Winner:
Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt
Why:
For all Bruce’s bold ambition to take on Blackstone, he's been backing it up with deals. In January, Brookfield bought out a 2.9M SF German landmark, before making an unsolicited $657M buyout offer for the mall REIT Rouse Properties.
And what about the oil plunge that slashed 70% of Blackstone’s Q4 profit? That’s just an opportunity for Bruce, as Brookfield gets ready to swoop in on any office space left vacant from crude’s collapse.
Topping off the strong month, news broke on the 28th that Brookfield could be completing a monstrous $24B buyout of mall operator General Growth Properties. For all of these big moves, Bruce Flatt earns Bisnow's January Player Of The Month.
January Quotable:
“If you don’t mention it today, you should.” — Bruce when asked whether Brookfield should be mentioned in the same breath as Blackstone and Carlyle.
Honorable Mentions:
Jeff Gural—real estate mogul plans $1B Meadowlands Casino without a license
Blackstone president Tony James—he says a 72% drop in profits is "just noise," and then Blackstone turns around and buys an $8B REIT.
Blackrock's Jim Barry—named to head the world's largest asset manager's new real assets group.
This is the first in a monthly series of articles recognizing the big players in commercial real estate. Please send your nominations for a local "Player Of The Month" to us here.
