ORLANDO-James M. Seneff Jr., chairman of 13-year-old, locally based Commercial Net Lease Realty Inc., and Robert A. Bourne, vice chairman, are retiring as directors of CNLR on June 1, the scheduled date of the next annual shareholders' meeting.
However, Seneff and Bourne, both large shareholders in CNLR, will continue their roles with the parent company, CNL Financial Group Inc. Seneff is founder and chairman of the 32-year-old company; Bourne is president and treasurer.
In a prepared statement, Seneff says "Bob and I look forward to pursuing our other business interests and are confident in Craig Macnab's ability to continue to create value for NNN's shareholders."
Macnab, former president and CEO of the defunct JDN Realty Corp. in Atlanta, replaced Seneff as CEO of Commercial Net Lease Realty in February 2004. In May 2004, Gary M. Ralston resigned as president of CNLR after a 16-year run with the company in various executive positions. He formed Florida Retail Development LLC in August 2004.
"On behalf of all of our employees and shareholders, I would like to thank Jim and Bob for their significant contribution NNN over the past 13 years," Macnab says. "As friends and large shareholders, we are pleased that we will continue to have access to their wise counsel and encouragement" in the future.
Seneff was chairman of CNLR since June 1992 when CNL Realty Advisors, a wholly owned subsidiary of CNL Financial Group, was named external advisor to Golden Corral Realty Corp. which became Commercial Net Lease Realty in 1993. In 1984, Golden Corral completed an initial public offering. The company had $15 million in total assets and 29 Golden Corral restaurant properties.
Since July 1992, the assets of CNLR have grown from $15 million to $1.3 billion. The company provided an annual total return to shareholders of 14.8% through Feb. 28. Seneff notes the REIT is one of 221 publicly traded companies in the US to have increased its annual dividend each year for the past 15 years.
In 1994, CNLR's shares were listed for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange. The REIT acquired CNL Realty Advisors in 1998, becoming self-advised and self-managed. The company also obtained investment grade debt ratings.
CNLR passed the $1-billion asset threshold in 2001 and acquired Captec Net Lease Realty, a Nasdaq-traded firm. This year, CNLR agreed to acquire National Properties Corp., also a public company that is traded Over the Counter.
Commercial Net Lease Realty invests primarily in high quality, single-tenant retail properties generally subject to long-term, net leases with established tenants such as Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, CVS, OfficeMax and federal government agencies.
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