BusinessTN

Look at the pained faces on Wall Street, and one may get a sense of what's in store for the commercial real estate industry. Or ask a banker. Naturally, the first ones to get a whiff of a rotting loan, bankers are actively pulling the plugs on overextended developers everywhere. Cleveland businessman Toby McKenzie is one example. Until recently a fixture in Tennessee real estate, his development company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August after being squeezed by creditors. Michael Bourne of Memphis is facing ruin not long after he bought a Bentley and delved into the music business. In Nashville, Castle Rock Construction and Wynthrope Hall Development have been in Chapter 11 reorganization since September.

A couple of bankruptcies among developers may prove an inoculation against future eruptions of irrational exuberance, but that doesn't mean the real estate arena will be abandoned.

And we're pretty sure we know at least 101 people who will figure prominently in the year to come.