Terry has been with Timberland Partners since 1993 and oversees the repositioning, construction and renovation activities for properties throughout the portfolio.
What is your role at Timberland Partners?
The capital construction, rehab and redevelopment of properties is where I dig into the process. Matt [Fransen] and his team are the frontline guys. They’re the hunter-gatherers and I’m more of a farmer, if you will. My job is to help understand and be a part of the creation of the business plan for the real estate, then to go and be an active participant in making sure that we get it rolled out the way we envision it.
What has your journey at Timberland Partners looked like?
When I started working with Bob, I was a resident manager. My wife and I managed a 40-unit apartment complex, and it was the second deal that Bob and three of his real estate associates acquired back in 1994. That was 86 units. We now have nearly 17,000.
How do you contribute to uncovering value for Timberland Partners?
That’s where I spend a lot of my time, trying to uncap the hidden value that’s in the acquisitions that we bring into Timberland partners. My job is to understand what we can do to help provide a better amenity base, improve the operations to get the rents at the right place and make sure that the property has the right curb appeal.
Timberland Partners manages all of its properties. Why is that important?
We’re focused on serving our partners — people that have an investment alongside us in the game. We’re on par with them. We invest our dollars right alongside them and that’s really important to us. There are some really big companies in the multifamily sphere in the United States that have hundreds of thousands of units under contract in a fee management perspective. I can’t imagine being part of something like that because we own what we manage and we manage what we own. It’s ours.
How does Timberland Partners approach tough decisions?
There aren’t always easy answers, but if we apply the guiding principles that our company is founded on, the decisions become pretty clear. We always do what’s necessary. We don’t shy away from the hard work.
What excites you most about TPAF VII?
When we started the fund model back in 2007, I think we raised something like $8 million. Because we have taken care of folks that have invested alongside us, we’re able to continue that upward trajectory and put together a fund that has its sights set on $100 million. It takes a lot more money to buy real estate today than it did 12 years ago, but at the same time, I think it’s a testament to the organization that we’ve built, through hard work, focus and determination.
How does co-investing raise the stakes for you as a team member?
I’m an employee of Timberland Partners too – we all are – but I’m going to work as an owner, and I think that helps permeate throughout our entire organization. The idea that we plan for success and we execute the plan is one of our guiding principles. Everybody that’s here working together gets that culture and understands that we’re not just a name or a number. We’re all in the same boat working together.
