Families go commercial

Alison Caulkins

Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The Thomas & Mack Center isn't just a Las Vegas sports arena.

Thomas and Mack are two prominent Las Vegas families headed by Parry Thomas and Jerry Mack, who are an integral part of Las Vegas' rich history.

There's also the Thomas & Mack Co., an asset management and real estate development company, looked after by Parry's sons, Tom and Peter.

In 1991 Thomas "Tom" Thomas left his job as Bank of America's senior vice president to become managing director of the fledgling company.

Peter Thomas joined his brother in 1995 after resigning as president and chief operating officer of the Bank of America.

"Our company isn't a typical development company," said Peter Thomas. "It's a family-owned business run by family members to oversee the family's assets. That includes stocks, bonds, foreign and domestic investments and property. The difference between us and other development companies is also that we aren't building on our property to sell it and we don't rely on bank financing. The families are involved day by day, minute by minute."

That still includes the elders -- 75-year-old Jerry Mack and 74-year-old Parry Thomas serve as directors.

Although the company is involved in a number of properties and developments around town, a major focus is the McCarran Center, a 100-acre master-planned business park for office and light industrial uses, being built at Interstate 215 and Warm Springs Road.

At buildout in about four years, McCarran Center will have more than 1.2 million square feet of rentable space.

Peter Thomas explained that the family has owned the property south of the freeway since 1987, and it includes part of George Crockett's ranch. Crockett's widow, Peg, is a joint venture partner.

After analyzing the scarcity of Class A office space in Las Vegas and the location of the family-owned land, it didn't take the former bankers long to add up two and two.

"Las Vegas has a shortage of Class A office space. There are very few master-planned business developments like ours. Plus, it's located on the freeway and has direct access to the airport," Tom Thomas said. "It's a long-term project. It's unique to the valley. And it's a first."

In March, Sigma Game Inc. moved into its own 60,000-square-foot, two-story building at McCarran Center.

A number of companies have leased a total of 62,000 square feet in the first three buildings at McCarran Center: Southland Corp., operators of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain; Acres Gaming, which supplies computer programs and tracking systems to the gaming industry; The Keith Cos.; Nadel Partnership-Nevada; Champion Homes; AE Engineering; Simplex; and Paychex.

In September, FHP Health Care is moving into 60,000 square feet in a three-story building.

"The ability for us to finance ourselves and build fast is very appealing to businesses looking for space," Peter Thomas said.

Part of building fast includes using three-story concrete tilt-up panels that are made on-site and then lifted into place to form walls.

And parking space is an important part of the plan.

Clark County requires 3.3 parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet. McCarran Center will have up to 10 spaces per 1,000 square feet to accommodate businesses with many employees.

The specifications include 238,100 square feet for offices, 16,000 square feet for commercial space, 171,000 square feet for light industrial.

Office space in the "Las Vegas suburbs" is a concept that businesses like, according to Peter Thomas.

"Companies want offices near bedroom communities rather than facing the drive to downtown. It's a natural trend. In fact, we shifted our focus to the slightly riskier multifloor office buildings to force the area to become a suburban office location," he said. "But in order for those locations to succeed, they must be located near the freeway."

By the end of the year, 400,000 square feet will be completed or under construction at McCarran Center, and 275,000 to 300,000 square feet more will be completed by the end of 1997.

That's about half of the site.

"Then we'll start on our 17 acres on the other side of the airport next to Howard Hughes," Tom Thomas said.

"We expect continued growth in Las Vegas as more and more companies discover the advantages of being here."