TNP/SLI Green Building Fund for Environmentally Responsible Buildings

Zibb.com describes a capital fund focused on properties that can be retrofitted, repositioned or redeveloped. Excerpts below.

New Capital Fund for Environmentally Responsible Buildings - Zibb.com.

TNP/SLI Green Building Fund announced today the acquisition of a 45 percent interest in an 11-story office building and adjacent four-story parking structure in the heart of downtown Las Vegas. Focused on achieving a Silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED(R) (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating System(TM), it will become only the second LEED certified building in downtown Las Vegas further contributing to the area's revitalization.

Located at 302 E. Carson, the building consists of ground floor retail and office space totaling approximately 160,200 square feet and is currently 39 percent occupied. Major tenants include Fitzgerald's Hotel & Casino, the Office of the Chapter 13 Standing Bankruptcy Trustee, ViaWest and Mzima. Via West and Mzima, both national data centers, are currently negotiating expansions at the building due to the high capacity "OC 192" data infrastructure and redundant fiber optic cabling serving 302 E. Carson, which position the property as a prime strategic location for data based businesses.

The fund's partners identified the vintage 1965 building as an attractive investment due to its substantial potential for increased occupancy, operating efficiencies, superior location and appreciation in value in the best performing submarket in Las Vegas. These factors and the property's extensive fiber optic data infrastructure are expected to significantly increase tenant occupancy and drive rental rates.

The $100 million fund, a partnership between Los Angeles, Calif.-based Shangri-La Industries and Irvine, Calif.-based Thompson National Properties, focuses on assets that can be retrofitted, repositioned or redeveloped for greater energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

"We have been buying and selling real estate in Las Vegas for a decade and the Carson property represents a great opportunity to set a new standard for property redevelopment in converting a 1960's vintage, functionally obsolete, energy-wasting building, with a great floor plate and superior location, into a state of the art LEED rated facility," said Anthony W. "Tony" Thompson, Chairman and CEO of Thompson National Properties.

Plans for the renovation illustrate that any building can be retrofitted to be both economically and environmentally sound.