosts “The Retail Leasing Podcast.”

63: Stuart Appley

@sappley

Stuart Appley is managing director of Global Workplace Solutions Digital & Technology for CBRE in San Francisco. He maintains a blog called BusinessTech at biznesstec.com.

64: Kristin Geenty

@KTG_CRE

Kristin Geenty is president and chief operating officer of The Geenty Group Realtors, a commercial, business and industrial and real estate brokerage in Connecticut. She was recently designated a member of the Society of Industrial & Office Realtors.

65: Rod Santomassimo

@MASSIMOGROUP

Rod N. Santomassimo, CCIM, is the founder and president of The Massimo Group, a national commercial real estate coaching and consulting organization. Rod possesses 25 years of commercial real estate industry experience as a broker, owner, and manager of local, regional, and international firms and is a best selling author of several books.

66: Jay Olshonsky

@olshonsky

Jay Olshonsky is president and CEO of NAI Global, one of the largest commercial real estate firms, with over $20 billion in annual transaction volume. Prior to joining NAI Global, Jay spent 15 years at CBRE in the Baltimore Washington area. 

67: Matthew Smith

@CREMattSD

Based in San Diego, Matthew Smith is vice president of national business development at RealNex, a software and data solution company designed to connect the global real estate market by aggregating and integrating a portfolio of services all through one common SaaS business model.

68: Jay Rickey

@JayRickey

Jay Rickey is on the national desk for real estate news outlet Bisnow.

69: Keith Pelatowski

@kpelatowski

Keith Pelatowski is head of strategy for Points North, a Minneapolis-based firm whose compliance, reporting, and data aggregation solutions are designed to help payroll and human resource leaders solve data issues.

70: Adam Balsam

@theadambalsam

Adam Balsam is sales director for Intelligent Transportation Society of America Events, part of a partnership with Reed Exhibitions.

71: Brandon Carrillo

@bcarrillo777

Brandon Carrillo is a principal at Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate, where he represents landlord/seller and tenant/buyer clients in the Los Angeles and greater Long Beach market places.

72: Dan Hughes

@PropertyDanH

Dan Hughes is founder of Alpha Property Insight, a consultancy that helps property companies understand how technology is changing the market, both the buildings we use and the way we do our jobs. 

73: Randy Fink

@rfinkone

As executive director of property & asset management for JLL, Randy Fink is market leader for JLL’s Property Management business in Nashville, Memphis, and Atlanta, where he oversees client service for a portfolio in excess of 35 million square feet.  

74: Chad Griffiths

@chadgriffiths

Chad Griffiths is partner at the Edmonton offices of NAI Commercial Real Estate, where he has been a top 15 producer with NAI Canada-wide since 2013.

75: Brian Schwagerl

@BriansSchwagerl

Brian Schwagerl is principal at BGS Advisory Services in New York City, where he works with owners, project managers, utilities and government agencies on sustainable design and construction strategies and implementation.

76: Jeremy Neuer

@JNeuer19

Jeremy Neuer is the co-lead for CBRE’s Capital Markets Group in New Jersey, with a specific focus on office buildings. He also blogs at neuerspace.com.

77: Peter Grant

@petergrantwsj

Peter Grant is an editor at the Wall Street Journal, in charge of the paper’s commercial real estate coverage.

78: Sam Chandan

@samchandan

Sam Chandan is the Larry & Klara Silverstein Chair in Real Estate Development and Investment and dean of NYU's Schack Institute of Real Estate. He also hosts the Real Estate Hour on SiriusXM.

79: Masha Sharma

@genideva

Masha Sharma is cofounder and CTO of RealAtom, a software platform for securing CRE loans.

80: Jerry LoCoco

@YumaCRE

Jerry LoCoco is managing director of SVN | Velocity Commercial Real Estate in Yuma, Arizona, where he specializes in investment property sales and industrial and office leasing and sales.

81: Michael Bull

@BullRealty

Michael Bull is founder and CEO of Bull Realty, a commercial real estate sales, leasing and advisory firm headquartered in Atlanta. Michael is also host of America’s Commercial Real Estate Show.

82: David Smith

@dcs_3

David Smith is vice president, Americas Head of Occupiers Research at Cushman & Wakefield. David produces occupier thought leadership content for the Research Center of Excellence and directs a program of market presentations, written analysis, surveys, forecasts, and data collection.

83: H. Colin Hodges

@HColinHodges

Colin Hodges is commercial leasing manager and broker at Sandalwood Management, which owns, manages and leases more than 1 million square feet of customizable office, retail and industrial space throughout Austin and San Antonio.

84: Mike Cobb

@mikecobbcre

Mike Cobb is senior vice president at Colliers International, specializing in the sale and leasing of office, industrial and R&D properties on the San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley. Mike has been the lead author of Colliers’ San Francisco Peninsula quarterly market report since 2002. He is owner of Opinion of Value, a leading commercial real estate blog.

85: Bailey Webb

@ebwebb

Bailey Webb is corporate public relations director at Cushman & Wakefield. A journalist by training, Bailey has also worked as a senior account executive and VP of a public relations firm.

86: John Orr

@johnorrccim

John Orr is retail service director and manages the retail services platform in the Charleston office of Lee & Associates. He has completed over 5 million square feet of retail transactions including leases, acquisitions, dispositions and build-to-suit development. 

87: Nick Gustafson

@gustafsonnick

Nick Gustafson is partner and principal of investment and commercial sales at Bender Commercial Real Estate Services in Sioux Falls. He occasionally wanders around the globe solo.

88: Jonathan Schultz

@JonSchultz_Onyx

Jonathan Schultz is co-founder and managing principal of Onyx Equities, a real estate investment, management, development, and property service organization in the New York metro market. He blogs at jonschultz.com.

89: Benjamin Osgood

@BenjaminOsgood

Benjamin Osgood is founder and managing director of Recreate Commercial Real Estate, an advisory firm in San Francisco that represents exclusively tenants and buyers in finding and creating the best workspaces.

90: Justin A. Beck

@JustinABeck

Justin Beck is CEO of Beck Partners, a full-service commercial real estate, insurance and property management firm serving clients throughout the Southeast.

91: Julie Augustyn

@JMAugustyn

Julie Augustyn is senior vice president at Foundry Commercial in Raleigh, where she focuses on tenant and landlord representation. Prior to joining Foundry Commercial, Julie was the Senior Director of Real Estate for Office Depot.

92: Dan Palmeri

@danpalmeri

Dan Palmeri is senior director for Cushman & Wakefield, representing tenant leasing and landlords selling office buildings in the Las Vegas market.

93: Michael Marciano

@MrMarci

Michael Marciano is product director for EG Commercial Real Estate in London.

94: Jim Brown

@OfficeSpaceJB

Jim Brown is real estate broker at Royal LePage in Toronto. Jim’s experience ranges from working as an office leasing agent with downtown Toronto landlords to suburban investment advisory services in York Region.

95: Beth Anne Grib

@BCCommercial

Beth Anne Grib heads marketing and operations for the commercial division of Beiler-Campbell Realtors in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. She is also advisor/concierge for the Commercial Real Estate Professionals and Investors Group.

96: Anuj Puri

@TheAnujPuri

Anuj Puri is chairman of Anarock Property Consultants, the largest independent residential agency in India with 1,500 staff across 15 offices.

97: Tyler Courtney

@corporatetenant

Tyler Courtney is the Deputy Managing Principal and head of Office Tenant Representation at Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta office.

98: Kelly Macsymic

@KellyMacsymic

Kelly Macsymic joined ICR Commercial Real Estate in Saskatchewan in 2008 as a sales associate. Kelly is also business manager for Stuart Commercial Inc. 

99: Gavin J. Gallagher

@gavinjgallagher

Gavin Gallagher is a property investor, developer, entrepreneur and speaker. He blogs at gavinjgallagher.com and hosts a real estate podcast “Behind the Façade.” He is also park director at East Point Management in Ireland.

100: Gabriel Galiothe

@gabrielgaliothe

Gabriel Galiothe is investment advisor at TRI Commercial and specializes in the valuation, investment sale, and exchange of multifamily and mixed-use properties across the Bay Area. 

101: James Cook

@jamesdcook

James serves as the Americas Director of Retail Research at JLL, based out of Indianapolis, IN. He also hosts Where We Buy, a show about retail and real estate.

102: Pam Goodwin

@PamGoodwinCRE

Pam Goodwin is principal and founder of Goodwin Commercial, a Dallas-based boutique commercial real estate and consulting firm specializing in retail and restaurant sites. She is also the author of “One Cent Lemonade to Million Dollar Deals.”

103: Shannon Shuman Martin

@retailrealest

Shannon Shuman Martin is  founder and qualifying  broker of Retail Leasing Advisors, boutique firm servicing metro Atlanta and Georgia and which specializes in retail leasing and consultation services for landlords and developers.

104: Guy Masse

@yourtenantrep

Guy Masse is executive vice president at Cushman & Wakefield in Montreal. Guy specializes in tenant representation, national and global accounts, portfolio optimization and strategic advisory services.

105: Re’Nauta Bell

@RSBell_CRE

Re’Nauta Bell is senior associate at Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta office, where she is an office tenant representation broker experienced in representing clients with multiple locations throughout the U.S.

106: Scott Sidman

@scottsidman

Scott Sidman is executive vice president/business and corporate development at Building Engines, a CRE property management tool where he oversees the company's marketing department and helps direct company strategy.

107: Clyde Robinson Jr.

@TenantResource

Clyde Robinson Jr. is a managing partner and head of diversity & inclusion for Mohr Partners, Inc., based in Charlotte.

108: Howard Kline

@CREradio

A real estate attorney in California, Howard Kline is also CEO and host of Commercial Real Estate Radio, a multiplatform media outlet focusing on commercial real estate matters.

109: Allen C. Buchanan

@allencbuchanan

Allen Buchanan is principal for Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services in southern California. Allen provides location advice to owners and occupants of industrial real estate.

110: Robert Pliska

@rpliska

Robert Pliska is owner/managing director of SVN Property Investment Advisors in Michigan, a commercial real estate and investment real estate firm.

111: Neil Johnson

@neiljohnsoncre

Neil Johnson is managing director / broker for SVN Landmark Commercial Real Estate, specializing in retail, office, and industrial properties—as well as vacant land—in west suburban Chicago.

