Sternlicht Named CPE Executive of the Year

November 30, 2010
By Suzann D. Silverman, Editor-in-Chief

Starwood Capital Group chairman & CEO Barry Sternlicht has been named the 2010 CPE Executive of the Year. Selected by a panel of his peers, who are leading commercial real estate executives from across the industry, Sternlicht received the top honor in the 14-year-old executive awards program. The Executive of the Year Award recognizes innovation, dealmaking ability, leadership qualities and other contributions to the industry during the fall 2009-to-summer 2010 year.

The program commenced with an industrywide call for nominations, after which a ballot was compiled by CPE’s editors and presented to the CPE 100 panel of industry executives for a vote. Executives were considered for 17 awards based on year-long performance in the relevant area except in the case of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes career contributions to the industry. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award went to two longtime achievers: Benjamin Lambert, chairman of Eastdil Secured L.L.C., and Roger Staubach, former executive chairman of The Staubach Co. & executive chairman of the Americas for Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

Also notable was the Rising Leader accolade, this year awarded to Vornado/Charles E. Smith president Mitchell Schear. Consideration was for “executives who, whether still up-and-coming or already established as members of company executive teams, show promise of being future leaders of the commercial real estate industry.”
Sternlicht, one of two executives to win multiple awards and one of seven to win more than one award of any kind, including runner-up designations, was also named Investor of the Year. With the exception of the Lifetime Achievement award, each award went to one first-place winner and two runners-up, unless there was a first-place tie. Walt Rakowich, CEO of ProLogis, received accolades as Developer of the Year and Industrial Property Executive of the Year, as well as being a runner-up for the Executive of the Year award. Tied with him for the greatest number of awards was Jeff Hines, president & CEO of Hines, who was named Sustainability Executive of the Year and runner-up for Developer of the Year and Office Executive of the Year.

The winners—both first-place and runners-up—are profiled on page 22 of the December 2010 issue of Commercial Property Executive.

The complete list is as follows:

Executive of the Year: First Place: Barry Sternlicht, chairman & CEO, Starwood Capital Group; Runners Up: Stephen Ross, chairman, CEO & founder, Related Cos., and Walter Rakowich, CEO, ProLogis.

Lifetime Achievement: Benjamin Lambert, chairman, Eastdil Secured L.L.C., and Roger Staubach, former executive chairman, The Staubach Co. & executive chairman of the Americas, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

Investor of the Year : First Place: Barry Sternlicht, chairman & CEO, Starwood Capital Group;
Runners Up: Michael Fascitelli, president & CEO, Vornado Realty Trust, and Marc Holliday, CEO, SL Green Realty Corp.

Developer of the Year: First Place: Walter Rakowich, CEO, ProLogis; Runners Up:
Douglas Durst, chairman, The Durst Organization, and Jeffrey Hines, president & CEO, Hines.

Financier of the Year : First Place: Dave Brown, head of global private markets, TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate; Runners Up: John Pelusi Jr., executive managing director & managing member, Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P., and Diana Reid, executive vice president, PNC Real Estate.

Service Executive of the Year: First Place: Brett White, CEO, CB Richard Ellis Inc.; Runners Up: Barry Gosin, CEO, Newmark Knight Frank, and Harvey Green, then- president & CEO, Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc.

Innovator of the Year: First Place: Arthur Coppola, chairman & CEO, Macerich; Runners Up: Anthony Malkin, president, Malkin Properties L.L.C., Malkin Holdings L.L.C. and W&H Properties and Vice Chairman of Malkin Securities Corp., and Anthony Westreich, president & CEO, Monday Properties.

Sustainability Executive of the Year : First Place: Jeffrey Hines, president & CEO, Hines; Runners Up: Bill Hankowsky, chairman, president & CEO, Liberty Property Trust, and Anthony Malkin, president, Malkin Properties L.L.C., Malkin Holdings L.L.C. and W&H Properties, and vice chairman of Malkin Securities Corp.

Diversity Executive of the Year: First Place: Philip Hart, founder, Hart Realty Advisors & former managing director/diversity & inclusivity, Urban Land Institute; Runners Up: Mike Bush, founder & past executive director, Real Estate Associate Program, and Robert L. Johnson, founder & chairman, The RLJ Cos.

Female Leader of the Year: First Place: Diana Reid, Executive Vice President, PNC Real Estate; Runners Up: Kristin Blount, senior vice president, Colliers Meredith & Grew and president/CREW Network, and Pamela Herbst, managing director & head of the direct investment group, AEW Capital Management L.P.

Rising Leader: First Place: Mitchell Schear, president, Vornado/Charles E. Smith; Runners Up: Bruce Beal, executive vice president, Related Cos., and William Macklowe, CEO, William Macklowe Co.

Office Property Executive of the Year: First Place: Ric Clark, president & CEO, Brookfield Office Properties Corp., and senior managing partner/property operations, Brookfield Asset Management Inc.; Runners Up: Michael Fascitelli, president & CEO, Vornado Realty Trust, and Jeffrey Hines, president & CEO, Hines.

Retail Property Executive of the Year: First Place: David Henry, president & CEO, Kimco Realty Corp.; Runners Up: Arthur Coppola, chairman & CEO, Macerich, and Adam Metz, CEO, General Growth Properties Inc.

Hotel/Hospitality Property Executive of the Year: First Place: Andrew Cosslett, chief executive, InterContinental Hotels Group Plc; Runners Up: Ian Schrager, chairman & CEO, Ian Schrager Co., and Laurence Geller, president & CEO, Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc.

Industrial Property Executive of the Year: First Place: Walter Rakowich, CEO, ProLogis; Runners Up: Hamid Moghadam, chairman & CEO, AMB Property Corp., and Carl Panattoni, chairman, Panattoni Development Co.

Multi-Family Property Executive of the Year: First Place: David Neithercut, president & CEO, Equity Residential, and J. Ronald Terwilliger, chairman, Trammell Crow Residential; Runner Up: R. Scot Sellers, CEO, Archstone.

Net Lease Executive of the Year: First Place: Marc Nemer, president, Cole Real Estate Investments; Runners Up: Richard Ader, chairman & managing partner, U.S. Realty Advisors L.L.C., and T. Wilson Eglin, CEO, Lexington Realty Trust.