Looking at what’s going on with Related Companies almost prompts the question: What recession? Foremost, of course, is Related’s $12 billion, 26-acre Hudson Yards development. But there are also six new multifamily rental projects in the works across the country, as well as Hunter’s Point South, New York City’s first affordable housing project since the 1970s. “We look at downturns in the market as an opportunity,” says Jeff Blau, who became Related CEO in September. “One of the things we spend a lot of time doing is looking at our balance sheet and positioning ourselves so we are always ready. If things do take a downturn, we can not only weather the storm but capitalize on it.” For more on Blau, click here.

Ventas Inc. has risen from the virtual ashes to become the strongest, largest U.S. owner of seniors housing, medical office buildings and related health care sites, with almost 1,400 assets owned in 47 states. In the fourth quarter of 2012, the public REIT continued its dominance by closing on the final ownership interest in Atria Senior Living Inc., with this and other investments totaling almost $1 billion. Debra Cafaro, chairwoman and CEO, is credited with the turnaround of the trust, which had seen its main tenant Vencor file for bankruptcy in 1999. Cafaro says she got her big break early when, fresh from the University of Chicago Law School, she was a young attorney working on mergers, corporate matters and securities in the early 1980s and completed some work for Continental Bank and real estate mogul Sam Zell. “I had some colleagues that focused on real estate,” she says, “and as soon as I started getting involved, I loved it. It’s such a great business with great people.” For more on Cafaro, go here.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray is on a mission. Gray, who succeeded Adrian Fenty in 2011, is a lifelong D.C. resident. He has spent most of his career serving as director of the District of Columbia Department of Human Services and as a three-term city council member. As mayor, Gray is attempting to build on the momentum set in recent years that has reversed D.C.’s fortunes and turned it into one of the most dynamic economies in the United States. The rejuvenation of Washington, D.C.’s Northwest quadrant has been documented and celebrated. A new convention center, Gallery Place, the Verizon Center and other projects have brought businesses and jobs back to the district. For more on Gray, click here.

The work of real estate economist Nils Kok can be summed up in two words: Sustainability pays. Green building has long been viewed by the commercial real estate industry as unnecessary and expensive. But investors are now taking notice of sustainability’s monetary value, says Kok, a professor of finance and real estate at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, his native country, and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. “Benchmarking,” says Kok, “does not just provide transparency regarding commercial buildings. … It brings sustainability to the C-suite by enabling the CEO to evaluate an otherwise vague concept in a tangible manner.” For more on Kok, click here.

Conduit experts call the current lending environment CMBS 3.0, and it’s much healthier than they ever imagined. “We are certainly in a much better place now than we have been in the last couple of years since the market kicked back into gear,” says Doug Mazer, managing director and head of real estate capital markets for Wells Fargo. “The future certainly looks bright.” Based in New York City, Mazer leads a group of more than 100 team members in the United States and 22 in India. The bank’s CMBS group originated $6.8 billion in conduit loans in 2012 and is on pace to exceed that volume this year. For more on Mazer, go here.

Clark Rogers readily admits he has a contrarian view regarding speculation that there is a tsunami-like wave of distressed debt poised to hit the market. “My crystal ball isn’t good enough to see what is going to happen in 2015, 2016 and 2017. But I am seeing a lot of liquidity in the market, a lot of these loans getting refinanced and a lot of equity searching for partners in the industry,” says Rogers, senior vice president with KeyBank Real Estate Capital Special Servicing and Asset Management. For more on Rogers, click here.

At a time when the U.S. commercial real estate market is teeming with investors looking for new acquisitions, American Realty Capital Properties represents the ultimate buyer. In late May and early June, the New York–based net lease REIT announced the agreement to buy rival CapLease Inc. for $2.2 billion, and acquired two property portfolios from GE Capital: one including 471 net leased properties for $807 million and another including 986 properties for $1.45 billion. ARCP also tried, unsuccessfully, to acquire Cole Credit Properties Trust Inc. III, a non-traded REIT with a focus on necessity-based net lease retail properties. After several overtures and a revised offer, Cole turned down ARCP in favor of Cole Holdings Corp. ARCP’s desire to buy is driven by the fact that the market hasn’t been this favorable for property acquisitions in 25 years, according to CEO Nicholas Schorsch. For more on Schorsch, click here.

When the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a mandated 10 percent reduction in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s new multifamily acquisitions, borrowers and lenders didn’t know what to think. Some were blindsided while others had expected it for a while. Most importantly, they all wondered how it would impact the availability and pricing of capital. The agency indicated the reduction would be achieved through some combination of increased pricing, more limited product offerings and tighter overall underwriting standards. “We thought being transparent was paramount,” says Sandra Thompson, the new deputy director for the agency’s division of housing mission and goals. For more on Thompson, click here.

Investment capital has been flowing to the single-family home rental market in the wake of the foreclosure crisis. But can the sector grow into an established investment class—especially as the housing market recovers and deep discounts on acquisitions disappear? “We are huge believers in the asset class,” says Eric Workman, vice president of sales and marketing for MACK Companies in Tinley Park, Ill. MACK has been acquiring, rehabbing and selling single-family homes for the past 16 years. For more on Workman, click here.