112: Xochitl Paez

@xochitl_cre

Xochitl Paez is a Senior Client Services Coordinator in the Occupier Services practice group for Colliers International in Dallas, where she specializes in office tenant representation, client services, account management, marketing and transaction processes.

113: David Lockwood

@Cl_DLockwood

David Lockwood is executive vice president and chief operating officer of Colliers International, South Carolina. David is also the market president and manager for Colliers’ Columbia office.

114: Russell Patterson

@PCPgtyler

Russell Patterson is founder of Patterson Commercial Property Group, a full service real estate firm headquartered in Tyler, Texas and specializing in brokerage and management services in the commercial and industrial real estate market.

115: Wouter Truffino

@WouterTruffino

Wouter Truffino is founder and CEO of Holland ConTech and PropTech, an ecosystem for companies that want to innovate the construction and real estate sector.

116: Danielle Haney

@DanielleFHaney

Danielle Haney is director of communications at DealPoint Merrill in Las Vegas.

117: Melissa Swader

@azprninja

Melissa Swader is director of marketing, p.r. and administration for SVN | Desert Commercial Advisors.

118: Tony vanderBeek

@officespaceNY

Tony vanderBeek is executive vice president for Coldwell Banker in New York and has been engaged in the leasing and sale of retail, office, commercial, industrial and investment real estate for nearly 20 years in and around the five boroughs of New York.

119: Tyler Tillery

@tylertilleryCRE

Tyler Tillery is a market director within NAI Robert Lynn's Industrial Division, focused on the Las Colinas, and Walnut Hill/Stemmons submarkets in the Dallas market. 

120: Ken Morris

@KenMorrisBroker

Ken Morris is managing principal of Morris Commercial Real Estate in southeast Florida. He completed more than 500 lease and sale transactions involving office, industrial, retail and commercial space valued close to $1 billion.

PHOTO COURTESY OF VICKI THOMPSON, SILICON VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL

121: Matthew Niksa

@SVBizCRE

Matthew Niksa is a commercial real estate reporter at the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

122: Edison Vasquez

@EdisonCRE

Edison Vasquez is managing partner at ComReal in south Florida, specializing in industrial space.

123: David J. Murphy

@dockhighguy

David J. Murphy is executive vice president at CBRE. He is the firm’s top producing industrial broker in the northern half of Florida.

124: Samantha S. Low

@samanthaslow1

Samantha Low is a commercial tenant real estate advisor and co-founder of TenantSee, which provides data and expert insight to help guide tenants in leasing decisions.

125: Lucy Alderson

@LucyAJourno

Lucy Alderson is a journalist covering flex office space, tech, and the north of England for Estates Gazette.

126: Natalie Sachmechi

@natalielsach

Natalie Sachmechi is commercial real estate reporter for Crain’s New York Business.

127: Lisa B. Pittman

@lisabosspittman

Lisa Pittman is senior director in Cushman & Wakefield's Atlanta office. She has completed more than 18.4 million square feet of transaction assignments valued at $471 million over the past five years. 

128: Despina Katsikakis

@dkatsikakis

Despina Katsikakis is head of occupier business performance at Cushman & Wakefield in the United Kingdom. Despina provides input across the firm’s global business on the rapidly-changing context of work and its impact on employee engagement, productivity and wellbeing. 

129: Paul Page

@PaulPage

Paul Page covers logistics and supply chain for The Wall Street Journal, where he also edits the Logistic Report.

130: Mike Phillips

@mrmikephillips

Mike Phillips is UK editor of Bisnow, the largest commercial real estate media business in the world.

131: Ben Lerner

@benslerner

Ben Lerner is managing director of Lerner Associates, a London-based boutique mergers and acquisitions and growth equity finance advisory practice that focuses primarily on the real estate software industry, PropTech, and CRETech.

132: Benton Ozburn

@BentonOzburn

Benton Ozburn is a senior associate at Colliers International | Nashville. He specializes in developing customizable service plans that maximize financial savings for clients.

133: James Kobal

@ViningsCRE

James Kobal is a realtor at Coldwell Banker Commercial Metro Brokers in Atlanta.

134: Kristi Svec Simmons

@ksvecsimmons

Kristi Svec Simmons is a commercial real estate broker with AQUILA’s tenant representation team in Austin, Tex., focusing on office leasing transactions and building acquisitions and dispositions.

135: Michael Beckerman

@m_beckerman

Michael Beckerman founded the News Funnel, a platform that provides insight into the global commercial real estate and tech sector, and authors a blog. He is CEO of CREtech, a community of professionals devoted to technological innovation in the real estate sector.

136: James Milner

@booneCRE

James Milner is founder of Appalachian Commercial Real Estate, a Boone, N.C.-based firm which provides brokerage, leasing and consulting commercial real estate services.

137: Jennifer Keesmaat

@jen_keesmaat

Jennifer Keesmaat is founder of The Keesmaat Group, a company that works with future-oriented cities, regions, companies, and organizations. Jennifer is former chief planner for the city of Toronto. She’s given three TEDx talks and also hosts the podcast “Invisible City.”

138: Wendy Mann

@crew_wendym

Wendy Mann is CEO of CREW Network, founded in 1989 to bring together women involved in all aspects of commercial real estate to exchange information, develop business contacts and help each other succeed professionally. 

139: Heather Trimble

@TrimbleCRE

Heather Trimble is an associate at Cushman & Wakefield in the San Francisco Bay area, and co-chairs the Cushman & Wakefield Future Leaders’ San Francisco chapter.

140: Carter Byrnes

@CarterByrnes

Carter Byrnes is a Senior Vice President in the McLean, Virginia office of CBRE, Inc. Carter specializes in both landlord and tenant representation and concentrates on several markets inside and outside of the Beltway. Carter also leads the Virginia Healthcare Services Group for CBRE.

141: Justin Cazana

@jcazana

Justin Cazana is a principal in the Avison Young Knoxville, Tenn., office, specializing in office and retail transactions for the commercial real estate firm. His portfolio encompasses more than 1.1 million square feet of commercial space.

142: Natalie Bayfield

@nataliebayfield

Natalie Bayfield is the inventor of Real Estate Financial Modelling (REFM) in the United Kingdom, developed during a career of consulting to hedge funds, real estate consultancies, and investment banks as chief executive officer of Bayfield Training.

143: Jeff Lessard

@jdlessard13

Jeff Lessard is a location, headquarters and workplace expert. He is from Maine but resides in New Hampshire. Jeff serves as director of real estate at a large U.S. company.

144: Kostas Stoilas

@TampaBroker

Kostas Stoilas is the founder and managing broker of Fortress Commercial Real Estate LLC in Tampa, Fla. He focuses on local and national players that occupy, own, develop, and invest in office space, warehouse distribution space, and vacant land, primarily along the growing I-4 Corridor.

145: Alex Nicoll

@alexonicoll

Alex Nicoll is a junior reporter at Business Insider, writing about finance and real estate. He is studying at the Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and previously worked for Bridgewater Associates and Peloton.

146: Ann Gibson

@greenmacgal

Ann Gibson is a Florida-based commercial real estate and project consultant with 20-plus years experience in the built environment, commercial real estate sales, and commercializing energy efficiency technologies in buildings.

147: Tony Kim

@creappraiser

Tony Kim works in Los Angeles as a valuation advisor, appraisal consultant, and listing agent for commercial real estate sales. For more than 20 years he has been representing sellers, owners, buyers, and investors as they sell or lease commercial or industrial properties.

148: Steve Everbach

@steveeverbach

Steve Everbach has completed more than 8 million square feet of transactions, representing an aggregate value of more than $1.5 billion, over the course of his career. He is currently responsible for the Colliers business in the U.S. Central Region.

149: John Heagy

@heagyjohn

John Heagy is Senior Managing Director for leasing office and mixed use project in the Southeastern United States for Hines Interest. He has been active in the commercial real estate market since 1977 and serves on many non-profit boards of directors in the Atlanta area.

150: Ward Richmond

@10xward

Whooo…you made it Ward Richmond! As executive vice president and shareholder at Colliers International, Ward’s specialty is Supply Chain Real Estate strategy, having negotiated more than 500 transactions with dominant logistics companies in 50 cities around the globe.

PART 3: #CREi - People to Follow! The 2020 Top Twitter Influencers in Commercial Real Estate list

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the top of the list! Congratulations to the latest list makers in this post - Part 3! This post highlights people ranked from 50 to 1. You can see Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

This list highlights lots of wonderful people who will make your Twitter feed a better place if you follow them! Let’s connect and make the world a better place! Continuing the shout out to @thewilbertgroup and @stevefennessy for your able assistance in making this list a reality. Be sure to use #CREi when posting about the list on Twitter!

50: Mark Smukler

@smukleberry

Mark Smukler is director of product at Hello Alfred, a residential assistant concierge service. Previously he was co-founder and CEO of Bixby, a building amenity platform.

49: Keith Pierce

@KPierceResearch

Keith Pierce is research manager for Transwestern’s Southeastern region. He is responsible for tracking and analyzing statistical data creating quarterly market reports and working with clients on site selections and property evaluations. Previously, Keith was the Atlanta research manager for commercial appraisal firm NPV Advisors.

48: Elie Finegold

@eliefinegold

Elie Finegold is venture advisor, working with MetaProp’s PropTech focused VC funds.

47: Spencer Levy

@spencerglevy

Spencer Levy is chairman of Americas research for CBRE and senior economic advisor for CBRE. Spencer oversees the analytical activities of the CBRE research community within the Americas region, and is a frequent media source on issues related to real estate in the Americas.

46: Josh Green

@joshgreen1234

Josh is the former editor of Curbed Atlanta, a website that tracked commercial and residential real estate trends in Atlanta.

45: Barbi Reuter

@BarbiReuter

Barbi Reuter is CEO and principal of Cushman & Wakefield | Picor, Tucson’s leading independently owned, full-service commercial real estate company. Barbi leads the employee-owned commercial real estate firm’s activity in southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.

44: Dave Conroy

@conroydave

Dave Conroy is director of emerging technology at National Association of Realtors, where he was previously R&D Lab engineer.

43: Chris Broughton

@ChrisBroughtonT

Chris Broughton is a market investment analyst for TriBridge Residential.

42: Bojan Nastoski

@Bojan_CRE

Bojan Nastoski is business development specialist at The Garibaldi Group, a New Jersey real estate firm.

