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It takes a special kind of individual to stand out from the crowd in a sector that's exhibiting standout performance. The young professionals on the following pages represent the best and brightest in their field, with the expertise, savvy and potential necessary to bring the industry into the next phase of the cycle. These are commercial real estate's Emerging Retail Leaders.

Crystal Allen, 31
Vice President
Transwestern
Houston
As a vice president of Transwestern's Retail Services Group, Crystal Allen leads the project leasing team to provide consulting, marketing, merchandising and leasing services to landlords and developers. Her profound expertise covers a range of asset classes including traditional neighborhood, regional and super-regional shopping centers, mixed-use developments, lifestyle centers and entertainment venues. Allen also provides tenant representation services and market strategy for local, regional and national retailers and restaurants looking to expand their concepts. Throughout her tenure she has been consistently a top producer not only within the Southwest region but nationally, and she's executed more than two million square feet of lease transactions alone. Today, Allen has built a leasing portfolio of more than 2.5 million square feet of existing and new developments, and, in the past six months, she has executed transactions that created over $24 million in value.