As 2023 quickly comes to a close, commercial property professionals are contending with several challenges to their businesses, including higher interest rates, lower transaction volume and a tense geopolitical environment with conflict dragging on in Ukraine and another escalating in the Middle East.

Still, they are thankful for what matters most to them: their family and careers.

Norman Radow, CEO of apartment owner and developer RADCO Cos., said 2023 has proven to be a difficult year for many in the industry. The list of woes the U.S. is facing is long, he said.

"In real estate, our industry is plagued by the triple whammy of extraordinarily high interest rates, lower revenue, and higher expenses," Radow said in an email to CoStar News. He mentions violence in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine and violence against minorities in Africa. "Conflicts rage in many parts of the world."

Still, Atlanta-based Radow said he sees much for which to be thankful this holiday season.

"Humans are living the longest lives since we have walked this earth, and we are wealthier and freer than in any time in world history. And in this wealthiest and freest time in world history, we live in the freest and wealthiest nation on this planet," he said. "Tectonic advances in technology and medicine will continue to improve the quality of our lives, and living in a democracy, I sincerely believe in our ability as Americans to resolve our disagreements and create comity so we can enjoy the bounty this special time in world history has offered us."

Some brokers said they saw opportunities to change companies during the economic downturn so they could be better positioned when the economy and real estate market bounce back as it has in the past.

Michael Lagazo of Phoenix said in an email he is "most thankful for a new opportunity. Excited to be part of a growth opportunity and the opportunity to grow professionally." Lagazo, who has established a reputation as a thought leader on how to leverage social media when marketing commercial properties, recently joined ROI Properties. He said he is ready to win new business next year because "retail will improve in 2024. Contraction in the drug store space, bank branch locations, etc. are making desirable inventory available."

Fellow retail broker Rachel Bliss also took advantage of the chance to change companies and cities. This summer Bliss joined Western Retail Advisors, or WRA, from Equity Retail Brokers, a Philadelphia-based brokerage firm where she covered retail markets in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She moved from the mid-Atlantic region to Phoenix for her new job at WRA.

"I'm thankful for the people who have supported and encouraged me in starting over in a new retail market," she said in an email.

Looking ahead, Bliss said next year should be an improvement over 2023 in the retail industry. "In 2024, I still see headwinds with construction costs, low vacancy, and interest rates, however, I see retail tenants adapting to these headwinds to create new opportunities," she said. "Whether it is creating new smaller prototypes to save on construction and to being flexible on the type of retail (looking in office/flex)."

In the nation's capital, Ed Pinto, co-director of the American Enterprise Institute Housing Center, said he is grateful to see states across the country making changes to their zoning laws to allow for types of homes that could help alleviate the housing shortage in the United States.

"I am thankful for the progress being made on enacting zoning law changes that legalize light-touch density (LTD) in single-family detached neighborhoods," Pinto said in an email. "LTD includes small scale residential homes like duplexes, triplexes, town homes, and accessory units. 2023 was a banner year, as Washington state, Montana, and Vermont joined Oregon, California, and Maine in passing LTD statutes. With the wind at our backs, we are looking forward to additional LTD successes in 2024 to help address our nation's supply shortfall and affordability problems."

About 195 miles northeast of Washington in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Dan Kennedy, CEO of NAIOP New Jersey, said he is thankful for the people in commercial real estate he works with daily in his role leading the state's commercial real estate development association.

"The individual members and companies who support NAIOP NJ are making New Jersey's communities stronger, cleaner and safer. I am grateful for the leaders in New Jersey’s commercial real estate industry who face the risks and challenges in today's marketplace with perseverance and a long view," Kennedy said in an email. "On a personal note, I have been humbled by the level of support that I have received from our board of trustees, staff, membership, industry partners and my family during my transition into the role of CEO. I am grateful to have been so warmly welcomed into the close-knit family that is NAIOP NJ."

In neighboring New York, Stuart Saft, partner and real estate practice group leader at Holland & Knight law firm, said he has a lot to be grateful for this year from his family to the people who keep New York and the country safe.