41: Susan Freeman

@propertyshe

Susan Freeman is a partner in the real estate department at Mishcon de Reya, a London-based law firm. Susan hosts a podcast called Propertyshe, interviewing an eclectic mix of property personalities that define the real estate industry and built environment.

40: Tom McGee

@TomMcGeeCEO

Tom McGee has been president and CEO of ICSC since 2015. Prior to joining ICSC, McGee was vice chairman at Deloitte. Tom is seen frequently on CNBC, Bloomberg and Fox Business and is frequently quoted in national media outlets.

39: Brad Dugard

@bdugard

Brad Dugard is a vice president of S+C Communications and managing director of the firm’s Toronto office. Prior to joining S+C, Brad worked 13 years for Cushman & Wakefield, most recently as vice president of communications.

38: Matt Maison

@mattmaisonRE

Matt Maison is director of research at Arbor Realty Trust. Matt’s focus is on multifamily markets and the economy. Previously, he led CBRE’s Manhattan research team, and was the Director of Corporate research at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.

37: Joe Powell

@titlelawyerjoe

Joe Powell is vice president and managing underwriting counsel in the Atlanta National Commercial Services unit of Fidelity National Title Insurance Company.

36: Jarrett K. Smith

@JarrettSmith

Jarrett K. Smith is a commercial real estate advisor and city councilmember for Takoma Park, Maryland.

35: Loren DeFilippo

@LorenDeFilippo

Loren DeFilippo is director of research at Colliers for the Ohio market. He prepares reports tracking current economic and commercial real estate market conditions and provides forecasts to assist brokers and clients in making informed business decisions.

34: Robert Thornburg

@rgthornburgh

Robert Thornburgh is a regional president and shareholder with Kidder Mathews, the largest independent commercial real estate firm on the West Coast. Previously, Robert was the CEO of Heger Industrial, which in 2017 merged with Kidder Mathews.

33: Lisa Gordon

@LYGordon

Lisa Y. Gordon is also an advisory board member of the Urban Land Institute. Lisa is also president and CEO of Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, one of the top 10 Habitat for Humanity International affiliates in the U.S.

32: Scott Trubey

@fitztrubey

Scott Trubey is a staff writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he covers development and commercial real estate. He previously reported on banking and finance.

31: Ryan Simonetti

@rwsimonetti

Ryan Simonetti is CEO and co-founder of Convene, which designs and services premium places to work, meet, and host events. Since its founding in 2009, Convene has expanded to 32 locations throughout the U.S. and the U.K.

30: Aaron Richardson

@richardson_aj

Aaron Richardson is global director of communications for the Capital Markets division of CBRE. Aaron oversees communications for Investment, Office, Industrial, Retail, Multifamily, Hotels, and Valuation sectors of the business.

29: Darryll Colthrust

@dcolthrust

Darryll Colthrust was formerly director of business intelligence for American Express. He is  currently senior vice president of technology for a start up in “stealth mode.”

28: Dino Moutopoulos

@Dinoatwork

Dino Moutopoulos is director of Place North West, a business-to-business website for property and regeneration professionals. Place North West, based in Manchester, England, is also an events organizer.

27: Rebecca Rockey

@beckywflyhair

Rebecca Rockey is global head of forecasting at Cushman & Wakefield. Rebecca studies how economies, demographics, financial markets and commercial real estate interact—both at the macro and micro level. 

26: Antony Slumbers

@antonyslumbers

Antony Slumbers is a software development and technology strategist who founded several PropTech companies. A futurist, Antony now consults real estate boards on their transformation, technology and innovation strategies. He blogs at antonyslumbers.com.

25: David Levitt

@dmlevitt

David Levitt is a commercial real estate reporter for Debtwire, based in the New York City area. Previously he spent almost 18 years as a reporter at Bloomberg.

24: Adam Lasoff

@alasoff

Adam Lasoff is a managing director with Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group, specializing in the sale of institutional office, industrial and mixed-use properties. Adam is responsible for originating, underwriting, and marketing investment properties for sale throughout Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

23: Caleb Parker

@Caleb_Parker

Caleb Parker is founder and director of Bold, a creative boutique space-as-a-service brand designed to help entrepreneurs, innovators, SMEs and scale-up companies grow faster. He also hosts the WorkBold podcast.

22: Steve Nson

@nson_legend

Steve Nson is founder and CEO of AnySizeDeals, a real estate events business for finding partners and closing deals. Steve was also the host of The Dealmaker Zone, a TV show that aired in Manhattan and focused on influencers in real estate, technology, and media.

21: Lauren Thomas

@laurenthomas

A South Carolina native, Lauren Thomas has been a reporter for CNBC in New York covering retail and retail real estate since 2017. While attending the University of North Carolina, Lauren spent her summers interning in New York City, interning at Bloomberg, CNBC, and TheStreet.com.

20: Wendy Acho

@wendyNAIFarbman

Wendy Acho is a leasing and sales associate at Farbman Group, a full-service commercial real estate firm in Southfield, Michigan that handles all facets of commercial real estate transactions.

19: Magnus Svantegård

@magnus_s

Magnus Svantegård is a partner at Stronghold Invest, the leading property advisory, asset Management, fund management and PropTech company in Northern Europe.

18: Chris Bender

@cbenderatl

Chris Bender is a frequent insightful commenter on #CRE issues. He is an account manager at Cloudera, a software company that provides a software platform for data engineering, data warehousing, machine learning and analytics.

17: Bryan Jacobs

@bryanjacobs3

Bryan Jacobs is president of Global IFM at Cushman & Wakefield in Los Angeles, where he previously served as Executive Vice President, Head of Global Operational Outsourcing.

16: Jarred Schenke

@jbschenke

Jarred Schenke is a longtime Atlanta-based reporter for Bisnow, covering commercial real estate, growth, transit, and the economy.

 

15: Andy Pyle

@andyjpyle

Andy Pyle is Head of Real Estate for KPMG UK, and oversees all of KPMG’s services to property companies and investors in the UK, Andy has advised on some of the largest transactions in the European real estate market, particularly involving major shopping centers and portfolios of logistics warehouses. 

14: Dror Poleg

@drorpoleg

Dror Poleg is he Co-Chair of the Urban Land Institute’s Tech & Innovation Council in New York. He advises some of the world’s largest investors on the future of offices, homes, retail, and hospitality. He is the author of “Rethinking Real Estate: A Roadmap to Technology’s Impact on the World’s Largest Asset Class.”

13: Scott Stinson

@retailbroker

Scott Stinson is founding member of Central Realty, a Missouri-based retail property services company that services a portfolio of shopping centers in eight Midwestern states.

12: Savannah Durban

@SavannahDurban

Savannah Durban is a p.r. pro who oversees communications for Cushman & Wakefield’s South region. A University of Missouri journalism graduate, she's also worked as a reporter.

11: Blake Haggett

@blake_hagz

Blake Haggett handles all leasing and development for Avest Commercial. He also owns KZB Real Estate in Idaho and hosts The Blake Haggett Podcast.

10: Andrew Bermudez

@AndrewBermudez

Andrew Bermudez Andrew was born and raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and moved to the U.S. in 1993. In high school Andrew taught himself how to code software and design websites. He was very introverted and wanted to become more sociable. So, once he got out of high school he got a job where he would be forced to walk up to people and talk to them. This is how he got into commercial real estate leasing & sales. Today Andrew is founder and CEO of Digsy, a sales productivity and analytics platform that scours property listings to match available properties with prospective clients.

9: Mark Toro

@MarkToro

Mark Toro is very well respected in the Atlanta community and is the top real estate developer using the Twitter platform anywhere in the world. Mark is a real thought leader on CRE issues and is cofounder of North American Properties’Atlanta office. A mixed-use developer, Mark is a strong advocate for transit and walkability. He has acquired, developed or redeveloped more than 70 projects totaling almost 30 million square feet.

8: Linda Day Harrison

@dayharrison

Linda Day Harrison had the vision to create the “Switzerland of CRE list” as founder of theBrokerList.com, an interactive, collaborative community of CRE brokers and other professionals. Linda is exceedingly positive online and brings much needed messages to the Twitter platform. A frequent blogger, Linda is based in Las Vegas.

7: Tony Wilbert

@twilbert

Tony Wilbert is very well respected in #CRE circles and has served as journalist covering the vertical for over 25 years. He has a photographic memory and a wonderful sense of humor. Tony is a senior news writer at CoStar News. In a career that spans both journalism and public relations, Tony’s written more than 11,000 stories, most of them about commercial real estate.

6: Adam Stanley

@ALSWharton

Adam L. Stanley is the real deal and one of the top executives in #CRE who is really on the Twitter Platform. We love his views on inclusion and his leadership. Adam is Global CIO and Chief Digital Officer for Cushman & Wakefield. Under Adam’s leadership, Cushman & Wakefield was named to the CIO 100 for 2018, 2016 and 2015 by CIO Magazine. Adam was also Technology and Security Services Director for Aviva and Global Chief Technology Officer for Aon.

5: Michael Lagazo

@Michael_MBA

Michael Lagazo, is one of the most active and by many measures the nicest guy on Twitter. We at #CREi don’t know how he Tweets seemingly 24 hours a day! Michael, a San Diego-based broker serves as Wester Region real estate manager for Detroit-based Little Caesars Enterprises Inc. Michael has established himself as one of commercial real estate's most-recognized brokers, especially in the retail world. He's leveraged several social media channels to position himself as a retail real estate expert.

4: Coy Davidson

@CoyDavidsonCRE

Coy is the OG of Twitter for #CRE. Friend to many and inspiration to all. Follow his example and you cannot go wrong. Coy Davidson is senior vice president of office & healthcare services for Colliers International Houston. He maintains the CRE blog, The Tenant Advisor, at coydavidson.com. Coy’s focus on the healthcare sector has resulted in over $250 million in healthcare real estate transactions.

3: Melissa Alexander

@mbalexan

Melissa is so passionate about #CRE. We love her contribution to the Twitterverse with partner Casey Flannery in #CREChat (above). Melissa is vice president for Foundry Commercial and works on the industrial services team in Nashville. Previously, Melissa was principal at the Cushman & Wakefield affiliate in Memphis, where she was the only female broker in the firm.

2: Casey Flannery

@FlannCasey

Casey Flannery is a true thought leader in social media. She and Melissa Alexander (above) started the platform known as #CREChat that is very popular with #cre types. Casey is a commercial real estate broker specializing in office landlord representation in Memphis, Tennessee. She is senior associate with Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Advisors.

