Chasing Equity, Achieving Excellence: Meet Chicago's Female Rising Stars

Bisnow’s seventh Chicago Women Leading Real Estate event highlights rising stars in the industry, the up-and-coming women who are shooting up the commercial real estate ladder and showing those who follow how it's done.

The 22 women honored this year include brokers, developers, property managers, leasing agents and financiers making their marks in a variety of asset classes. 

These fast risers are shining in a male-dominated CRE industry that still has plenty of work to do to achieve equal representation. They are also beating the odds, according to a just-published Bisnow survey showing that more than half of women believe they or their counterparts are missing out on opportunities in their organizations, and almost 71% reported having lost raises, promotions or key assignments for gender-based reasons at some point in their careers.

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With Debt Harder To Get, CRE Finance Is Facing A 'New Reality'

Commercial real estate lenders have responded to increased risk and higher costs of capital in the market by clamping down on the amount of debt they offer to borrowers, dropping loan-to-value ratios across the board, according to MSCI. 

CMBS providers reduced their LTVs the most of all lender types, cutting them by 14% to 55.7% from 2015 to 2023, while seeing average loan size more than double over the same period. Smaller amounts of debt available mean greater equity is needed to get deals done, opening a window of opportunity for some investors while shifting the CRE financing landscape, at least temporarily.

“The CMBS market and the origination shops are geared towards execution,” Polsinelli shareholder John Vavas said. “The only way to do that right is to offer a lower-leverage deal. Higher interest rates, higher carrying costs, all equates to an increase in the need for equity for deals.”Average loan sizes for…

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