Sharon Harper, CEO of Plaza Companies
Sharon Harper, CEO of Plaza Companies

Plaza Companies President & CEO Sharon Harper earned another important title to add to an already impressive array of them: Counselor of Real Estate.

Harper has been awarded the prestigious CRE (Counselor of Real Estate) credential by The Counselors of Real Estate, an international group comprising high profile real estate practitioners who provide expert advisory services to clients on complex real property and land-related matters.  The credential award was announced by the group and will be bestowed at an annual conference in October held by The Counselors, which will take place in Boston.

Harper’s forward-thinking commitment has helped make Plaza one of the premier real estate firms in Arizona and has earned her and Plaza respect throughout the industry and across the country. She has also been honored recently as the “Lifetime Achievement Award for Most Admired Leader” by the Phoenix Business Journal in 2013. Before that, in 2012, she was named as one of the “50 Most Influential Women” by Arizona Business Magazine. Through her leadership, Plaza Companies has been honored as one of Arizona’s Most Admired Companies for 2011 by Arizona Business Magazine.

The CRE credential is awarded exclusively to those invited by their peers into the membership of The Counselors of Real Estate. The credential declares an advisor’s status as one of the most trusted professionals in the field of real estate and demonstrates peer recognition of outstanding intelligence, problem-solving ability, integrity and judgment in real estate.

“It is a huge honor to now be a part of a community of deep expertise, limitless talent, and warm camaraderie,” Harper said. “I look forward to serving as a key resource and serving with the standard of integrity, honesty and reliability that comes with being a Counselor of Real Estate. I would like to thank The Counselors of Real Estate for recognizing me for this honor, which I will use to elevate the real estate industry and take an even more active role in addressing the issues affecting it.”

Of the over 150,000 practitioners in commercial real estate today, fewer than 1,200 have been awarded the CRE credential.  The Counselors of Real Estate, established in 1953 and headquartered in Chicago, is an international professional organization whose members provide objective, reliable advice and counsel on matters affecting all forms of real property in the U.S. and abroad. Members include ranking representatives of real estate consulting, financial, legal and accounting firms as well as leaders of Wall Street, government and academia.