Wells' Jess Jarratt

You don’t hear too much about timber REITs, even when the topic turns to alternative plays. But timber REITs made news recently when Wells Real Estate Funds rolled out what it is billing as the industry’s first public, non-traded pure play REIT. The initiative, Wells Timber Management Organization, is headed by Jess Jarratt, a former managing director in the investment operation at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in Atlanta. The idea of a timber REIT–and Jarratt reports that it’s a $750-million fund with a $1-billion potential–is intriguing because of its similarity to more mainstream plays–in terms of the risk-avoidance that product diversity brings and even the investors who play in the field. In a recent exclusive interview, Jarratt detailed the operation and the goals.

GlobeSt.com: Frankly, I was expecting someone in a plaid shirt. How much competition could there have been for this job? It is a narrow specialty.

Jaratt: I like to think there was a lot of competition for it. I am a graduate forester and spent seven-plus years as a forester. So when I need to, I can put on the plaid shirt and get on the ground with anybody. And we do. In fact, next week I’ll be out with some of our consultants looking at timberland in Texas and Louisiana. On the finance and investment-banking side of my skill set, I built a corporate-banking business at SunTrust and that’s very valuable here. You really have to be half forester and half finance executive to do what we’re doing.