Justin Kundrak, 34

Like many postgrads, Justin Kundrak started his career thinking about law school. It was a Dallas internship with the capital markets team at HFF (which has since been acquired by JLL), however, that steered him toward real estate. “Completely forgot about law school and haven’t looked back since,” Kundrak said.

Kundrak’s career in real estate may have arisen organically, but that doesn’t mean he entered the industry unprepared. He studied economics and philosophy as an undergraduate at Pepperdine University, and always expressed an interest somewhere in the realm of business, finance and law.

“I certainly couldn’t claim to know that real estate was my passion from day one,” he said, adding that real estate wasn’t exactly at the top of the job board while he was an undergrad. “I would love to say that I had it all planned out, but I think I mostly lucked into it, to be honest.”

Yet it isn’t luck that’s responsible for Kundrak’s successes. He’s previously held director positions at HFF and Asana Partners, and, in 2021, joined Eastdil as a senior vice president. That same year, he and his team led the placement of a nearly $4.2 billion package of acquisition financing for GIC and EQT Exeter for the recapitalization of a 65 million-square-foot, 316-property logistics portfolio. The team ultimately closed five different financings, resulting in one of the largest portfolio financing executions completed to date. 

“I think [that] takes the cake in terms of total dollar size and just complexity of the transaction,” said Kundrak, with the caveat that he’s since been involved in similar financing transactions at Eastdil.

When Kundrak finds time outside of work, he loves to travel — he and his wife are heading to France this summer — and play volleyball. He also sails competitively on a race boat he shares with his dad in Marina del Rey, Calif.