Dallas-Fort Worth’s growth over the last 15 years has turned it into one of the most important commercial real estate markets in the country, and industry professionals have had to adapt to keep up.
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Honorees at Bisnow’s 2026 DFW Women Leading Real Estate Awards event
DFW has grown by nearly 40% since 2010, solidifying its status as the top growth market in the U.S. and attracting the attention of investors and corporations worldwide. The rise of Y’all Street has turned the metro into a financial hub and fueled the demand for top-tier office space. The region has also emerged as a magnet for corporate relocations, bringing new employers to the metro’s expanding suburbs.
“Places like Prosper, Celina, Melissa, even parts of Fort Worth were not on many investors’ radars 15 years ago,” LiNC Commercial Realty founder Najdi Rafaty said at Bisnow‘s 2026 DFW Women Leading Real Estate Awards event Wednesday at the Fairmont Dallas hotel. “Today, national retailers and investors are asking about those markets first.”
While the growth of those suburbs into primary markets was surprising, Rafaty said it is an example of how much DFW has matured.
With that change, the region’s most prominent women in architecture, engineering and construction have seen their roles evolve and grow.
More women are leading companies, making investment decisions and developing projects in DFW than they were 15 years ago, Rafaty said. But she still doesn’t see adequate representation of women in the industry’s biggest decisions.
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Ridgemont Commercial Construction’s Dana Compton, Cresa’s Chelby Sanders, Clark Hill’s Christy Pennington, Kairoi Residential’s Olivia Loudis, LiNC Commercial Realty’s Najdi Rafaty and HOK’s Amber Wernick
“It’s one thing to have a seat at the table, but it’s another thing to have your voice carry equal weight,” Rafaty said.
DFW’s shifting market has caused the metro’s leading women to adapt their management styles.
Kairoi Residential Regional Vice President of Operations Olivia Loudis has embraced what she called “healthy friction” through honest conversations. She gave an example of a property owner who got bad debt service on a deal and came to Kairoi Residential hoping to refinance when rates came down.
However, rates never fell, and the owner just continued to extend the loan even though cash wasn’t flowing.
“It was affecting our ability to pay our vendors. It was affecting our ability to operate, and I had to have a serious conversation with them,” Loudis said.
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JPMorgan Chase Chairman of Dallas Region Elaine Agather
She told the owner that Kairoi Residential couldn’t continue to manage the deal because it would affect the company’s reputation. It was a conversation the owner needed to hear, and Kairoi Residential ended up selling the property for them.
“Not every deal is going to be a slam dunk anymore,” Loudis said. “So you have to be able to hold people accountable and have those healthy conversations.”
Getting people to accept a new concept or project like that can be difficult, but Cresa Managing Principal Chelby Sanders said it is important not to force an agenda on anyone. Instead, she works to gather stakeholder approval and create a vision.
Once that vision is communicated and people can see it, they are much more likely to understand how they can be a part of it and embrace it, Sanders said.
Another way to get that buy-in is by working to understand one’s audience, HOK Director of Interiors Amber Wernick said.
Working at a design firm, Wernick said she often presents to an audience with more of a finance background than she has. So Wernick strives to use data from employee satisfaction surveys and space utilization reports to help illustrate her points about how the businesses work.
“Opinions rarely change minds,” Wernick said. “But when you can really present some facts … that really can, a lot of times, get that buy-in.”
While women don’t always get the recognition they deserve in commercial real estate, Loudis said being part of the decision-making process is effecting change in the industry. She said it is important for women to use their voices to be heard and build relationships.
Commercial real estate is all about relationships, and Wernick said those are much more important than billable hours or technical proficiency.
“Those relationships will carry you through recessions,” Wernick said. “They can help land new opportunities, and they can bring you clients.”