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Lord knows WSO loves ranking lists..... but seriously, given that developers tend to focus on both markets and property types, how would you even start something like this?

I mean is really fair to rank a multifamily developer vs. an office developer? Or a NY area focused one like RXR vs. a CA but semi-nationally focused one like CIM Group?

Interested in seeing where this thread goes................

 

The first two firms that come to mind are Related and Brookfield. This may be biased as I reside in the new york area. Both these firms develop commercial, multi family, and offices. I’m curious to see what others think and if there are larger companies with a presence in different states.

 

Historically the top dev firms are: Hines, Related, Brookfield, Tishman Speyer, Trammel Crow.

Clearly quarantine has made you extraordinarily lazy but the above are usually common knowledge

 

In case you don't want click the link (and clearly I'm bored on a Saturday...), here is the list of all firms referenced from the comments:

Hines Related Trammell Crow Tishman Speyer Boston Properties Highwoods Cousins Crescent Communities Avalon Bay JBG Post Properties Childress Klein Jay Paul Company Duke Realty Brookfield Vornado Edens Skanska Toll Brothers Jamestown Hillwood Mill Creek

 

While I agree with most of these, it's worth mentioning that "Good PR" and "Good Development Shop" aren't the same thing, and there are a TON of real estate developers who sing their own praises/have others do it for them (looking at you, Nate Paul) while not doing particularly well. And there are plenty more who are out there doing awesome deals on a large scale who don't want to be in the press, so you never hear of them.

 
Pokemon Master:
Guess Kushner is more of a N.J. focused developer but politics and shameful documentaries aside, I’d still consider them big players in the NYC metro area.

Eh, they spray a lot of money around and make a lot of flashy purchases, but most of their NYC trophy assets have been unmitigated disasters.

I guess when the business plan is a little more complex than "buy Class C housing, jack up the rents and provide no services" they get into trouble.

Being a slum lord is easy. Being a responsible manager is much, much more difficult. Especially when your tenants are multimillion dollar companies and not families barely getting by.

 
Armhoo1:
"Spot the one that doesn't belong."

Kushner.

You could make a strong argument that L&M is the odd man out here - as far as I know they're the only active primarily-affordable shop on the list. Related and LeFrak have tons of legacy assets but don't seem to do much with them.

And I know this is going into way more detail than you intended, but JDS could also be singled out as the one firm on here (I think) that hasn't actually survived a recession/market downturn. I mean, they're definitely going under at some point. Stern just puts all his chips on 00 and spins the roulette wheel - he got lucky that the first deal he did hit (Walker Tower); everything since then has ranged from cool but probably no profitable (American Copper) to outright disaster (111 W 57th)

 

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