1: Natalie Wainwright

@natalie_CRE10X

Numero UNO! Congrats! Natalie is special and it’s been fun watching her grow on the Twitter platform. She is both very honest and transparent about her life and very kind. As vice president of LOGIC Commercial Real Estate, Natalie Wainwright represents companies in their lease or purchase of commercial real estate in the Las Vegas market. As a tenant rep, Natalie focuses on identifying office and flex space.

PART 2: #CREi - People to Follow! The 2020 Top Twitter Influencers in Commercial Real Estate list

Congratulations to the latest list makers in this post - Part 2! This post highlights people ranked from 100 to 51. You can see Part 1 here. This list highlights lots of wonderful people who will make your Twitter feed even more interesting if you follow them! Let’s connect and make the world a better place! Continuing the shout out to @thewilbertgroup and @stevefennessy for your able assistance in making this list a reality. Please be sure to use #CREi when posting about the list on Twitter!

100: Gabriel Galiothe

@gabrielgaliothe

Gabriel Galiothe is investment advisor at TRI Commercial and specializes in the valuation, investment sale, and exchange of multifamily and mixed-use properties across the Bay Area. 

99: Gavin J. Gallagher

@gavinjgallagher

Gavin Gallagher is a property investor, developer, entrepreneur and speaker. He blogs at gavinjgallagher.com and hosts a real estate podcast “Behind the Façade.” He is also park director at East Point Management in Ireland.

98: Kelly Macsymic

@KellyMacsymic

Kelly Macsymic joined ICR Commercial Real Estate in Saskatchewan in 2008 as a sales associate. Kelly is also business manager for Stuart Commercial Inc. 

97: Tyler Courtney

@corporatetenant

Tyler Courtney is the Deputy Managing Principal and head of Office Tenant Representation at Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta office.

96: Anuj Puri

@TheAnujPuri

Anuj Puri is chairman of Anarock Property Consultants, the largest independent residential agency in India with 1,500 staff across 15 offices.

95: Beth Anne Grib

@BCCommercial

Beth Anne Grib heads marketing and operations for the commercial division of Beiler-Campbell Realtors in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. She is also advisor/concierge for the Commercial Real Estate Professionals and Investors Group.

94: Jim Brown

@OfficeSpaceJB

Jim Brown is real estate broker at Royal LePage in Toronto. Jim’s experience ranges from working as an office leasing agent with downtown Toronto landlords to suburban investment advisory services in York Region.

93: Michael Marciano

@MrMarci

Michael Marciano is product director for EG Commercial Real Estate in London.

92: Dan Palmeri

@danpalmeri

Dan Palmeri is senior director for Cushman & Wakefield, representing tenant leasing and landlords selling office buildings in the Las Vegas market.

91: Julie Augustyn

@JMAugustyn

Julie Augustyn is senior vice president at Foundry Commercial in Raleigh, where she focuses on tenant and landlord representation. Prior to joining Foundry Commercial, Julie was the Senior Director of Real Estate for Office Depot.

90: Justin A. Beck

@JustinABeck

Justin Beck is CEO of Beck Partners, a full-service commercial real estate, insurance and property management firm serving clients throughout the Southeast.

89: Benjamin Osgood

@BenjaminOsgood

Benjamin Osgood is founder and managing director of Recreate Commercial Real Estate, an advisory firm in San Francisco that represents exclusively tenants and buyers in finding and creating the best workspaces.

88: Jonathan Schultz

@JonSchultz_Onyx

Jonathan Schultz is co-founder and managing principal of Onyx Equities, a real estate investment, management, development, and property service organization in the New York metro market. He blogs at jonschultz.com.

87: Nick Gustafson

@gustafsonnick

Nick Gustafson is partner and principal of investment and commercial sales at Bender Commercial Real Estate Services in Sioux Falls. He occasionally wanders around the globe solo.

86: John Orr

@johnorrccim

John Orr is retail service director and manages the retail services platform in the Charleston office of Lee & Associates. He has completed over 5 million square feet of retail transactions including leases, acquisitions, dispositions and build-to-suit development. 

85: Bailey Webb

@ebwebb

Bailey Webb is corporate public relations director at Cushman & Wakefield. A journalist by training, Bailey has also worked as a senior account executive and VP of a public relations firm.

84: Mike Cobb

@mikecobbcre

Mike Cobb is senior vice president at Colliers International, specializing in the sale and leasing of office, industrial and R&D properties on the San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley. Mike has been the lead author of Colliers’ San Francisco Peninsula quarterly market report since 2002. He is owner of Opinion of Value, a leading commercial real estate blog.

83: H. Colin Hodges

@HColinHodges

Colin Hodges is commercial leasing manager and broker at Sandalwood Management, which owns, manages and leases more than 1 million square feet of customizable office, retail and industrial space throughout Austin and San Antonio.

82: David Smith

@dcs_3

David Smith is vice president, Americas Head of Occupiers Research at Cushman & Wakefield. David produces occupier thought leadership content for the Research Center of Excellence and directs a program of market presentations, written analysis, surveys, forecasts, and data collection.

81: Michael Bull

@BullRealty

Michael Bull is founder and CEO of Bull Realty, a commercial real estate sales, leasing and advisory firm headquartered in Atlanta. Michael is also host of America’s Commercial Real Estate Show.

80: Jerry LoCoco

@YumaCRE

Jerry LoCoco is managing director of SVN | Velocity Commercial Real Estate in Yuma, Arizona, where he specializes in investment property sales and industrial and office leasing and sales.

79: Masha Sharma

@genideva

Masha Sharma is cofounder and CTO of RealAtom, a software platform for securing CRE loans.

78: Sam Chandan

@samchandan

Sam Chandan is the Larry & Klara Silverstein Chair in Real Estate Development and Investment and dean of NYU's Schack Institute of Real Estate. He also hosts the Real Estate Hour on SiriusXM.

77: Peter Grant

@petergrantwsj

Peter Grant is an editor at the Wall Street Journal, in charge of the paper’s commercial real estate coverage.

76: Jeremy Neuer

@JNeuer19

Jeremy Neuer is the co-lead for CBRE’s Capital Markets Group in New Jersey, with a specific focus on office buildings. He also blogs at neuerspace.com.

75: Brian Schwagerl

@BriansSchwagerl

Brian Schwagerl is principal at BGS Advisory Services in New York City, where he works with owners, project managers, utilities and government agencies on sustainable design and construction strategies and implementation.

74: Chad Griffiths

@chadgriffiths

Chad Griffiths is partner at the Edmonton offices of NAI Commercial Real Estate, where he has been a top 15 producer with NAI Canada-wide since 2013.

73: Randy Fink

@rfinkone

As executive director of property & asset management for JLL, Randy Fink is market leader for JLL’s Property Management business in Nashville, Memphis, and Atlanta, where he oversees client service for a portfolio in excess of 35 million square feet.  

72: Dan Hughes

@PropertyDanH

Dan Hughes is founder of Alpha Property Insight, a consultancy that helps property companies understand how technology is changing the market, both the buildings we use and the way we do our jobs. 

71: Brandon Carrillo

@bcarrillo777

Brandon Carrillo is a principal at Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate, where he represents landlord/seller and tenant/buyer clients in the Los Angeles and greater Long Beach market places.

70: Adam Balsam

@theadambalsam

Adam Balsam is sales director for Intelligent Transportation Society of America Events, part of a partnership with Reed Exhibitions.

69: Keith Pelatowski

@kpelatowski

Keith Pelatowski is head of strategy for Points North, a Minneapolis-based firm whose compliance, reporting, and data aggregation solutions are designed to help payroll and human resource leaders solve data issues.

68: Jay Rickey

@JayRickey

Jay Rickey is on the national desk for real estate news outlet Bisnow.

67: Matthew Smith

@CREMattSD

Based in San Diego, Matthew Smith is vice president of national business development at RealNex, a software and data solution company designed to connect the global real estate market by aggregating and integrating a portfolio of services all through one common SaaS business model.

66: Jay Olshonsky

@olshonsky

Jay Olshonsky is president and CEO of NAI Global, one of the largest commercial real estate firms, with over $20 billion in annual transaction volume. Prior to joining NAI Global, Jay spent 15 years at CBRE in the Baltimore Washington area. 

65: Rod Santomassimo

@MASSIMOGROUP

Rod N. Santomassimo, CCIM, is the founder and president of The Massimo Group, a national commercial real estate coaching and consulting organization. Rod possesses 25 years of commercial real estate industry experience as a broker, owner, and manager of local, regional, and international firms and is a best selling author of several books.

64: Kristin Geenty

@KTG_CRE

Kristin Geenty is president and chief operating officer of The Geenty Group Realtors, a commercial, business and industrial and real estate brokerage in Connecticut. She was recently designated a member of the Society of Industrial & Office Realtors.

63: Stuart Appley

@sappley

Stuart Appley is managing director of Global Workplace Solutions Digital & Technology for CBRE in San Francisco. He maintains a blog called BusinessTech at biznesstec.com.

62: Beth Azor

@bethazor1

Beth Azor is founder and principal of Azor Advisory Services, a retail real estate management, development and commercial real estate education firm in south Florida. An executive coach, Beth also hosts “The Retail Leasing Podcast.”

61: Ray Sturm

@ray_sturm

Ray Sturm is founder and CEO of AlphaFlow, a tech-driven investment manager that provides professionally managed portfolios of real estate loans to institutional investors.

60: Chad Koenig

@ChadKoenig

Chad Koenig is managing partner for Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta Office Tenant Representation Services group. He provides strategic occupancy consulting and representation for tenants regarding office relocations, renewals, consolidation, sub-lease dispositions and other requirements.

59: Jim Garrett

@jimgarrettmcr

Jim Garrett is market president for the Charleston, SC market. Jim’s responsibilities include the management of Colliers’ Charleston area brokerage staff, recruiting and business development as well as community and civic affairs and economic development.

58: Nick Garzia

@ncgleasing

Nick Garzia is director of retail leasing for the Hines Southeast portfolio, including Atlantic Station in Atlanta.

57: Aaron Block

@aaronnblock

Aaron Block is co-founder and managing partner of MetaProp, a New York-based venture capital firm focused on the real estate technology industry. Founded in 2015, MetaProp’s investment team has invested in 100+ technology companies across the real estate value chain. Aaron is co-author of “PropTech 101.”

