Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD), which is a real estate investment trust, struck gold last night. The company issued 40.5 million shares for its public offering, raising a cool $810 million (this was 35% more than expected). The offering price came to $20.

Why the excitement? Basically, Starwood wants to capitalize on the low valuations in the commercial real estate markets. The main approach will be to purchase debt securities -- and perhaps wind up owning some choice properties.

Over the years, commercial real estate has made a variety of people multi-billionaires. Actually, in the buyout of Equity Office Properties (NYSE:EOP), we are seeing some of these all-stars compete on a grand scale. This is detailed in a great story in Bloomberg.com. Ok, let's take a look at the roster:

• Sam Zell: He is the cofounder and CEO of EOP. He got his start, back in the 1970s, as a skillful investor in distressed properties. His nickname became the "Gravedancer." Forbes has his net worth pegged at $4.5 billion.
• Stephen Schwarzman: He is the CEO and cofounder the Blackstone Group. True, a big part of his wealth has come from private equity. However, Blackstone is one of the world's largest real estate investors. His networth is about $2.5 billion.
• Steven Roth: He is the cofounder and CEO of Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO). His networth is about $1.1 billion. Yes, in terms of net worth, Roth is lagging. However, he now has the high bid for EOP – at about $37.6 billion. Moreover, he is being joined by Barry Sternlicht, who built Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT).
  

True, if Blackstone loses the deal, it will get a $200 million break-up fee. But, this is chump change. Actually, it looks like Blackstone wants to make a counter bid. Funny enough, if Blackstone wins, it's a good bet that the firm will sell of some of its properties to Roth.

All in all, this shows that mega real estate moguls still see potential in commercial real estate -- that is except Zell, who wants to cash out. And, of course, he's the richest of the whole group. And about to get even richer.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.