If ever there were a year to acknowledge the men and women who helm our commercial real estate companies, the past 12 months would be it. Since the pandemic began, there have been high levels of bankruptcies and some distress, albeit not as much as those funds formed for the purpose of snapping up bargains would have liked to see. Whatever the level, though, the past year has been a challenging one as COVID upended the economy, caused the deaths of half a million and counting Americans and rewrote some fundamental rules about the industry (WFH comes to mind here). It is a testament to these industry leaders that CRE is emerging from the health crisis, just a little battered and worse for the wear—but nothing that a booming recovery can’t fix. We selected this group, as we do every year, based on their business acumen, how well they treat their employees and the type of culture and environment they set at their firms. While the former was on clear display this year, as you read on you’ll find the other attributes did not fall by the wayside. Which is the mark of true leaders.