Which companies excel at managing their commercial real estate?

It's a great question Scott. A few companies come to mind, and since real estate is unique for every company (big and small) and industry (retail, office, industrial, etc), I will give reasons for each.

Google is very creative with their real estate. They have enormous leverage due to their cash reserves and cash flow, but nonetheless they have an appetite to be creative, make sound judgements for a given situation but also take risks to seek out talent (they bought the 3rd biggest building in Manhattan). They were a big part of proliferating and mastering the "business campus", which revolutionized work life. Their presence in Mountain View alone is formidable from the famous cafeteria to the Google branded bikes to the sheer magnitude of their square feet.

Apple is another fantastic example of a company that doesn't check their innovation at the door...when it comes to real estate. Steve set out the plans to build a world renowned campus that emulates the Pentagon (http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/13/apples-new-headquarters/a), here in their hometown of Cupertino. The Apple Store speaks for itself, around the world, and none more amazing than the Cube http://www.apple.com/retail/fifthavenue/gallery/.

There are so many more examples, from Salesforce and their soon to be San Francisco headquarters in Mission Bay and offices around the world. They manage real estate very well. Twitter is another great example of good real estate acumen, leveraging their impact on San Francisco to get tax breaks for an entire sub-market. It is also worth mentioning several coworking operations, highlighted in this story http://www.theregistrysf.com/RTRE_hatchery_soma_hudson_pacific.html.

There are so many, it's hard to stop, but I hope this gets the discussion started.