But, he says that from here on out, that will be increasingly difficult, and a big dose of nuance will be a required for owning and operating real estate.

In those five years leading to 2008, Lazaraus says a lot of real estate changed hands and it got capitalized in an environment that was unsustainable. Now, he says that market needs to see capital structures, restructured to what today's metrics are and based on what investors think makes sense.

"That's going to be very different than it was before, and, it's obviously going to create a tremendous amount of stress, a tremendous amount of loss of wealth, some which has already occurred," says Lazarus. "Much of that debt is on paper, however, and will be increasingly realized over the ensuing years."

During his time at Lehman/Barclays, Lazarus was involved in over $50 billion of real estate transactions across a wide range of sectors and products. At EdgeRock, in addition to managing director duties, he'll head up the firm's strategy and operations. He says this firm can make a difference with clients.

Sahlman tells GlobeSt.com that these days, "clients want to work with the best people," and "some of those best people are fleeing the spotlight at big investment banks." To that, Lazarus says although he was successful at Lehman/Barclays, "I didn't leave the bank as much as I went to pursue this opportunity."

Still, Lazarus says "if the world had not changed as it did, the opportunity may not have been as significant as I think it will be now." However, "the world did change, and I think the opportunity is significant, and I think for people like myself, what we're finding, is that owners and operators value the insight, advice and counsel much more-so than they did a year ago."

The value proposition Lazarus offers is, "you get me, and my partners, and when you want to access me, you can talk to me anytime you want; I'm there for you." He adds in this new venture, "I won't have to support the same kind of infrastructure I did before."