Kate Keller founded her boutique real estate recruiting firm, Keller Augusta Partners, a decade ago, in the aftermath of the tech bubble’s bust. She grew up around real estate – her father was a developer, and she’s seen plenty of cyclical peaks and troughs before. Now, after a brutal, largely stagnant 2009, real estate firms are staffing up again, and they’re turning to Keller Augusta to place the investment and acquisition executives they’ll need to take advantage of the next cycle.

In anticipation of significant movement in the industry, Keller recently brought on Hillary Hatch Graves, a former managing director at Commonfund Realty. Graves will head a new group focusing on placing high-earning executives.

But whether they’re recruiting a chief executive officer or an executive assistant, the approach is the same. “A lot of it is understanding the culture of the company and the people, and in order to do that you really need to know the players at the firm,” Keller said. “That’s a lot of what we specialize in, really trying to make the correct fit.”

Hillary Hatch Graves

Title: Principal, Keller Augusta Institutional Services Group, Boston

Age: 34

Experience: 10 years in real estate

Kate Keller

Title: Principal, Keller Augusta Partners, Boston

Age: 32

Experience: 7 years in real estate

Why is there a need for a company like this?

KK: It’s a delicate situation. People aren’t going to be sending their resumes off into Monster, the abyss where you never know whose hands it’s going to fall into. People trust us. It’s a very confidential process. We keep in touch with people, so when we hear of opportunities we can get in touch with them. We first understand who you are as a firm. We understand real estate, and we understand what clients are looking for. And it’s a time-effective service.

Is there a segment of the industry that’s more active than others right now?

KK: Right now, it’s on the investment side. Developers are changing their direction. Some have started funds. They’re looking to buy distressed assets. Recently, we’ve been seeing more investment-type roles, acquisition-type roles, analyst roles. Each real estate cycle is different. Now we’re seeing more on the investment side, which is why we brought Hillary on.

Hillary, why did you make this move now?

HG: I’ve been a client of Kate’s, and I was always highly respectful of Kate and her industry. I recognized the value. As I looked at the opportunity set for the next cycle, obviously I could continue to raise capital, however, right now I feel like the biggest opportunity would be in the changing over of the human resources side over the next 12 months to18 months. We certainly expect a tremendous amount of movement. For me, it seemed like a good time in the real estate cycle to take my skills and do something different.

KK: The capacity Hillary worked in, fundraising and client services, really crossed over a lot of what we do dealing with people. We are client services, essentially. She really understands real estate, and she has relationships with the institutional side.

HG: Kate has 10 years executive recruiting experience in real estate. I have ten years of experience as an investor in real estate. When we speak to anyone from a CEO to an administrative assistant, we know where we are in the cycle, we know why they’re hiring those types of individuals. The last cycle featured tremendous leverage, so everybody needed lots of lending experience, people experienced in debt, in CMBS. Today, it’s people who can make money at the asset level. Because we understand the real estate business, it really augments our ability to find and select the best people for each position.

Who’s going to be hiring? How heavy will the level of hiring activity be?

HG: We want to temper expectations. The real estate market continues to have a number of challenges. But you separate the companies into two areas. Those with healthy balance sheets and those that can raise capital are absolutely starting to ramp up to take advantage of the next cycle. And banks. People don’t want to hear that, but the banks are certainly going to need to ramp up because there are going to be a number of assets that get returned to them, and they need to make sure they have the resources to handle that.

How would you rate the pool of folks who are available right now and either need to move or are possibly looking to make a move?

HG: There are absolutely really great people currently seeking opportunities who are unemployed. And there are also great individuals out there who are saying, ‘I personally want to take advantage of the recovery, there will be a lot of money made over the next 36 months to 48 months, and while I’m grateful I have a job, I’m grateful I have health benefits, is this the best place for me to be, and where might I be better positioned to take advantage?’

KK: We spent a lot of the year last year interviewing people and meeting people. We have a good grasp on who wants to move and where. And there are so many new companies that have started, as well. That creates a lot of interest.

HG: Everyone’s been consulting for the last 12 months to 18 months, and many of those consulting opportunities that people did as a necessity are getting legs. So you’ll see, I think, a new breed of company that emerges out of this.

Kate and Hillary’s Top Five Personnel Growth Areas In The Next Real Estate Cycle: 

•  Investments
• Institutional capital
• Banks
• Property managemen
• Health care and life sciences development