John Bennett

Principal: John Bennett is co-founder of Windcrest Companies, LLC, a real estate development company headquartered in Thomasville, Ga. He focuses on property selection, underwriting and financing, as well as relations with public officials and lending institutions.

John began his real estate development career eight years ago, building speculative vacation homes in the Florida Panhandle. He has worked in the development of subdivisions and condominiums in the resort markets of Panama City, Fla., and Destin, Fla., with four of those years in a partnership with Ambling Companies in Valdosta, Ga. Additional projects include a multi-million-dollar, mixed-use project in Savannah, Ga., a subdivision in Blue Ridge, Ga., a beach-front condominium project in Daytona Beach, Fla., and a subdivision in Carrabelle, Fla. John has experience in site acquisition, market evaluation, development planning, entitlement process management, architectural design planning, marketing, customer care and project management.

John previously worked for six years in the banking industry with Synovus Financial and Bank of America, with a focus in commercial real estate acquisitions and development lending for projects in Atlanta, Ga.; Birmingham, Ala.; Rome, Ga.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Dallas, Texas.

Within his community, John is chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission of Thomasville, board member of the United Way of Thomasville, associate board member of Thomasville Family and Marriage.net, Sunday school director at First Baptist Church of Thomasville and commodore of the Beachton Yacht Club.

John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management with a minor in Land Development from The Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his Masters of Business Administration degree from Georgia State University. John lives in Thomasville, Ga., with his wife, Susan, and children, Mallory and Andrew.

Steve DeVane

Principal: Steve DeVane is co-founder of Windcrest Companies, LLC, a real estate development company headquartered in Thomasville, Ga. He manages the operations of the company, as well as property selection, market studies, research and investor relations. Steve began his building and development career six years ago when entering into a partnership with John Bennett to form Windcrest Companies, LLC.

For the first two years of their partnership, Steve and John built speculative homes, quadraplexes and duplexes. They later developed subdivisions and condominiums in the resort markets of Panama City, Fla., and Destin, Fla., through a partnership with Ambling Companies in Valdosta, Ga. Steve’s projects include Ariel Dunes I & II, a 450-unit condominium project consisting of two towers encompassing 24 floors each. Additionally, he has had critical involvement in Treetop, a 79-lot subdivision in Seacrest Beach, Fla., as well as the 44-lot Sandalwood subdivision, located in Carrabelle, Fla. Steve has also conducted market research for a 72-lot subdivision in Blue Ridge, Ga.

Steve has extensive experience in sales, marketing and business negotiation. His additional experience includes site acquisition, market evaluation, entitlement process management and investor relations.

Steve lives in Thomasville, Ga., with his wife, Carmen, and children, Taylor, age 18, and Abbigail, age 11.

Arnie Rogers

Principal: Arnie Rogers founded Verdura Properties in 2006, extending his long career in the real estate industry. Arnie began his real estate career in Atlanta, Ga., with The Sharp-Boylston Companies as a Business Properties Specialist. He later established himself as a Commercial Property Advisor with SunCapital Properties in Tallahassee, Fla., representing sellers, landlords, buyers and tenants with facilities needs. Prior to launching Verdura, he spent five years with the St. Joe Company serving as the Sales Asset Manager for Florida’s Capital Region which encompassed Jefferson, Leon, Taylor and Wakulla Counties.

Arnie’s commercial real estate experience enabled him to provide direction to his clients through the use of his market research, financial analysis, contract negotiation, and space planning skills as well as his ability to interface with attorneys and engineers. With St. Joe, he was responsible for managing more than 60,000 acres and developing strategies to create better use for those assets. In that capacity, he coordinated development managers, land planners, engineers, environmental consultants, and surveyors. This position also involved a considerable amount of interaction with planning boards, county commissioners, and community groups.

Arnie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Auburn University. He lives in Tallahassee, Fla., with his wife, Linda, and his 16-year-old son, Will. His 18-year-old daughter, Betsy, attends Auburn.