56: Michael Magliano

@mmagliano16

Michael Magliano is a managing director for industrial and corporate real estate at Cushman & Wakefield, based in Chicago. Mike specializes in business development and client services, such as structuring and negotiating commercial leases.

55: Diane Danielson

@DianeDanielson

After eight years as COO of SVN International, where she oversaw operations and brand development, Diane Danielson founded Future Proof Research, which works with enterprises—companies, non-profits, communities—on sustainability and adaptation.

54: Gabriel Gonzalez

@Gabriel_CREnerd

Gabriel Gonzalez is senior leasing agent for Regency Centers in Miami-Dade & South Broward County. Gabriel currently handles 3.4M square feet of class A shopping centers in south Florida.

53: Keith Auten

@KeithAuten

Keith Auten is owner and principal broker at Auten Realty, a brokerage that specializes in the acquisition and disposition of multifamily properties throughout the state of Texas, particularly in and around the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

52: Bjorik Mutize

@bjorik_CRE

Bjorik Mutize is an Associate with CBRE's Minneapolis/St. Paul office where he specializes in landlord and tenant representation for industrial clients.

51: Chris Kirk

@ChrisKirk_CRE

Chris Kirk is managing principal of Colliers International’s downtown Salt Lake City offices. Previously he held a similar position at CBC Advisors.

#CREi - People to Follow! The 2020 Top Twitter Influencers in Commercial Real Estate list

Here it is! The brand new #CREi: The 2020 Top Twitter Influencers in Commercial Real Estate list! We are very excited to present the first tranche of superb individuals on the list. Congratulations and take a bow if you made it.

The remainder of the list will be unveiled 50 at a time over the next few weeks so stay tuned.

Wait, what about Duke Long’s list?

Well, my friend Duke and I chatted. He knows of and supports this list. Plus, everyone knows Duke is the perpetual top on any #CRE influencer list and therefore he holds the rank as honorary number one on this list! I think Duke would agree that the more recognition and respect that these hard-working list members get, the better. I love to see people succeed and I love positivity. I hope that the #CREi: The 2020 Top Influencers in Commercial Real Estate list will highlight genuinely good people doing amazing things in our world.

Ok, but how is this list different?

We’ve loved Duke’s passion for lists for all these years and appreciate his leadership in first creating the idea over a decade ago. And yes, you will notice that a number of folks appeared on his 2019 list. This would be normal in a relatively small vertical like #CRE. We’ve flexed the list to approximately 150 folks to expand the recognition. The list is being finalized now.

The expert PR professionals at The Wilbert Group (@TheWilbertGroup) have helped by suggesting influential individuals they think merit inclusion. Also, Wilbert allowed the use of their sophisticated technology to help in screening and ranking. Put simply, the team brought some rigor to the process combined with differing perspectives of having multiple professionals suggesting names. We think you will agree, those on the list are true influencers! Thanks to Caroline Wilbert (@carolinewilbert) for your partnership!  

Also, the very talented Steve Fennessy (@stevefennessy), former Editor in Chief of Atlanta Magazine is helping us write short bios of everyone on the list. The list is intended to lift up those who great contributors and leaders in our industry. We want you to learn a little about them through the bios as opposed to simply a sequential line list of names.

Who can be on the list?

Exceptional individuals: Those who are producers in commercial real estate. Those who write about commercial real estate. Those who help producers including respected coaches, economist and subject matter thought leaders. We don’t include real estate company handles unless they serve jointly as the handle for a top executive and the company. Also, while we love their work, in most cases we think prop tech companies and their leaders can live on other lists. In general, we are trying to include ladies and gentlemen who are involved in doing or supporting commercial real estate deals of all kinds. We love the philosophy that former President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt shared in his Citizenship in the Republic speech (also known as The Man in the Arena quote and yes, insert men AND women in the text).

Can I help?

Sure! If you see someone doing something interesting, innovative or good in social media, then email us and let us know. Also, as you see new professionals join the social media world, please make us aware. We are keeping our master list updated throughout the year. Some estimates say there are 330 million handles on Twitter, so letting us know about folks we should be aware of his helpful! Let’s join together and lift each other up! Our team is excited about this project and the new list. We hope you like it and that you will reach and support the exceptional individuals that made this year’s honor roll.

Congratulations to all those who made it! And hey, a shout out to Ward Richmond for holding the list down at slot 150!

150: Ward Richmond

@10xward

Whooo…you made it Ward Richmond! As executive vice president and shareholder at Colliers International, Ward’s specialty is Supply Chain Real Estate strategy, having negotiated more than 500 transactions with dominant logistics companies in 50 cities around the globe.

149: John Heagy

@heagyjohn

John Heagy is Senior Managing Director for leasing office and mixed use project in the Southeastern United States for Hines Interest. He has been active in the commercial real estate market since 1977 and serves on many non-profit boards of directors in the Atlanta area.

148: Steve Everbach

@steveeverbach

Steve Everbach has completed more than 8 million square feet of transactions, representing an aggregate value of more than $1.5 billion, over the course of his career. He is currently responsible for the Colliers business in the U.S. Central Region.

147: Tony Kim

@creappraiser

Tony Kim works in Los Angeles as a valuation advisor, appraisal consultant, and listing agent for commercial real estate sales. For more than 20 years he has been representing sellers, owners, buyers, and investors as they sell or lease commercial or industrial properties.

146: Ann Gibson

@greenmacgal

Ann Gibson is a Florida-based commercial real estate and project consultant with 20-plus years experience in the built environment, commercial real estate sales, and commercializing energy efficiency technologies in buildings.

145: Alex Nicoll

@alexonicoll

Alex Nicoll is a junior reporter at Business Insider, writing about finance and real estate. He is studying at the Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and previously worked for Bridgewater Associates and Peloton.

144: Kostas Stoilas

@TampaBroker

Kostas Stoilas is the founder and managing broker of Fortress Commercial Real Estate LLC in Tampa, Fla. He focuses on local and national players that occupy, own, develop, and invest in office space, warehouse distribution space, and vacant land, primarily along the growing I-4 Corridor.

143: Jeff Lessard

@jdlessard13

Jeff Lessard is a location, headquarters and workplace expert. He is from Maine but resides in New Hampshire Jeff serves as director of real estate at a large U.S. company.

142: Natalie Bayfield

@nataliebayfield

Natalie Bayfield is the inventor of Real Estate Financial Modelling (REFM) in the United Kingdom, developed during a career of consulting to hedge funds, real estate consultancies, and investment banks as chief executive officer of Bayfield Training.

141: Justin Cazana

@jcazana

Justin Cazana is a principal in the Avison Young Knoxville, Tenn., office, specializing in office and retail transactions for the commercial real estate firm. His portfolio encompasses more than 1.1 million square feet of commercial space.

140: Carter Byrnes

@CarterByrnes

Carter Byrnes is a Senior Vice President in the McLean, Virginia office of CBRE, Inc. Carter specializes in both landlord and tenant representation and concentrates on several markets inside and outside of the Beltway. Carter also leads the Virginia Healthcare Services Group for CBRE.

139: Heather Trimble

@TrimbleCRE

Heather Trimble is an associate at Cushman & Wakefield in the San Francisco Bay area, and co-chairs the Cushman & Wakefield Future Leaders’ San Francisco chapter.

138: Wendy Mann

@crew_wendym

Wendy Crew is CEO of CREW Network, founded in 1989 to bring together women involved in all aspects of commercial real estate to exchange information, develop business contacts and help each other succeed professionally. 

137: Jennifer Keesmaat

@jen_keesmaat

Jennifer Keesmaat is founder of The Keesmaat Group, a company that works with future-oriented cities, regions, companies, and organizations. Jennifer is former chief planner for the city of Toronto. She’s given three TEDx talks and also hosts the podcast “Invisible City.”

136: James Milner

@booneCRE

James Milner is founder of Appalachian Commercial Real Estate, a Boone, N.C.-based firm which provides brokerage, leasing and consulting commercial real estate services.

135: Michael Beckerman

@m_beckerman

Michael Beckerman founded the News Funnel, a platform that provides insight into the global commercial real estate and tech sector, and authors a blog. He is CEO of CREtech, a community of professionals devoted to technological innovation in the real estate sector.

134: Kristi Svec Simmons

@ksvecsimmons

Kristi Svec Simmons is a commercial real estate broker with AQUILA’s tenant representation team in Austin, Tex., focusing on office leasing transactions and building acquisitions and dispositions.

133: James Kobal

@ViningsCRE

James Kobal is a realtor at Coldwell Banker Commercial Metro Brokers in Atlanta.

132: Benton Ozburn

@BentonOzburn

Benton Ozburn is a senior associate at Colliers International | Nashville. He specializes in developing customizable service plans that maximize financial savings for clients.

131: Ben Lerner

@benslerner

Ben Lerner is managing director of Lerner Associates, a London-based boutique mergers and acquisitions and growth equity finance advisory practice that focuses primarily on the real estate software industry, PropTech, and CRETech.

130: Mike Phillips

@mrmikephillips

Mike Phillips is UK editor of Bisnow, the largest commercial real estate media business in the world.

129: Paul Page

@PaulPage

Paul Page covers logistics and supply chain for The Wall Street Journal, where he also edits the Logistic Report.

128: Despina Katsikakis

@dkatsikakis

Despina Katsikakis is head of occupier business performance at Cushman & Wakefield in the United Kingdom. Despina provides input across the firm’s global business on the rapidly-changing context of work and its impact on employee engagement, productivity and wellbeing. 

127: Lisa B. Pittman

@lisabosspittman

Lisa Pittman is senior director in Cushman & Wakefield's Atlanta office. She has completed more than 18.4 million square feet of transaction assignments valued at $471 million over the past five years. 

126: Natalie Sachmechi

@natalielsach

Natalie Sachmechi is commercial real estate reporter for Crain’s New York Business.

125: Lucy Alderson

@LucyAJourno

Lucy Alderson is a journalist covering flex office space, tech, and the north of England for Estates Gazette.

124: Samantha S. Low

@samanthaslow1

Samantha Low is a commercial tenant real estate advisor and co-founder of TenantSee, which provides data and expert insight to help guide tenants in leasing decisions.

123: David J. Murphy

@dockhighguy

David J. Murphy is executive vice president at CBRE. He is the firm’s top producing industrial broker in the northern half of Florida.