"I am thankful for the health and happiness of my wife, sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren, that I am an American and a New Yorker, have a profession that I love, am a partner at law firm that appreciates my contributions to our collective effort, and for all the men and women in the military, the police and the fire department, who put their lives at risk every day to protect me, my family and the American way of life, and for all the service members who have given their lives over 250 years to keep us free and independent and, of course, for God," Saft said in an email.

Jonathan Miller, president and chief executive of New York-based real estate appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel, said he is grateful for his family and his wife, whom he met in school.

“I’m very thankful for our four amazing adult sons doing so well in life and sharing their lives raising our four (so far) unbelievably cute grandchildren," Miller said in an email. "We lost my Dad two years ago, but I got to spend a lot of time with him near the end, and I am thankful to see my mom thrive after losing her life partner. I am incredibly thankful for my wife’s health, who beat cancer nearly twenty years ago and is the strongest person I know. We will be married for 40 years in January, after meeting in the student bakery in college, greasing cookie trays at 5:30 in the morning.”

Also in New York, Sarah McCann, real estate strategy director at architecture firm Vocon, said in an email that she is thankful for her teammates "who have successfully delivered projects that are re-shaping what it means to ‘go to work’ in New York City and nationwide. We continue to innovate with trusting partners, and I am continually grateful for our deep relationships with clients as we approach new opportunities together.”

In Chicago, Alex Najem, CEO of development firm Fulton St. Cos., is grateful to be involved in one of the relatively limited number of office projects getting off the ground in 2023 across the country. His firm broke ground in October on an 11-story, 406,000-square-foot office project at 919 W. Fulton in Chicago’s Fulton Market district.

Najem said the project couldn’t have begun without development partner JDL Development, investor Shanna Khan of SNK Capital, anchor office tenant Harrison Street Real Estate Capital and ground-floor tenant Gibsons Restaurant Group staying in the long-planned project despite rising interest rates and a scarcity of loans for office projects. “I am extremely thankful for how I was raised,” Najem told CoStar News after a groundbreaking ceremony earlier this month. “We were raised to value loyalty, and I feel like throughout my career I’ve partnered with very loyal people. I consider all our partners family. Family is important, whether it’s blood or not blood.”

In San Francisco, Robert Sammons, senior research director at Cushman & Wakefield, said he is grateful that his employer backs him on several levels.

“I have to say I’m thankful to work for a company that wants me to bring my entire self to work," Sammons said in an email. "Being a gay man working in commercial real estate has not always been easy. And Cushman & Wakefield supports its LGBTQ+ employees in many ways such as our UNITY ERG. I’m proud (and thankful) to lead that group for the Bay Area and to fully have the support of leadership all the way to the top.”

Also in San Francisco, Reliance Real Estate Advisors broker Joe Harney said in an email "I am thankful for my family’s health and my faith. I am blessed to have loyal partners and grateful for all of my clients." Harney also said, "The San Francisco commercial real estate market will be challenging in 2024 but my team will continue to rise to the occasion and thrive."

And in Seattle, Doug Demers, a director at architecture firm HKS, said he is thankful for the collaboration he's had at the company.

“This holiday, I’m thankful that the marketplace is healing itself in an innovative way," Demers said in an email. "Downtown Seattle is getting its stride back. It’s not going to be the same, it’s going to be better. Commercial mixed-use design isn’t going to be driven just by office anymore, but by experiences. These are the things that make for better places that are healthier, from an economic standpoint."

Back in Atlanta, RADCO's Radow said people in commercial real estate should strive to improve themselves and their communities.

"As we sit down at the Thanksgiving table with family and friends, let us thank God that we were born in this time, and in this great place, and then let’s resolve to improve the world for the generations to come!" Radow said.

CoStar News reporters Andria Cheng, Nicole Shih, Linda Moss, Randy Drummer, Ryan Ori and Katie Burke contributed to this story.