On July 1, NAIOP announced a new name for the organization: the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, or CREDA. According to CREDA, the new branding better communicates the broad scope of commercial real estate work members engage in, such as multifamily housing, retail destinations, logistics and fulfillment facilities, offices, mixed-use developments, data centers and more. To celebrate this new era for the association and honor its past achievements, here is one of the winners of 2026’s Best of NAIOP Awards.
Will Strong, executive vice chair // Cushman & Wakefield
Background: The youngest executive vice chairman in Cushman & Wakefield’s history, Strong has been recognized as the top overall producer in Phoenix each year since 2020 and as the No. 1 industrial capital markets producer in North America for four consecutive years. He co-chairs the National Industrial Advisory Group and is among a select group who advise the firm’s global president and CEO.
Throughout his career, Strong has participated in transactions totaling more than 140 million square feet valued over $18 billion, including some of the most complex and high-profile industrial investment transactions ever completed in the state. In the past year, his team achieved more than 90% market share of institutional industrial investment sales in Phoenix — market concentration not remotely approached in any other major U.S. market.
2025: Total transactions: 40 | Total space: 21,647,113 square feet | Total value: $2,726,354,925
Big Deals
PUMA at 303 Crossroads
Developer: Clarius Partners
General contractor: Layton Construction
Architect: Butler Design Group
Size: 1,023,610 square feet
City: Waddell
Details: The $140,200,000 sale of PUMA at 303 Crossroads emerged as one of Arizona’s most significant industrial investment transactions of the year, directly challenging several negative narratives surrounding the Phoenix market. Many investors believed cap rates needed to move higher, the equity requirement was too large for a single-tenant asset, pricing per square foot had become too aggressive and the property’s location along the Loop 303 corridor was too far from the market’s core. Despite these headwinds, the Strong navigated complex market skepticism and closed the transaction at a market-defining valuation, helping restore confidence in Phoenix industrial real estate and establishing an important pricing benchmark.
FORMATION17
Developer: Formation Interests
General contractor: Willmeng Construction
Architect: Deutsch Architecture Group
Size: 425,280 square feet
City: Phoenix
Details: When the project was capitalized, development capital across the U.S. had largely frozen, with institutions on the sidelines and speculative development difficult to finance. But Strong and his team established a new investment thesis centered on regional drivers such as TSMC, Phoenix’s freeway connectivity and the surrounding labor pool. Despite broader market concerns, Strong led the sourcing of joint venture equity and construction financing, coordinating multiple capital partners to move the project forward — helping catalyze transformation along the I-17 corridor, attracting new investment, jobs and long-term economic activity.