T. Wall Properties: Acquires Greenway Center

T. Wall Properties
Terrence Wall, President
Phone: (608) 241-2100

Greenway Properties
Tim Carey, President
608-664-0777

Madison, WI — On Thursday, April 27, T. Wall Properties held its Annual Meeting of Limited Partners and announced to its 200 shareholders that the company had just purchased Greenway Center, a portfolio of eight office buildings located on Greenway Boulevard, just off the West Beltline Highway in Middleton, Wisconsin.

The acquisition, from Greenway Properties, increased the T. Wall Propertiesí portfolio by 70%, making the company one of the largest commercial developers in the State of Wisconsin.

Greenway Center was purchased for over $100 million, and the purchase included the eleven-story Wisconsin Trade Center, the nine-story Greenway Building, and the six-story Western Tower (PDQ building) for a total of 912,700 square feet of space. The office park is 94% leased and currently has over 60 tenants, including TDS, Humana, Capitol Indemnity Corp., West Bend Mutual and Smith and Gesteland.

Jeff Straubel, founder and Chairman of Greenway Properties said, “This massive team project [Greenway Center] the City of Middleton and I started 20 years ago is primarily complete. Through the unwavering support of the City, a rock-solid relationship with Kraemer Brothers Construction, and a first-rate, devoted staff, Greenway Properties has succeeded in developing an exceptional mixed-use destination in Middleton. The diversity of the tenants, the strength of the corporate presence, and our long-standing positive relationships with the business community are proof of Greenway Centerís success.”

“The sale of the portfolio fits well within the overall game plan that Jeff Straubel created years ago,” said Timothy Carey, President of Greenway Properties. “The portfolio possesses strong occupancy, a diverse and stable tenant base, and a significant presence within the healthy Madison area office market.” The synergy between the portfolio characteristics and the dynamic institutional investment and capital markets has created the opportune time to complete our exit strategy.”

According to Terrence Wall, President of T. Wall Properties, “This is the largest transaction in T. Wall Propertiesí history and probably the largest transaction ever in Dane County, and it puts T. Wall Properties three years ahead of schedule as compared to our goal of becoming a half billion dollar company.” To help fund this acquisition, T. Wall Properties recently completed a successful fourth equity offering that was fully subscribed at $5 million, which added 48 new investors, bringing the total number of investors to 198. “We also opened a 12% Note Offering in December 2005 and raised $6.2 million in just two weeks,” noted Wall. “And since the recent equity offering was oversubscribed, we opened a new $5 million equity offering, given the number of interested parties we had to turn away,” Wall added. The additional capital is being deployed in various acquisitions and development opportunities.

With the acquisition of Greenway Center, T. Wall Properties now owns over 2.3 million square feet of building space, making the company the largest commercial real estate company in Dane County.

Last year the company also grew dramatically by acquiring another office portfolio, High Point Office Park, from the Welton family, a long standing west side developer, as well as a number of buildings from The Blettner Group, also located on Madisonís west side. Since 2001 when T. Wall Properties began its first west side development, the landmark City Center West (with the Johnson Bank Building and TDS Tower), the company has gone from no square footage on the west side to becoming the west sideís largest commercial real estate owner in just five years.

As part of the transaction, T. Wall Properties will acquire two land parcels at Greenway Center later this year, including a 5.75-acre site located in front of the Marriott Convention Center and hotel located at Greenway Boulevard and U.S. Highway 12 and a 4.8-acre site at Market Street and Aspen Commons. The future development of this land, along with the ability to expand the existing buildings, means T. Wall Properties can expand its overall portfolio by more than 575,000 square feet. (The acquisition did not include the retail center known as Greenway Station, which is owned by RED Development.)

The company is also expanding through development; earlier this year T. Wall Properties broke ground on a 51,500 square foot, three-story building at 708 Heartland Trail in the Old Sauk Trails Office Park, in what will become a three-building urban office campus within the park. The first tenant in the building will be Hartung Brothers, Inc.

Terrence Wall launched T. Wall Properties in 1989 while being a student in the Graaskamp graduate real estate program at the University of Wisconsin. “It drove my professor crazy when I would have to take a leasing call during class on one of those giant ëbrickí cell phones,” Wall recalled. The company grew by using sweat equity and high leverage in its early years.

Then in 2001, T. Wall Properties issued its first private placement offering, attracting 72 investors (or “limited partners”). The offering provided capital for larger projects such as City Center West as well as numerous other developments. The company has raised a total of $49.1 million in various capital offerings since 2001 and holds one of the largest vacant land portfolios of any company in Dane County; land it intends to develop over time with this capital.

If you would like more information on any of T. Wall Properties locations or investment opportunities, please call (608) 241-2100. Or if you would like information on the seller, Greenway Properties, Inc., please call (608) 664-0777.

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