Thompson National Close to $110M in New Deals

In addition to its acquisition and disposition activities, Thompson National has formed a new subsidiary, Commerce TNP LLC, that acquired the asset services division of Commerce CRG of Nevada in Las Vegas and by doing so increases TNP's assets under management by approximately three million square feet to a total of more than 17 million square feet.

Thompson tells GlobeSt.com that the company is buying the Orange County office portfolio for approximately $55 million at a 9%-plus cap rate from a distressed seller via Thompson's participating notes program. It is acquiring the Hawaii retail center in Honolulu for $25.7 million through its TNP Strategic Retail Trust, buying a Tucson drugstore-anchored retail center for $8 million and acquiring a Fort Worth area retail center through its Delaware Statutory Trust 1031 Exchange program for $4 million. The Hawaii and Fort Worth properties are due to close at cap rates of more than 10%. Thompson is selling the Washington, DC-area industrial property for $16.5 million on behalf of tenant-in-common investors.

The Orange County office portfolio is about 80% occupied and is cash-flowing at that occupancy, but it holds potential for higher occupancy despite the weak Orange County office market, according to Thompson. He explains that many of the tenants in the portfolio are government agencies, and one of the three buildings is especially well-suited to being upgraded to LEED standards.

"County, state and federal tenants are under mandates to be in LEED-Silver or better buildings," Thompson explains. Many of those government tenants are in buildings that are not LEED certified, and "There are not a lot of landlords like us who have the capital or the expertise to bring these buildings to LEED standards," he says.

Regarding the retail deals, Thompson says that his company is focused primarily on grocery-anchored retail centers right now. The Hawaii center under contract, for example, is the Waianae Mall, which is anchored by a Long's Drug Store, and the Tucson center is also drugstore-anchored. The company is looking at other property types too, however, such as some industrial space it is in negotiations on in Southern California and Las Vegas.

In the Las Vegas market, Thompson notes that the additional investment properties that it is gaining in the formation of Commerce TNP LLC and its acquisition of Commerce CRG asset services division are primarily located in Southern Nevada. He says that the acquisition "increases the market coverage for both companies and allows us to deliver an expanded list of receivership, property management and advisory services to our growing clientele of financial institutions, accredited investors and mortgage servicers."

David Jewkes, managing director of Commerce CRG, says that Commerce TNP LLC "will continue the close professional association with Commerce/Cushman & Wakefield in Las Vegas and our many shared clients."