SAN FRANCISCO-The real estate industry is a tale of have's andthe have-nots coming out of the Great Recession. The recovery isreal, but from the perspective of the real estate industry, it hasbeen spotty--dependent upon property type sector, geography,capital structure, and other factors. From our standpoint as realestate recruiters, we see this best-of-times, worst-of-timesdichotomy across the business. So, for 2014, what do we see as thetrends, particularly as they affect executive level employment inthe business?

From our perspective, there are four measures thatform the basis for long-term success–strong leadership teams,strong operating platforms, strong balance sheets, and a portfolioand strategy that resonates within a particular sector. If acompany has these four key attributes, chances are high that it ispoised for long-term success. Success is possible in the absence ofany one of these elements, but missing two or more suggests it istime for meaningful change. These elements also provide a usefulframework for understanding the trends that may lie ahead in thecoming year.

From a capital perspective, in a continuallyinstitutionalizing business, the order of the world is for thestrong to get stronger, which in many cases just means that the bigget bigger. In REITland, companies like EQR and AvalonBay havebroken from the pack through their joint acquisition of Archstone.Similarly the AMB-ProLogis merger broke the combined company farbeyond the pack in the industrial sector. We have certainly seenthis in the private-equity world, where the Blackstone effect isenormous. The big get bigger, hopefully the medium holds its own,and the barriers to entry for the small guys are enormous. Weactually fear the challenges for the mid-sized players who canneither articulate a scale-is-better or a best-in-classsharpshooter strategy.