Today, we bring you the fourth installment of our seven-part Power Women series profiling the 60 most influential women in LA commercial real estate (see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). Then join Bisnow and partner Allen Matkins on Nov. 12 for a cocktail awards reception to honor them at the Hotel Casa del Mar, 6-8pm.

Clare De Briere
EVP & COO, The Ratkovich Co

Clare De Briere’s father was in advertising, and she decided to follow suit. However, an architectural history class at UCLA sparked a love for real estate, and then-neighbor Wayne Ratkovich introduced her to architect Marty Borko, for whom Clare worked for a year. After realizing she really wanted to be in development, Wayne hired her at his eponymous firm, where today she’s COO, charged with the strategic decisions in its development, property management, and asset management businesses. Two of her most-loved projects are THE BLOC in Downtown LA, where the firm's deconstructing a 500-room hotel, 750k SF of office, and 450k SF of retail anchored by a Macy’s to modernize the entire project, creating an entirely new hotel, office, and retail experience; and the Hercules campus in Playa Vista, a historic preservation-slash-creative office project where the company's about to launch Phase 3 (including the hangar where Howard Hughes built his Spruce Goose). What’s critical to a successful career: “Read the WSJ and New York Times every day; read books by architects, financiers, and developers; get the best education you can; create lasting relationships with other professional women; and join organizations like ULI and the LA Conservancy,” she says. Clare also loves to cook with her chef husband, paint, travel (“I’d go to Kenya every year if I could”), and spend time with her two dogs.