Here's Holland Partners Group CEO Clyde Holland (second from left) breaking ground on 815 Pine earlier in the year, which at 40 stories and 386 units will be the largest residential building in the city. Yet it's just one of a large number of residential developments rising in Seattle (about 8,000 units were completed last year, with more to come in '14), an expansion made possible by an influx of talented, high-wage workers who want to be in the city.

HOUSTON: Cousins Makes History

At 4.4M SF, Cousins Properties' September purchase of Greenway Plaza was one of the biggest Houston commercial real estate transactions in years. Understandably, the $950M acquisition was also the largest in Cousins' history. Oh, and let's not forget the firm also purchased Post Oak Central for $234M in February.

SAN FRANCISCO: Largest Lease Injects Confidence

Neustar inked 144k SF this fall to take about half of Tishman Speyer's new Foundry Square III as anchor tenant. Aside from being the city's largest lease of the year, it also helped move forward Tishman's next office tower at 222 Second. The company signed for four floors at the project's 505 Howard, a 10-story building that Tishman is finishing with equity partner JP Morgan Chase Asset Management. Foundry Square III is the first spec project to rise in the city since '06, giving other developers hope that the economy is turning around fast.