Top 20 Commercial Development Firms of 2021
Find out which firms made CPE’s annual list of industry leaders.
You can also read our other Top Development Firms rankings.
| Rank | Company | SF Completed 2018-2020 | SF Under Construction* | Property Sectors |
| 1 | Trammell Crow Co. | 34,371,102 | 66,029,966 | O, I, R, H, He |
| 2 | Lincoln Property Co. | 35,400,000 | 17,800,000 | O, I, R |
| 3 | Tishman Speyer | 18,800,000 | 22,900,000 | O, X |
| 4 | Duke Realty | 26,000,000 | 11,000,000 | I |
| 5 | Bridge Industrial | 11,600,000 | 14,900,000 | I |
| 6 | The Related Cos. | 7,482,989 | 15,721,840 | O, R, H |
| 7 | Related Group | 6,810,507 | 6,388,923 | O, R, X |
| 8 | Stream Realty Partners | 11,556,113 | 5,084,236 | O, I, R |
| 9 | Sansone Group | 9,808,457 | 14,118,915 | I, R, He, X |
| 10 | Dermody Properties | 6,706,528 | 12,546,403 | I |
| 11 | McCraney Property Co. | 10,301,378 | 6,061,000 | I |
| 12 | KDC | 7,000,000 | 1,240,000 | O |
| 13 | Transwestern Development Co. | 3,700,000 | 8,500,000 | I, X |
| 14 | First Industrial Realty Trust | 9,708,038 | 5,045,447 | I |
| 15 | WS Development | 3,312,905 | 2,191,769 | O, R, He |
| 16 | Concord Hospitality | 1,710,135 | 1,662,262 | H |
| 17 | Ashley Capital | 5,029,000 | 3,622,000 | I |
| 18 | Hunt Cos. | 405,212 | 1,714,733 | O, I, R, H, X |
| 19 | Holt Lunsford Commercial | 3,750,000 | 1,100,000 | O, I |
| 20 | HSA Commercial Real Estate | 3,000,000 | 1,000,000 | I, He |
* As of June 30, 2021
Key: O=Office; I=Industrial; R=Retail; H=Hospitality; He=Health care; X=Other
Though we make every effort to include all major commercial developers, several notable firms (among them Alexandria Real Estate, Kilroy Realty and Prologis) did not participate this year.
To be included in upcoming surveys, email Agota Felhazi at [email protected].
Industrial Development Steals the Show
Developers have faced a difficult time during the past two years, balancing demand for new inventory against the economic turbulence brought about by the pandemic and rising construction costs. While demand for retail and hospitality space may take multiple years to recover, however, some sectors—most notably industrial—have instead flourished following the acceleration of consumer trends toward e-commerce.
This has created a seemingly unquenchable thirst for modern distribution space. A recent CommercialEdge report shows that industrial deliveries in 2021 are anticipated to surpass 300 million square feet and could hit the 350 million-square-foot mark as soon as next year.
While office deliveries certainly slowed last year, deliveries in 2021 are expected to reach 85 million square feet—more than the years immediately preceding the pandemic. Although remote work appears likely to remain in some form in the long run, major companies in the tech industry have signaled that office space will be a critical component of their future operations.
Trammell Crow Co. leads our Top Commercial Development Firms ranking this year, with 66 million square feet under construction as of June 30, 2021, and nearly 35 million square feet delivered between 2018 and 2020. Lincoln Property Co. placed second, with 35.4 million square feet completed during the same period. Rounding out the top three is Tishman Speyer, with 17.8 million square feet of office, lab and mixed-use space underway.
Combined, our top 20 developers had 205 million square feet underway at the end of June across all property sectors. Focus on the industrial sector was unsurprisingly high. Our top 20 firms had approximately 131 million square feet of industrial projects underway, a remarkable 64 percent of total square footage. Eight firms in our ranking are solely focused on industrial development, and half are involved in at least two asset types.
Methodology
The 2021 CPE Top Commercial Development Firms ranking utilized self-reported data for all firms. Our rankings utilize weighted formulas based on a variety of factors (only a few of which are specified here), including current and future plans, market value of projects completed and under construction, and geographic and property diversification. The ranking represents what we feel is a logical balance between firm growth and market share.
—Jeff Hamann, Senior Associate Editor, CPE
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