122: Edison Vasquez

@EdisonCRE

Edison Vasquez is managing partner at ComReal in south Florida, specializing in industrial space.

Photo courtesy of Vicki Thompson, Silicon Valley Business Journal

121: Matthew Niksa

@SVBizCRE

Matthew Niksa is a commercial real estate reporter at the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

120: Ken Morris

@KenMorrisBroker

Ken Morris is managing principal of Morris Commercial Real Estate in southeast Florida. He completed more than 500 lease and sale transactions involving office, industrial, retail and commercial space valued close to $1 billion.

119: Tyler Tillery

@tylertilleryCRE

Tyler Tillery is a market director within NAI Robert Lynn's Industrial Division, focused on the Las Colinas, and Walnut Hill/Stemmons submarkets in the Dallas market. 

118: Tony vanderBeek

@officespaceNY

Tony vanderBeek is executive vice president for Coldwell Banker in New York and has been engaged in the leasing and sale of retail, office, commercial, industrial and investment real estate for nearly 20 years in and around the five boroughs of New York.

117: Melissa Swader

@azprninja

Melissa Swader is director of marketing, p.r. and administration for SVN | Desert Commercial Advisors.

116: Danielle Haney

@DanielleFHaney

Danielle Haney is director of communications at DealPoint Merrill in Las Vegas.

115: Wouter Truffino

@WouterTruffino

Wouter Truffino is founder and CEO of Holland ConTech and PropTech, an ecosystem for companies that want to innovate the construction and real estate sector.

114: Russell Patterson

@PCPgtyler

Russell Patterson is founder of Patterson Commercial Property Group, a full service real estate firm headquartered in Tyler, Texas and specializing in brokerage and management services in the commercial and industrial real estate market.

113: David Lockwood

@Cl_DLockwood

David Lockwood is executive vice president and chief operating officer of Colliers International, South Carolina. David is also the market president and manager for Colliers’ Columbia office.

112: Xochitl Paez

@xochitl_cre

Xochitl Paez is a Senior Client Services Coordinator in the Occupier Services practice group for Colliers International in Dallas, where she specializes in office tenant representation, client services, account management, marketing and transaction processes.

111: Neil Johnson

@neiljohnsoncre

Neil Johnson is managing director / broker for SVN Landmark Commercial Real Estate, specializing in retail, office, and industrial properties—as well as vacant land—in west suburban Chicago.

110: Robert Pliska

@rpliska

Robert Pliska is owner/managing director of SVN Property Investment Advisors in Michigan, a commercial real estate and investment real estate firm.

109: Allen C. Buchanan

@allencbuchanan

Allen Buchanan is principal for Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services in southern California. Allen provides location advice to owners and occupants of industrial real estate.

108: Howard Kline

@CREradio

A real estate attorney in California, Howard Kline is also CEO and host of Commercial Real Estate Radio, a multiplatform media outlet focusing on commercial real estate matters.

107: Clyde Robinson Jr.

@TenantResource

Clyde Robinson Jr. is a managing partner and head of diversity & inclusion for Mohr Partners, Inc., based in Charlotte.

106: Scott Sidman

@scottsidman

Scott Sidman is executive vice president/business and corporate development at Building Engines, a CRE property management tool where he oversees the company's marketing department and helps direct company strategy.

105: Re’Nauta Bell

@RSBell_CRE

Re’Nauta Bell is senior associate at Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta office, where she is an office tenant representation broker experienced in representing clients with multiple locations throughout the U.S.

104: Guy Masse

@yourtenantrep

Guy Masse is executive vice president at Cushman & Wakefield in Montreal. Guy specializes in tenant representation, national and global accounts, portfolio optimization and strategic advisory services.

103: Shannon Shuman Martin

@retailrealest

Shannon Shuman Martin is  founder and qualifying  broker of Retail Leasing Advisors, boutique firm servicing metro Atlanta and Georgia and which specializes in retail leasing and consultation services for landlords and developers.

102: Pam Goodwin

@PamGoodwinCRE

Pam Goodwin is principal and founder of Goodwin Commercial, a Dallas-based boutique commercial real estate and consulting firm specializing in retail and restaurant sites. She is also the author of “One Cent Lemonade to Million Dollar Deals.”

101: James Cook

@jamesdcook

And…top of the list for the first tranche is James Cook. James serves as the Americas Director of Retail Research at JLL, based out of Indianapolis, IN. He also hosts Where We Buy, a show about retail and real estate.

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. The COVID-19 Excuse Machine

OK, let’s just get this on that table at the very top. Yes, this is a terrible time and people are suffering. Yes, some unfortunate souls are dying from the illness. Yes, millions are in trouble economically. My heart goes out to everyone in this situation and I in no way want to minimize the troubles of so many in our nation. 

So, what if YOU are one of the people who are directly impacted by Covid? What if you or a close family member are sick right now? Well of course, you’ve got to deal with the crisis and get everybody as well as you can. If you’ve lost your job you’ve got to deal with that crisis. In fact, you can stop reading this blog right now and go back to much more urgent matters than my ramblings.

But, if you are not currently directly impacted, here’s my question for you… How long and how much of our lives should we give up obsessing on the issue of Covid 19?

Unfortunately, we operate in a world where people suffer from calamities of all kinds – from auto accidents to cancer, and yet we still function before March of 2020 rolled around.  

2. The Implications of Working Without an Office

Marcus Cederberg

In early 2020, the world began what is undoubtedly the largest work-from-home experiment in history. Now, as countries reopen but Covid-19 remains a major threat, organizations are wrestling with whether and how to have workers return to their offices.

Business leaders need to be able to answer a number of questions to make these decisions. Primary among them is “What impact has working from home had on productivity and creativity?”

To help answer that question, we decided to explore how employees have fared since they began working virtually. To that end, we started surveying a diverse group of more than 600 U.S.-based white-collar employees during the second half of March and have continued to do so every two weeks since then. (This article is based on results collected through May.)

Approximately half of our respondents are women, and half are men; they hail from 43 states; nearly half are married; and more than a third have children. About 40% hold management positions. We have been asking them about their job satisfaction, work engagement, perceptions of their own performance, conflicts with colleagues, stress, negative emotions, and current living situation, among other questions. (A fuller description of the survey’s participants is at the end of this article.)

3. Love Is Medicine for Fear

JAN BUCHCZIK

We are living in a time of fear. The coronavirus pandemic has threatened our lives, health, and economy in ways most Americans have never experienced. We have no idea what the future will bring. According to the American Psychological Association’s annual “Stress in America” survey, the percentage of people in the U.S. who say that “the future of our nation is a significant source of stress” rose to 83 percent in June 2020, up from 63 percent in 2017.

But even before the pandemic, fear about the future was high and on the rise. Gallup found that the percentage of Americans who had experienced worry “during a lot of the day yesterday” rose from 36 percent to 45 percent from 2006 to 2018; similarly, feelings of stress rose from 46 percent to 55 percent. This matches my personal experience.

Given what I write about for a living, it may not be surprising that I start many conversations by asking people about their happiness. If you make the mistake of talking to me on an airplane, that’s where the conversation is going to go. In recent years, I have noticed, people have told me more and more that they are afraid.

4. Post-Pandemic CRE: Why Workspaces Will Still Matter

ING

Enterprise and employees alike may be embracing work from home for the time being, but the post-pandemic prospects for commercial real estate remain strong. With emotions running high, our natural desire to define the “new normal” mid-crisis has us catastrophizing when we should be brainstorming. 

Office real estate will indeed face hurdles as we emerge from the global pandemic. The coming economic recession will almost certainly impact demand. However, we should be careful not to overestimate the impact of WFH based on the results of a four-month forced experiment. Demand for office space, and likely some extraordinary opportunities, will return. 

Looking at the current market, there is a dearth in office leasing activity. Most firms are delaying major decisions on office space until the economy finds surer footing. Class A properties in major gateway markets owned by experienced and well-capitalized sponsors have a clear advantage in attracting reasonable financing terms in today’s market.

5. The Greatest Coronavirus Risks When You Fly

SANDY HUFFAKER/GETTY IMAGES

It’s one of the key questions for our economy, our family relations and our basic ability to break from the routine: Is it safe to fly on an airplane?

The answer: not as safe as the airline industry would have you believe, but a lot safer than you might think.

Airplane cabins are heavily ventilated, and robust airflow, mixed with fresh air, seems to lessen the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19. Taken to its extreme, it’s the same idea that outdoors, with ample airflow and fresh air, is safer than indoors.

“Contrary to what people believe, you’re not flying through the air in a sealed tube,” says Amanda Simpson, vice president for research and technology at Airbus Americas.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

The COVID-19 Excuse Machine

OK, let’s just get this on that table at the very top. Yes, this is a terrible time and people are suffering. Yes, some unfortunate souls are dying from the illness. Yes, millions are in trouble economically. My heart goes out to everyone in this situation and I in no way want to minimize the troubles of so many in our nation. 

So, what if YOU are one of the people who are directly impacted by Covid? What if you or a close family member are sick right now? Well of course, you’ve got to deal with the crisis and get everybody as well as you can. If you’ve lost your job you’ve got to deal with that crisis. In fact, you can stop reading this blog right now and go back to much more urgent matters than my ramblings.

But, if you are not currently directly impacted, here’s my question for you… How long and how much of our lives should we give up obsessing on the issue of Covid 19? Unfortunately, we operate in a world where people suffer from calamities of all kinds – from auto accidents to cancer, and yet we still function before March of 2020 rolled around.  

We are over five months in to Covid at this point. I’m thinking it will be a full year of this thing from start to that glorious day when we can say we have conquered or significantly controlled the illness.

So, let’s put this in perspective for the long game. If we assume a great life span is 100 years, are we really going to spend 1 year or 1% of our precious lives frozen in fear over this virus?

We’ve already established that you are not directly impacted, but you and I read the same tiresome headlines in the newspaper day after day. Many among us have what I call non-specific worries or general anxiety. But let’s do assume you have a roof over your head know where your next meal is coming from  - and have a normal temperature. 

Many people are suffering from emotional distress and worry, which is to be expected, however others are simply allowing themselves to be distracted by what’s going on all around them instead of focusing in on what’s important.

And I bet it if you’re honest with yourself you would agree this is the case in your life (and in mine too). Perhaps you have the kind of job where a boss tells you everything to do every day. Maybe you’re a Marine and you have orders each and every morning. But frankly, I doubt it. If you’re reading this blog, chances are good that you’re a knowledge worker and you have large control of your life and daily schedule. 

