MIAMI—Craig Zogby learned the commercial real estate business literally from the ground up as a construction contractor, then as a developer, and now as an equity investor. Although this arguably wasn't the typical career path, the managing director of Kayne Anderson Real Estate says it has given him insight across a broad spectrum—and he has integrated his experience in the different aspects of dealmaking into successful execution of complicated deals.

At Kayne, Zogby manages all phases of the transaction and remains engaged with joint venture partners throughout the development process for the firm's real estate private equity platform, specifically its student and conventional housing deals.

“The Southeast property market is changing in much of the same ways it has over the past 20 years,” Zogby says. “I think that we will see a lot of secondary markets begin to be built out as the majors are peaking in both value and cost to construct.”

Zogby's transactional value exceeds $2.8 billion including 27,000 beds of student housing and 1,300 units of conventional apartment housing. One of his most notable achievements was a renovated historic hotel located in Saint Louis. It was extremely complex because of variety of factors.

For example, the property spanned three historic buildings—655 beds—that had been converted from a hotel to student housing about 10 years ago. A local operator and self-managed the asset, which created several documentation and due diligence hurdles. Zogby says he forged a relationship based on continued trust and cooperation with the owners over a 12-month period, completed the transaction, and initiated a successful capital improvements program.

“Our business is national but we have a distinct focus in the Southeast which originated from our student housing investments,” says Zogby. “Some of the flagship university markets in Texas, Florida, and Georgia were the first movers in the student housing industry.”

As the student housing business matured, he says, the purpose-built model blossomed to have a national foot print. Although student housing brought Kayne to the Southeast he sees all asset classes are benefiting from the population and economic growth in cities such as Charlotte, Miami, Austin, Dallas, and Atlanta. Population and economic growth are benchmark “must haves” when analyzing a real estate investment, he says, so it's hard for an institutional real estate investor to ignore the Southeast.

Zogby predicts we will see many secondary markets getting built out as the majors are peaking in both value and cost to construct. At the same time, he says, the national trend for reurbanization has continued on beyond Atlanta and Charlotte to the much smaller towns and cities.

“Many towns like Greensboro, South Carolina Decatur, Georgia, and my home town Delray Beach, Florida are feeling an increasing interest from renters and buyers alike to be pedestrian to their town's main streets,” says Zogby. “Sense of community, ease of commute, and access to entertainment is key and many smaller MSAs have the opportunity and ability to provide it.” Want to read about more young leaders? Click here.