2026 Women in Commercial Real Estate: Kristin Niver, Robinson+Cole

What was the most rewarding project or deal you’ve worked on in the past 12 months, and why? 

Closing some of the nation’s first loans under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), the $27 billion federal program capitalizing clean energy lending, has been the most rewarding work of my career. With no market precedent and the funds tied up in litigation, I authored a federal requirements rider now used across the industry and helped mission-driven lenders finance solar and clean energy in under-invested communities. I am one of the few attorneys nationally to have closed GGRF loans, each one proof that community lenders can deliver federal climate capital where it matters most.

What trend or change in commercial real estate do you believe will have the biggest impact over the next five years?

The full merger of clean energy finance and the real estate capital stack. Federal climate capital, tax credit transferability, C-PACE, and green bank lending are turning energy from an operating line item into a financeable asset class, and making CDFIs and green banks permanent players in CRE lending. Over the next five years, energy costs, resilience, and incentive volatility will shape underwriting as much as rent rolls do. Those who can translate between energy policy and real estate finance will be indispensable.

What leadership lesson has made the greatest impact on your career?

Generosity is a strategy, not a sacrifice. Early in my career I decided to give my expertise away, teaching CLEs, publishing, and answering hard questions publicly, rather than guarding it. That openness built trust long before I ever asked for work, and it grew into a national practice of clients who found me because I had already helped them. Leadership in law is not hoarding knowledge at the top; it is making everyone around you, including clients and competitors, smarter, and trusting that the work follows.

What advice would you give to the next generation of women entering commercial real estate?

Claim a niche before you feel ready, especially one nobody else wants yet. I grew up in rural Iowa watching classmates lose their housing; that led me through urban planning into a practice at the intersection of affordable housing and clean energy, a corner of the market I chose deliberately and built client by client. Your distinct path is an asset, not a detour. And be visible: write, speak, teach. Expertise no one knows about helps no one, and the woman who shows up as the authority becomes one.