And that means that someone or some employer has invested their faith and dollars in you to do the right thing. There is something you do in your job that makes you a rock star. Perhaps you develop business or provide amazing consulting services. Maybe you are a subject matter of expert of great renown.

The world needs what you do. That is why you are compensated for your job. And the time has come for all of us to return focus to the all-important work we were hired to do.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to retire the Covid-19 excuse machine. 

Roger that, you say, but how?

Let may suggest a book that is sure to help you with focus: Discipline Equals Freedom: A Field Manual by Jocko Willink

A little about Jocko, who is a hero of mine. He was in the Navy SEAL Teams for years, first as an enlisted operator, then as a commanding officer. He led SEAL Team 3’s Task Unit Bruiser, the most decorated special operations unit of the Iraq war. Then he became the officer in charge of training for all West Coast SEAL Teams. After Jocko retired, he was invited to speak to corporate America about leadership and eventually released in 2015 the book Extreme Ownership, which became a number one New York Times best-seller. He followed up with Discipline Equals Freedom.

Here’s a quote from Discipline Equals Freedom: “Freedom is what everyone wants — to be able to act and live with freedom. But the only way to get to a place of freedom is through discipline. If you want financial freedom, you have to have financial discipline. ... (this concept that) Discipline equals freedom applies to every aspect of life: if you want more freedom, get more discipline

Jocko has been through his share of hardship in life. Battle isn’t for wimps. I read his words with great respect.

Pick up his books and give them a gander. I won’t yell at you to drop and give me 20 pushups, but I WILL challenge you to focus. Do everything you can to get back to normal, and you might surprise yourself; you will feel better and I bet those around you will too!

Stay safe, wash your hands and let out an oohrah! tomorrow morning. You don’t have to wake up as early as Jocko but I encourage you to put your own personal battle plan to work every. single. day.

Discipline does equal freedom. 

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. #CREi: The 2020 Top Influencers in Commercial Real Estate

It’s getting hot in Atlanta which means we strive for air-conditioning and – a list of the commercial real estate industries top influencers!

BIG NEWS! - the brand new #CREi: The 2020 Top Influencers in Commercial Real Estate list is coming very, very soon so stay tuned!

If you see someone doing something interesting, innovative or good in social media, then email us and let us know. Also, as you see new professionals join the social media world, please make us aware. We are keeping our master list updated throughout the year. Some estimates say there are 330 million handles on Twitter, so letting us know about folks we should be aware of his helpful! Let’s join together and lift each other up!

2. Adventures in Alternative Work Arrangements

Peter Cade/Getty Images

Before having kids, we tend to envision ourselves as the devoted company worker, always present, fully committed, and willing to give extra effort to get the job done. But with kids come new demands, especially for the majority of us who are in dual-career households. Our commitment and career ambitions hold true, it’s just harder to fit life around traditional work structures. It would seem that alternative work programs — flexible hours, remote work, part-time salaried work, job shares, and lateral moves — create a win-win for employers, employees, and families.

Unfortunately, alternative work is a bit of a ruse. Most employers offer it, usually as part of their inclusion programs to attract quality talent (you!). But, often it’s an empty gesture as few employees ever use these options. Research in the U.S. and Europe confirms consequences we already know: using these programs means certain career death.

We desperately need these options. Not on paper, but in practice in our lives. With no yellow brick road to follow, we must find our own way forward. 

3. Trucking, Warehouse Companies Boost Hiring in June

DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Logistics operators hired at a brisk pace in June as companies serving the e-commerce market brought on more than 80,000 workers and factories started resuming production following coronavirus-triggered shutdowns.

Trucking companies also added 8,100 jobs from May to June, the biggest one-month gain in the sector since September 2018, according to seasonally adjusted preliminary employment figures the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Thursday.

Employment in trucking has been gradually increasing after companies slashed jobs in March and April, when lockdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus led to a collapse of economic activity. Trucking companies, largely focused on industrial shipments, have added more than 10,000 jobs since then, but payrolls in the sector are still down about 95,000 from a year ago.

4. U.S. may need another 1 billion square feet of warehouse space by 2025 as e-commerce booms

Matt Adams | Optoro

With online sales proliferating during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. is going to need more warehouses to store hoards of boxes and handle those orders. 

Holed up at home, and with many bricks-and-mortar stores temporarily shut, shoppers have turned to their computers and smartphones to buy everything from fresh groceries to new home furnishings to pet toys. And even after the pandemic subsides, the trend of people buying more and more online is expected to stick around. 

And so with more people clicking “buy” instead of venturing to the mall, demand for industrial real estate could reach an additional 1 billion square feet by 2025, according to a new report from JLL. 

5. Urban to Suburban: The Growing Shift to the Suburbs at COVID-19 Changes the Way People Live

The arrival of COVID-19 has been a trigger for new modes of work. Office buildings across the globe have emptied out, but employees are still working. They’re just working from home instead. Cushman & Wakefield’s proprietary tool, Experience per SF™ (XSF), found that workers are as productive at home as they are in the office, and in some cases, even more productive. 

The positive experience that many occupiers are having with working from home is now being considered a potential major turning point in how they think about real estate. Whatever the future holds, the discussion about office real estate has shifted from strictly urban to a broader range of alternatives including the suburbs.

While we are not convinced that occupiers will need less real estate, we do think that where an occupier’s real estate is located may change in response to the events that have transpired since the arrival of COVID-19.

After a decade that increasingly focused on central cities, it feels like everything has been turned inside out. The next big thing is now not only the big new development in an urban core, but also a walkable suburban development near a transit hub.  

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

#CREi: The 2020 Top Influencers in Commercial Real Estate

It’s getting hot in Atlanta which means we strive for air-conditioning and – a list of the commercial real estate industries top influencers!

BIG NEWS! - the brand new #CREi: The 2020 Top Influencers in Commercial Real Estate list is coming very, very soon so stay tuned!

Wait, what about Duke Long’s list?

Well, my friend Duke and I chatted. He knows of and supports this list. It’s a free society so Duke can certainly continue to publish his own list, which we would welcome. I think Duke would agree that the more recognition and respect that these hard-working list members get, the better. I love to see people succeed and I love positivity. I hope that the #CREi: The 2020 Top Influencers in Commercial Real Estate list will highlight genuinely good people doing amazing things in our world.

Ok, but how is this list different?

We’ve loved Duke’s passion for lists for all these years and appreciate his leadership in first creating the idea over a decade ago. And yes, you will notice that a number of folks appeared on his 2019 list. This would be normal in a relatively small vertical like #CRE. We’ve flexed the list to approximately 150 folks to expand the recognition. The list is being finalized now. The expert PR professionals at The Wilbert Group (@TheWilbertGroup) have helped by suggesting influential individuals they think merit inclusion. Also, Wilbert allowed the use of their sophisticated technology to help in screening and ranking. Put simply, the team brought some rigor to the process combined with differing perspectives of having multiple professionals suggesting names. We think you will agree, those on the list are true influencers!

Also, the very talented Steve Fennessy (@stevefennessy), former Editor in Chief of Atlanta Magazine is helping us write short bios of everyone on the list. The list is intended to lift up those who great contributors and leaders in our industry. We want you to learn a little about them through the bios as opposed to simply a sequential line list of names.

Who can be on the list?

Exceptional individuals: Those who are producers in commercial real estate. Those who write about commercial real estate. Those who help producers including respected coaches, economist and subject matter thought leaders. We don’t include real estate company handles unless they serve jointly as the handle for a top executive and the company. Also, while we love their work, we think prop tech companies and their leaders can live on other lists. In general, we are trying to include ladies and gentlemen who are involved in doing or supporting commercial real estate deals of all kinds. We love the philosophy that former President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt shared in his Citizenship in the Republic speech (also known as The Man in the Arena quote and yes, insert men AND women in the text).

Will there be other lists?

Yes. The team will work on a LinkedIn list. We may look at Instagram too. If you have ideas, we would love to hear from you. Email us at CREilist@google.com

Can I help?

Sure! If you see someone doing something interesting, innovative or good in social media, then email us and let us know. Also, as you see new professionals join the social media world, please make us aware. We are keeping our master list updated throughout the year. Some estimates say there are 330 million handles on Twitter, so letting us know about folks we should be aware of his helpful! Let’s join together and lift each other up!

Our team is excited about this project and the new list. We’ll keep the HVAC cranked and keep working hard on finding and ranking special individuals. Look for more in coming weeks! - Ken Ashley

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. Atlanta office ghost towns wait and wait and wait for workers’ return

Duriya Farooqui, president of Atlanta-based Point A Center for Supply Chain Innovation, recently convened a meeting with about a dozen companies. Most, she said, expected to have 10% to 50% of their staffs back in corporate offices by the end of July. But for the majority, it will be August or September before they reach 50%, about the max most think can accommodate social distancing. Even those plans are fluid and could be delayed. She noted the discussions were held before a recent rise in Georgia coronavirus cases.

Many companies in metro Atlanta plan to have about 50% of their workers back in offices sometime in the second half of this year, estimated Ken Ashley, executive director for commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

In the meantime, life inside some office parks has slowed to a crawl. Brent Allsup and most of his co-workers are back at a law firm in the Concourse’s Queen building near where I-285 and Georgia 400 meet. But he estimates that only a tenth of the Concourse’s normal labor pool is on site with them.

2. Public Real-Estate Companies Are the New Way to Buy Distress

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Despite tumbling real-estate values during the coronavirus pandemic, it has been hard for buyers to find buildings for sale as most owners hold out. That has sent some scurrying to acquire shares in public real-estate companies and bonds.

A handful of big investment firms, including Blackstone Group Inc., Starwood Capital Group and Oaktree Capital Management, have been buying securities backed by real estate, according to public filings or people familiar with the matter.

These firms are betting that public markets are too pessimistic about the pandemic’s impact on property owners. Some of these purchases have already produced handsome returns as part of markets’ recovery from their spring low.

Ronald Dickerman, president of real-estate investment firm Madison International Realty LLC, said his firm bought tens of millions of dollars of shares in real-estate investment trusts in March and April. At the time, shares of some major REITs were down more than 50% for the year, amid widespread concerns that the pandemic would lead to falling property values and missed rent payments.

