Jim Dobbie

CEO & Founder at Zeal For Living

Speaker

Mr. Dobbie is the founder and CEO of Zeal for Living, a real estate development company focused on creating build to rent rental housing with a focus on Wellness.

Jim has over 20 years experience in commercial real estate, operations, and development. Before launching Zeal, he was responsible for over 50 transactions and development projects totaling $2.45 billion. Mr. Dobbie has directed multiple high-rise & mid-rise housing developments for a national development company serving in various capacities from development to investment management.

Mr. Dobbie was an Executive Vice President at Hunt Companies, then President & founder of Avanta Residential. In November of 2022, Mr. Dobbie led the sale of a majority controlling interest of Avanta Residential to INVESCO. He then founded his development company shortly thereafter.

At Hunt Companies, Mr. Dobbie was an investment committee member for the SEC-registered investment advisory platform, Hunt Investment Management. His responsibilities included identifying, structuring, and deploying capital and oversight of existing assets and new developments through that platform. Mr. Dobbie has been responsible for numerous multi-family assets comprised of over 7,700 units located throughout the United States and infill commercial developments. He also served as chair of the Debt Valuation Committee for Hunt's Debt Fund. He was also a Hunt representative and advisor for Real Estate Technology Ventures, a property technology-oriented venture capital fund.

Jim serves as Chair of the Real Estate Committee for the Sandia Foundation, a 60-year-old foundation benefiting the University of New Mexico and Dickinson College, located in Carlisle, PA.

Jim is a regular speaker on industry panels, including John R. Burns events and Information Management Network (IMN).

Before joining Hunt, Jim served as Chief Operating Officer with a regional real estate development company. His primary responsibility was structuring all acquisitions and oversight of the asset management, leasing, and construction departments.

Mr. Dobbie holds a BA from Southern Methodist University and lives in Boulder, Colorado, with his wife Stephanie and two children.