Ray
Mazzie

Ray Mazzie brings a rare combination of legal acuity, business discipline, and public policy experience to Southern Waters Capital. His academic foundation at Florida State University, where he earned both a Juris Doctor and a Master of Business Administration, gave him a uniquely integrated framework for evaluating real estate transactions, one that accounts simultaneously for legal exposure, financial structure, and long-term strategic value.

Before entering the private sector, Ray served as a Florida Gubernatorial Fellow under Governor Rick Scott, one of the most competitive public service fellowships in the state. In that role, he worked at the intersection of government policy, economic development, and regulatory affairs, giving him a working understanding of how legislative and regulatory decisions shape real estate markets at the ground level. That experience is directly applicable to the entitlement, permitting, and municipal approval processes that define development timelines.

Ray is a licensed member of the Florida Bar, and his legal practice has focused on real estate law, transactional structuring, and investment compliance. He applies that expertise daily at Southern Waters Capital, handling acquisition agreements, partnership documentation, investor relations, and the regulatory navigation that comes with ground-up development in the Sunbelt.

His role at Southern Waters Capital spans deal sourcing, legal structuring, investor communications, and business development. He is the primary point of contact for many of the firm's investor partners, and his ability to explain complex transactions in plain language has been central to the trust Southern Waters Capital has built with its capital base.

A Government Perspective on Real Estate

Ray's time in the Governor's office gives Southern Waters Capital an edge that few real estate development firms possess: a genuine understanding of how government agencies evaluate development proposals, what municipalities need to approve projects, and how to navigate the regulatory environment efficiently. In a business where approvals and entitlements can make or break a deal timeline, that perspective is worth more than most underwriting models account for.