3. How to Help a Colleague Who’s Been Laid Off

Adam Gault/Getty Images

It’s obviously upsetting and difficult to receive a layoff notice. But if you’ve been spared while your colleagues have been let go, a tricky question arises: How can you best support them without feeling awkward or appearing patronizing?

Saying nothing — because you’re unsure what to say — might well come across as uncaring. But showering them with advice and encouragement might be the last thing they need. Here are three ways to lend useful support to newly out-of-work colleagues.

Being laid off — as Dorie was early in her career — can be destabilizing, so your colleagues may not immediately be sure about their next move or objective. It’s possible they’ll be looking for a job just like the one they had. Or the layoff may represent an opportunity to try something new, such as a career reinvention or launching an entrepreneurial venture.

4. These Are The Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate In 2020 And 2021

This year will likely be defined by its deluge of black swan events, with the coronavirus pandemic, ensuing economic downturn, civil unrest, and sustainability and environmental issues leaving marks on multiple industries.

For real estate, that can be layered on with supply and demand imbalances, property valuation ambiguity and possible turning points in how people interact with the world — and particularly the built environment — around them. These challenges pervade The Counselors of Real Estate's newly released list of top 10 issues affecting real estate for 2020-2021.

The Counselors of Real Estate 2020 global chair Michel Couillard revealed the organization's top 10 while speaking at the National Association of Real Estate Editors' Industry Insights webinar Thursday. 

5. Warehouse Demand Surges as Retailers Reset Supply Chains

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News

Demand for U.S. warehouse space is rebounding as upheaval from the coronavirus pandemic pushes businesses to retool their supply chains.

Industrial real-estate activity, such as lease renewals and new leases, jumped 43% from April 15 to May 14 from the previous 30-day period, recovering more quickly than expected from the economic shocks of the pandemic, according to real-estate firm CBRE Group Inc.

Total transactions for the year are 2.8% higher than at this time in 2019 even though activity fell 29% between March 15 and April 14 as lockdowns aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus extended across the U.S.

Retailers and food and consumer goods suppliers ramped up their e-commerce operations during that period after a surge of orders from housebound shoppers during quarantine. Companies are also securing new space to modernize their distribution operations, including locations near big population centers, for what they expect to be continued strong demand for services such as online grocery delivery.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. Reboot: What I Will Do Differently Post Pandemic

I’ve now had 14 weeks to think and reflect – three and a half months. Most people are past the sheer terror of Covid-19, but it’s impacts on us individually will be something we talk about and remember for the rest of our lives.

But through all the fear, uncertainty and doubt, an interesting thing has happened, at least in my own case. I want to use this event as an inflection point. I’m going to turn the presence of this scourge in our land as an opportunity to reboot my life. Heck, we can all use a good kick in the pants from time to time. Why not now?

Here are nine things I’m going to change in my life as our nation and world heal from this emergency.

2. Pent-Up Demand For Atlanta Offices Is Building, Owners Say

Rubenstein Partners

Office owners in Atlanta say tenants with leases expiring by the end of the year are fueling pent-up demand.

“Lease expirations, they don't respect pandemics,” Selig Enterprises Executive Vice President Chris Ahrenkiel said during a recent Bisnow webinar on Atlanta's office market.

“Unless you do a short-term renewal, or a renewal, you're forced to make a decision in a more accelerated time frame,” Ahrenkiel said. "There will be true pent-up demand once we get more clarity on this health crisis."

Developers are underway with 4.1M SF of new office in Metro Atlanta. Recent deliveries have, thus far, performed well. Sixty-nine percent of the 1.23M SF delivered in the first quarter of 2020 — including 10000 Avalon and Twelve24 in Central Perimeter — was leased before completion, according to a recent JLL report.

3. Better Than Expected May Retail Sales Fuel Hope for a Faster Recovery

Getty Images

The much-anticipated retail sales data for May far exceeded expectations as consumer spending picked up at a strong pace, albeit from very depressed levels.

After record declines in March and April, retail sales bounced back 17.7% in May as the economy began to reopen, slowly bringing back jobs and allowing consumers to spend their stimulus checks.

Compared to a year ago, retail sales were still down 6.1%, and signs of rebounding consumer spending and sales activity may prove too little too late for many retailers.

4. Will Electrostatic Mist Ruin My Keyboard? Here's A Coronavirus Office Cleaning Primer.

Tangram Workplace Sanitation

Earlier this spring, Tangram, a curator of interior solutions for workspaces based in Southern California, made a quick pivot to sanitation, announcing a three-tiered, 24/7, nationwide electrostatic mist emergency workplace cleaning service, administered by professional disinfecting crews in full hazmat suits.

The return of tenants to U.S. office buildings is far from a stampede, even though many buildings are ready to open. Nationwide, 45% of companies haven’t even announced a return date yet.

This has given property managers more time to review myriad new cleaning and sterilization products and technologies such as Tangram’s. And time is helpful, because these options — from plexiglass desk dividers to touchless elevator technology to high-tech air-purifying HVAC retrofits — are far from cut and dry.

When it comes to electrostatic mist, it’s becoming more widely available across the CRE industry, but questions remain: How often does it need to be used in order to be effective? Is it causing damage to furniture finishes, carpeting or other office materials? What about electronic equipment? Does it kill the coronavirus? … What is it?

5. Density Has Taken 'A Complete U-Turn,' Boston Properties VP Says

Drone Shot

A top Boston Properties executive says the REIT has seen a complete reversal in office density trends as companies look to increase space between their workers.

"Dense floor plans, from what we're hearing in the marketplace, have done an absolute U-turn," Boston Properties Vice President of Engineering Danny Murtagh said during Bisnow's Sustainability In Bay Area Design and Development webinar Thursday afternoon.

"We're going back to more space per person, separation, 6-feet minimum distances, offices may be coming back en vogue," he said. "All of those things have been a complete U-turn from the long plank bench that was going to be the norm in the new high-density office environment."

The change, which Murtagh said he thinks will stick, might boost the sector amid concerns remote work could cut into its performance. Companies abiding by new distancing requirements for employees will need to lease more space for the same number of workers, the theory goes. 

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Reboot: What I Will Do Differently Post Pandemic

I’ll remember March 13th, 2020 for the rest of my life. I had my last business lunch that Friday, just as the realization was hitting America. The World Health Organization had finally used that ugly word on Wednesday, March 11th - ”Pandemic” - but in the U.S. we had less than 1,000 diagnosed cases that week. It still felt like the sickness was in foreign lands, but boy you could feel it coming.

My guest at lunch was a business executive who leads a large workforce. We were both worried about personal safety, about people, about our economy, and about our own families. It was a morose lunch and I confess that we were both going through the motions on autopilot. I had the distinct feeling that evil was headed our way and quickly.

I’ve now had 14 weeks to think and reflect – three and a half months. Most people are past the sheer terror of Covid-19, but it’s impacts on us individually will be something we talk about and remember for the rest of our lives.

But through all the fear, uncertainty and doubt, an interesting thing has happened, at least in my own case. I want to use this event as an inflection point. I’m going to turn the presence of this scourge in our land as an opportunity to reboot my life. Heck, we can all use a good kick in the pants from time to time. Why not now?

Here are nine things I’m going to change in my life as our nation and world heal from this emergency:

Live in the Moment

I’m going to put the phone down at meals and really focus when people are speaking to me. I’m going to turn off the haptics on my watch so I can consume information when I’m ready. I will do my level best to 100% focus on one person or one thing at a time. Truly and deeply listening to people is a gift that I want to give as often as possible.

Experience (more) of the Joy of Learning

At mid and later points in a career learning often slows or even stops. I hope that’s not the case for me, but I’m going to knock it on the head and sign up for some online courses. I’m noodling with more college, but we can take it one step at a time.

Face Fears Head On

When I was 19 years old, I had a terrible fear of heights. Sgt. Major Byrum (Vietnam vet and general bad ass) yelled at me so loud I can hear it to this very day. “Ashley, get your ASS out that window and repel down that surface NOW!” Out I went. And I learned a forever lesson in that you don’t call a Sgt. Major “Sir!” I am going to seek out and destroy other fears in my life head on. I will not allow worry to control my mood or function, for one.

Seek Better Balance in Life

If anything, we all have learned that work can still go on in many strange circumstances. As knowledge workers (and NOT medical heroes) we can make it happen from anywhere. But there is a time to stop making the doughnuts. I will think carefully about evening commitments after these many weeks at home. Family dinners are wonderful and one day, hopefully many years in the future, I will no longer have these special times. So, I need to balance spending time on work functions with the all-important moments with those I cherish and love the most.

Keep Refining Goals till They Are Super Clear

We were all moving so fast. Do more. Close more deals. Process more emails. But what are we really trying to accomplish in our businesses? As a friend of mine says, less is more, more or less. I am committed to having no more than five goals that are SUPER clear at any one time. They will revolve around a clear overarching business goal plus family, finances, fitness and faith.  

Be an Independent Thinker

I thrive in social media. I love the interaction and hearing what others think. Also, I love the news and always have. In my role, I think people expect me to know what is going on. BUT…there is a point where consuming too much media of any kind is wrong. I will do my level best to avoid a group think mentality and form my own opinions about issues. How? In part by asking others to challenge my opinions and ideas and being open to feedback. Those I respect, those leaders in my life, will give me honest opinions that I will work hard to authentically consume. Then I will think about issues in an abstract manner and be conscious about a logic-based approach.

Be Intentional about Inclusion

I am simply going to say that I will open my heart and head to all around me. This is certainly not a new approach for me, but I renew my desire to earnestly seek to respect and be inclusive of all human beings. I redouble my commitment to listen, learn, reflect and respond and to look for opportunities for positive impact. 

Keep Perspective With an Attitude of Gratitude

According to the Wall Street Journal: “A growing body of research points to the many psychological and social benefits of regularly counting your blessings…Researchers find that people with a grateful disposition are more thankful for a wider variety of things in their lives, such as their friends, their health, nature, their jobs or a higher power—and that they experience feelings of gratitude more intensely. For them, gratitude isn’t a one-off “thank you.” It’s a mind-set, a way of seeing the world.” Amen

Remember That Life is About Seasons (this too shall pass)

One great day, I will have a business lunch again. And when this thing is over, and it WILL be over, I will smile and listen intensely to my guest. I imagine the taste of the food will be like a symphony as my friend and I share our optimism about the future.

“We have come through the pandemic and we are on the other side,” we will say. Thank goodness, and please pass the cornbread.