Steven J. Lurie

Real estate

While some real estate attorneys spent the year trying to help clients hold on to properties, Lurie was busy helping his clients expand their portfolios.

He closed 17 loans totaling more than $250 million for Majestic Realty Co. And he helped one of the largest landscape and maintenance construction firms, ValleyCrest Landscape Cos., close on a purchase this month of a foreclosed property in Florida.

Lurie's success was on display this year in negotiating creative workouts and loan modifications as well, including what he described as a first-of-its-kind transaction that earned his client a 40 percent discount on a loan note for a significant shopping center in the Greater Los Angeles area.

The 22-year veteran of Greenberg Glusker is working on closing a 57-acre development deal in Northern California that is in due diligence now.

Lurie doesn't expect any surprising shifts in the commercial real estate market in the next year, just a slow steady climb toward a more active market.