Justin Lossner, senior managing director at JLL, has been named the 2024 Iowa State University Ivy College of Business Commercial Real Estate Professional of the Year by the Business Record. He will be honored at the Business Record’s Commercial Real Estate Forum, scheduled for April 25 at the Hilton Des Moines Downtown.

The award is designed to highlight an outstanding CRE professional from Central Iowa for their professional accomplishments and community engagement.

Lossner, 43, has spent about 20 years striking deals in commercial real estate, the last 10 at JLL in Des Moines after time with the commercial real estate arm of Principal Financial Group, working on deals in New York City and with R&R Realty Group.

In nominating Lossner for the award, Bob Vogelgesang cited Lossner’s achievements despite the turbulent national market.

“Justin has undoubtedly made a significant impact on the real estate industry with his accomplishments,” Vogelgesang wrote.

In his nomination letter, Vogelgesang cited Lossner’s role in the largest lease transaction at 801 Grand with F&G, selling 225,000 square feet of 909 Locust Street to Federal Home Loan Bank, and the largest mixed-use transaction in Des Moines with the West Glen portfolio.

Lossner was also involved in the sale of 180,000 square feet by Dotdash Meredith to MidAmerican Energy Co., and the sale of more than 500,000 square feet for Wells Fargo in West Des Moines.

According to Vogelgesang’s letter, Lossner was involved in closing 1.47 million square feet in office transactions, totaling $145 million in 2023, co-leading the JLL brokerage office to a record year with 238 transactions covering 5.28 million square feet of space, totaling more than $400 million in transaction volume.

Lossner founded JLL’s Des Moines office with his partner, Marcus Pitts, in 2014.

That followed a career path that took him from working for commercial real estate broker Darin Ferguson after he graduated from the University of Northern Iowa to the real estate arm of Principal Financial Group, where he worked on deals in New York City, and back to Iowa, where he worked at R&R Realty Group.

In addition to a host of professional accolades, Lossner has had a strong presence in the community.

According to the nominating materials, he has served as president of the Iowa Commercial Real Estate Association, as real estate director of Make-A-Wish Foundation, and served with the Des Moines Social Club. He also ran a “Man of the Year” competition for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Iowa, and sits on the Des Moines Supportive Housing Collective, the Greater Des Moines Partnerships Downtown DSM Board, and on the board of the entrepreneur organization EO Iowa.

Lossner said he was drawn to commercial real estate as a career because he’s a self-professed “architect nerd.”

“I just love architecture. Historic. Modern. Everything in between,” he said. “I’ve always had a strong interest in architecture and history, so to me, that’s the framework of what’s been done in the past and maybe more uniquely what can be done in the future. So, from that perspective, I’ve always had an interest in office space [and] how we occupy office space.”

One of the biggest changes Lossner said he’s seen over his career is the shift from a densely structured office space to the more open environment many companies are using today.

“Historically, an office was a dense work environment, which is not efficient and frankly doesn’t promote a lot of collaboration,” he said. “I’d say about 10 years ago, that’s when we really started to see traction led by tech companies. I give a lot of credit to how some of these young entrepreneurial companies thought about occupying space, and it was just completely different from the old guard.”

While the trend was already happening before the pandemic, the effects COVID-19 had on the commercial real estate market expedited the process for many companies, Lossner said.

Talk about how office space is used will continue as companies work to balance bringing employees back to the office with meeting demand for flexibility. That will include the continuation of companies that currently occupy Class B space looking to upgrade to Class A space as they look to add amenities that will bring workers back to the office, Lossner said.

“I think the discussion going forward is really finding that balance of access to amenities, the traditional stuff, but also the real estate itself,” he said. “Can someone just unplug and go hang out in the lobby for a change of scenery? Do they have access to a rooftop or patio, or walk across the street to grab coffee or whatever?”

Learn more about Lossner and his views of the Des Moines commercial real estate market and its future in the Business Record’s Annual Real Estate Magazine, which is handed out at the April forum and inserts in the weekly edition.

Previous CRE Professional of the Year recipients include Kris Saddoris, vice president of development at Hubbell Realty Co.; Gerry Neugent of Knapp Properties; Rick Tollakson of Hubbell Realty Co.; Richard Hurd of Hurd Real Estate Services; Jake Christensen of Christensen Development; Jennifer Cooper of Bankers Trust Co.; Kevin Crowley of NAI Iowa Realty Commercial; Mark Rupprecht of R&R Realty Group; Brad Schoenfelder of Ryan Cos. US Inc.; and Kris Saddoris of Hubbell Realty Co.