News
CASH IS KING
January 17, 2012
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| Paragon Real Estate's Tom Williams (in his Oak Brook office with colleague Greg Van Landingham) tells us his development company works from a fund, meaning they can move quick on land buys and start building right away. Paragon focuses on smaller deals: $5M to $15M seniors housing developments and $1M to $5M build-to-suits for single tenants like banks, restaurants, and auto shops (the retailers that grease the wheels of daily life). Since Paragon launched two years ago, it's raised $200M from high-net-worth individuals. So far, it's built a childcare center in Crystal Lake and an assisted-living home in Iowa (for all those former GOP candidates who got so used to spending their time there). | |
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| Being liquid, Tom says, also means Paragon can offer clients competitive lease rates and, on the seniors projects, exclusive purchase options in the first five years of operation. In the works now: four seniors facilities and five more retail projects. He says the company is also looking for value-add warehouse acquisitions up to $10M each. By leveraging up, that target will cost the fund just $20M this year. His decorating aesthetic boils down to blown-up pictures of his two- and six-year-old sons. Greg, on the other hand, justified his more minimalist look by the fact that he's out pounding the pavement and thus spends little time desk bound. |
