9 Predictions From Rising Stars

Kathryn Lawn, an executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, said she expects leasing in the life-sciences industry she specialized in to slow down in 2024, as companies wait to see who will be in the White House.

“I don’t know how that’s going to impact things, but it tends to slow things down a little bit,” Lawn, 35, said.

Many of the companies that Lawn places in commercial spaces rely on government funding. Without knowing who will be president, and what their administration’s priorities will be, Lawn said her industry is in limbo.

Once there’s clarity on if funding will come, and where from, she expects leasing activity to resume.

“I think we’ll still be getting things done, but I think it will still be a slow year,” she said. “Survive to ’25 is what everybody keeps saying.”

Katharine Lau, the cofounder and CEO of self-storage company Stuf Storage, is hopeful that 2024 will usher in a wave of innovation — after commercial real-estate owners “figure out what financing is going to look like.”

Lau’s business model relies on agreements with commercial landlords for underutilized space in their properties. Stuf Storage turns those spaces into automated self storage on a revenue-share basis with the landlord.

It’s been a tough few years in the commercial real-estate industry, with soaring interest rates and occupancy struggling to regain its pre-pandemic foothold. But Lau is optimistic.

“People are scared…