Petrus Partners was founded in 1992 by Fred Krimendahl (deceased), Frank Walter and Wes Huang with the objective of investing the partners’ capital along with that of other high-net worth individuals who had also previously been executives with Goldman, Sachs & Co.
In 1996, Petrus acquired The Spokane Business & Industrial Park (“The Park”) from the local utility, Avista Corporation. At that time, The Park totaled 80 buildings encompassing 4 million square feet on one square mile, with 15 miles of roads, 10 miles of rail and a water utility. The Park was originally a WWII Navy Supply Center and for 30 years Avista used the decommissioned city of warehouses as an economic development tool; the utility subsidized power-consuming businesses with cut-rate rents. Amidst a proposed corporate merger, Petrus acquired the utility’s unregulated properties, including The (then-dilapidated) Park, in a new operating company, Crown West Realty.
Over the ensuing 25 years, Petrus-Crown West modernized The Park, including the construction of 1,000,000 square feet of state-of-the-art distribution, service retail, and lodging buildings. The Park now totals 5 million square feet of new or renovated buildings and is home to approximately 150 companies employing roughly 5,000 people.
Crown West Realty’s team of 50 employees has grown its Net Operating Income from $3 million to $22 million and has become expert at redeveloping and repositioning properties. It is the leading developer of "Green" LEED-certified warehouse properties in the Inland Northwest. Crown West provides asset and construction management, as well as accounting services in support of all Petrus investments and joint ventures.
In 2001, Petrus-Crown West made its first acquisitions in Phoenix in the aftermath of the collapse of many NASDAQ technology companies and the “9/11” financial downturn. Based on its success in investing in distressed properties, Petrus-Crown West subsequently raised its first discretionary opportunity fund, which was invested in 15 properties in the “Tech-Wreck” markets of Phoenix, Denver and Raleigh-Durham.
Beginning in 2004, Petrus-Crown West formed joint ventures with Travelers Insurance, and later Nationwide Insurance and True North Management Group, to acquire and redevelop or reposition properties in value-added investments. Since that time, Petrus and these institutions have funded ventures involving 12 office properties totaling 1.6 million square feet worth $300 million in value.
Petrus Investors 2005, LP, represented the firm’s second discretionary value-added investment fund, with total equity capital commitments of $125 million. Petrus 2005 acquired 22 properties in need of restructuring, redevelopment or repositioning and located in Phoenix, Denver, Raleigh-Durham, Greensboro, Atlanta and in suburban Maryland and New Jersey. These value-added investments involved office, flex and industrial properties as well as commercial and residential land projects.
To capitalize on distressed investment opportunities following the collapse of the housing bubble, Petrus Partners formed the Crown West Residential Group and during 2009-2021 raised Petrus Land Investors Funds I-V with $200 million of discretionary investment capital. Petrus' five Land Funds acquired in 35 transactions with banks, the FDIC, and other motivated sellers, 15,000 single-family residential lots, primarily foreclosed properties or "REO", located in Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and Reno. In recent years, Petrus has acquired, re-zoned and developed industrial and residential developments from legacy retail sites.
In 2014, Petrus Partners formed Crown West Farm Group and Petrus Farmland Investors I, LP, and has since invested $60 million in the acquisition of over 6,000 acres of dryland and irrigated farmland leased to tenant farmers as well as crop storage facilities.
In 2015, Petrus formed Crown Columbia Water Resources LLC, a government-approved water bank active in the Pacific Northwest.
In 2021, Petrus co-founded, along with homebuilding industry executive, Andy Warren, Coronet Communities to develop single family LEED-certified, ESG-compliant Build-for-Rent (BFR) communities for institutional owners. For more information, please visit www.CoronetCommunities.com.
To this day, approximately half of the firm’s investment capital is from retired partners of Goldman, Sachs & Co.