5.
R. Scot Sellers, chairman and CEO, Archstone-Smith. A long-time Wall Street analyst calls Sellers “one of the most impressive CEOs in the REIT industry.” With 25 years in the business, Sellers has spearheaded the development, acquisition and operation of apartment buildings worth more than $25 billion. “He’s led the charge to double the size of Archstone-Smith,” says a rival executive. Others add that the Sellers “thinks outside the box,” pioneering innovations in revenue management and technology for credit scoring. In the past year, Sellers has used hefty profits from apartment sales to condo converters for acquisition of “A” projects in high-barrier regions. Among major deals in 2005: the $1.1 billion acquisition of 25 projects from Oakwood Worldwide, most in prime areas of California. Ernst & Young named Sellers its 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year in Real Estate for the Rocky Mountain region.
4.
Craig Leupold, principal, Green Street Advisors. Considered by many to be the nation’s leading financial expert on publicly held apartment companies, Leupold has served as senior REIT analyst for Green Street since 1993. “He was there when many REITs went through their IPOs, and he has been following them closely every since,” says one research expert. Known for his blend of dogged number-crunching and solid relationships with key players in the industry, Craig has compiled a sterling record of dissecting corporate strategies and accurately predicting shifts in the market values of companies he follows. Industry executives closely watch his reports on individual REITs, as well as his quarterly analyses of the overall apartment market. His track record has earned a passel of awards from financial publications both for himself and Green Street, an independent research firm respected for its courage and objectivity.
3.
J. Ronald Terwilliger, CEO, Trammell Crow Residential. Perhaps the most well-known executive in multifamily housing, Terwilliger’s influence touches virtually every important industry initiative. For nearly two decades, he has led one of the nation’s largest multifamily real estate firms, which has developed more than 200,000 units spread across virtually every major market. He also has played a key role in fostering a corporate culture at TCR that has groomed numerous managers who now head other leading companies. Insiders say that Terwilliger’s just-completed three-year stint as chairman of NAHB’s Multifamily Leadership Board vastly enhanced the group’s stature within the association, spurred participation by many top-level executives, and added multifamily issues to NAHB’s lobbying agenda. At the Urban Land Institute, where he also served as chairman, Ron has championed smart growth and endowed a research chair dedicated to finding creative ways to build more workforce housing.
2.
Bill Sanders, co-chairman, Verde Realty. Bill Sanders has never been one to reach for the spotlight. Instead, he works behind the scenes to build large organizations. So while he’s out of sight in El Paso, Texas, working on Verde Realty, his influence is still felt on the industry. In addition to taking the securitization of real estate to new levels and starting Security Capital (which became Archstone-Smith), Sanders also developed an impressive array of executive talent that today steers many of the top companies in the industry. Alums include Sanders protégé Scot Sellers, who runs Archstone; Dave Woodward, who is the CEO and managing partner of Laramar, Steven LeBlanc, the former president and CEO of Summit Properties (now absorbed into Camden), and Connie Moore of BRE Properties. “Bill put together a team of the most highly talented people in the real estate industry ever under one roof,” says Jeff Allen, a Security Capital alum who now leads his own firm, J.B. Allen Realty in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
1.
Samuel Zell, chairman and founder, Equity Residential. Zell’s apartment REIT is the nation’s largest multifamily company, with nearly 1,000 properties and 200,000 units. Led by new CEO David Neithercut, the firm is focusing the portfolio more on prime properties. Example: recent acquisition of three Manhattan apartment towers–the former Trump Place–for $816 million. Zell, whose personal worth was pegged at $2.3 billion in the latest Forbes listing of richest Americans, chairs three other publicly-traded REITs, as well as a privately-held investment company and an international real estate firm. All this from a man who started out buying distressed properties. Colorful and outspoken, Zell has endowed business chairs at the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where one alum says his “most memorable experience” at the prestigious school was hearing a 90-minute speech by Zell. Talk about power and influence.
