BOSTON—Seven real estate players have been named among the 100 Most Influential Bostonians in Boston right now by Boston magazine.
They are: John Fish, CEO, Suffolk Construction; Thomas O’Brien, Founding Partner, HYM Investment Group; Kimberly Sherman Stamler, President, Related Beal; Brian Golden, Director, Boston Planning and Development Agency; Joel Sklar, President and Principal, Samuels & Associates; Peter Palandjian, CEO, Intercontinental Real Estate; and Elizabeth Lowrey, Principal, Elkus Manfredi Architects.
This is what Boston Magazine said about the seven real estate players:
John Fish
“Easily the city’s most important construction company, Suffolk is growing and diversifying
under a series of Fish initiatives, including a forthcoming incubator that will house construction-tech startups. Fish has also recruited some of the city’s top talent, including, most recently, GE’s Ann Klee and Boston city planner Sara Myerson, and is a major political power player and fundraiser.”
Thomas O’Brien
“Bulfinch Crossing. Boston Landing. NorthPoint. Oh, yeah — and an entirely new neighborhood on the Suffolk Downs site. In all, O’Brien is developing 18 million square feet in Greater Boston. That, along with his extensive civic and philanthropic work, has made him the biggest of the mighty earth-movers reshaping the city.”
Kimberly Sherman Stamler
“Big developers have always had clout in Boston, and they have always been, and remain, almost all male. That’s why, in a city increasingly filled with powerful women, insiders say that Sherman Stamler is fast becoming one of the most important. In addition to heading one of the area’s premier development companies, she sits on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and is involved in almost every local business and civic organization you can think of.”
Brian Golden
“After falling just short of scoring the coveted Massport CEO job, Golden will have to settle for continuing to shape some 10 million square feet of development in Boston every year. Part of that enormous responsibility includes ensuring the newest skyline additions don’t exacerbate the effects of climate change: To that end, Golden recently adopted design guidelines to help protect the city from catastrophic coastal flooding. Now he just needs to find a way to get all the construction he’s approved back on track after the coronavirus shutdown.”
Joel Sklar
“Don’t call it Landmark Center anymore, let alone the Sears building — soon the growing complex will be the home of life sciences labs, thanks to Sklar’s latest redevelopment in the Fenway neighborhood. That’s just one of the projects through which Sklar and Samuels & Associates are changing not just the way Boston looks, but the way it functions.”
Peter Palandjian
“To the out-of-town press, he may just be vampire slayer Eliza Dushku’s “real estate magnate beau,” but in Boston, the former tennis pro who took over his father’s real estate company is a celebrity in his own right. Under his stewardship, Intercontinental has been expanding like gangbusters, with recent purchases of office buildings in Chicago and Seattle, a luxury apartment tower near Dallas, and, of course, a highly anticipated dual-hotel development on Boston’s waterfront.”
Elizabeth Lowrey
“Everybody sees how Boston’s skyline is changing from the outside, but what do these new buildings actually look like once you step inside them? Just ask Lowrey and her team, who are reimagining the city one hotel lobby and office break room at a time — and revolutionizing how notoriously prickly Bostonians interact with one another in public spaces in the process. Successes over the past few years include the Verb, Aloft, and Element hotels, as well as two of Boston’s biggest law firms: Mintz and Foley Hoag.”
