This series goes deep with some of the most compelling figures in commercial real estate: the deal-makers, the game-changers, the city-shapers and the larger-than-life personalities who keep CRE interesting. This is not Barbara Perrier's first rodeo. A top producer and a big name in capital markets, Perrier has been with CBRE for 35 years and has risen to the level of vice chair, the highest level a producer can achieve, according to the firm. In 2023, Perrier and her team, which includes her sister and fellow vice chair, Darla Longo, closed 76 deals totaling 19M SF and a transaction volume of $3.3B. And that, by her account, was a bad year. Perrier got her start in commercial real estate more than three decades ago. Instead of going into one of the more popular property types at the time, retail or office, she recalled her father’s positive encounters with the brokers he met working in manufacturing and went into industrial real estate. A lot has changed since Perrier began working in industrial real estate, including an increase in the number of prominent women in the field and industrial real estate's rise as an asset class. Perhaps because of those changes, she looks at the market now and sees opportunity. “Right now, I tell clients this is a really good buying opportunity,” Perrier said. “It's hard to convince people because we're in it. “You never know you're at the bottom until you're at the bottom.” This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Bisnow: Industrial real estate rose to prominence in the pandemic, but that wasn't always the case, and it probably wasn't when you started in the field. So I'm curious, what drew you to industrial real estate, and what kept you there? Barbara Perrier: I first got… Read Full Story | 
