The commercial real estate world was evolving and changing at a steady clip before the pandemic hit. Now it is morphing faster than ever. More than 10 years into a slow but steady expansion cycle, the national commercial real estate markets have been unpredictable since the start of 2020 but thanks in large part to the industry’s leading CRE professionals and their stalwart guidance, cautious optimism has persisted.

While uncertainty has made for an understandably challenging trip through uncharted terrain, the savviest commercial real estate executives (many of the best in the country happen to be based in Orange County) have helped steer the course for their industry and its customers. This list contains some of the very best of them in the O.C. region today.