Even during a pandemic the industrial asset class continues to fare well. It would seem, to the uninitiated, that navigating this space was an easy task with every market and industry asset type ripe with opportunity. While fundamentals are robust for the industrial category, spotting a new opportunity, building a new market and finding the right tenant for a product in that market requires skill and expertise.

As always, our selections are not based on sheer numbers—who closed the most deals, for example, or racked up the highest deal volume. Rather, we look for the people, teams and organizations that have that skill and expertise and who made a mark in the past twelve months in this category. With that in mind, we present to you our picks for this year's industrial influencers.

INDIVIDUALS

TOM BARBERA With nearly three decades of experience in industrial real estate, Tom Barbera is well practiced at uncovering trends and patterns in the asset class. So, when he noticed the outdoor storage market, a specialized sub-asset class, was underserved, he moved on it. Barbera partnered with Joe Voet and BLG Capital Advisors to launch Industrial Outdoor Ventures, as its CEO, in 2017 to specialize in the acquisition, development and re-development of industrial service facilities. In just three years, he has completed 23 acquisitions in class-A markets and secured leases with name-brand tenants, including Amazon, UPS, ATCO, RELogistics and Wesco. As a result, BLG has doubled its equity investment with the firm and secured a $90 million credit facility with CIBC Bank.