Company History

C. KING LAUGHLIN
KING LAUGHLIN COMPANY, INC.
Resume and Company History

King Laughlin Company, Inc. is a Dallas based real estate brokerage and development firm founded in 1967. The president and sole owner is C. King Laughlin.

Mr. Laughlin graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1963 with a BSBA degree in Banking and Finance. Following college, he served in the United States Air Force (USAF) as a Navigator until 1967. During his USAF career, he served 16 months in Vietnam and reached the rank of Captain. He received an Honorable Discharge upon leaving the Air Force.

Mr. Laughlin began his real estate career in Dallas, as a licensed Texas Real Estate Broker, in late 1967. He has been involved in numerous transactions encompassing a wide variety of real estate types over the years.

In his early years, he was heavily involved in the sale of land primarily to developers. He participated in numerous transactions near the DFW airport in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

In the early 1980's, Mr. Laughlin was hired by The Southland Corporation ( 7-Eleven, Inc.) to assemble a tract of land to use for the construction of a new headquarters building. The project became known as Cityplace, located at US75, North Central Expressway at Lemmon Avenue in Dallas, Texas. The land assembly, most likely the largest urban land assembly ever completed in Texas, eventually grew to encompass approximately 160 acres of land composed of over 1000 individually owned parcels of property, which included over 450 individually owned condominiums. The assembly was carried out in great secrecy in order to prevent rampant land speculation from distorting the value of the property. Upon completion, 7-11 owned over 160 acres, at an approximate cost of $300 million dollars, with 100% insured fee title and no lawsuits. 7-11 eventually constructed a 1.2 million S.F.- 42-story tower with a 4500 car-parking garage at the site.

In the late 1980's, Mr. Laughlin was retained by 7-11, Inc. to purchase 40, 7-11 store sites in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Once again, it was necessary to keep the site acquisitions very confidential in order to protect the value of the properties. The total value of this project was approximately $8.0 million dollars.
In the late 1980's and early 1990's, Mr. Laughlin was retained by Storage USA, a self storage REIT, listed on the NYSE, to search for and purchase self storage facilities in various cities around the country. This effort was very successful, with over 10 properties acquired in Dallas and over 40 in other cities, at an approximate cost of $120 million dollars. Storage USA grew to become the second largest self-storage REIT on the NYSE. In 2002, Storage USA was purchased by GE Capital, and remains a GE Subsidiary.

In the early 1990's, Mr. Laughlin was retained by the Highland Park Independent School District (HPISD), Highland Park, Texas, to acquire 33 properties, an entire city block, adjacent to the Arch McCullough Middle School. The property became the new HPISD Middle School. The property was acquired in a timely manner for approximately $6.5 million dollars. The new school was built and is currently in use.

In the mid 1990's, King Laughlin Company, Inc. in association with Program Management, Inc. was retained to assist the L.M. Ericsson Telephone Company in locating a site for a new U.S. Corporate Headquarters campus of at least 500,000 square fee. After a long and exhaustive review of properties, a site of 106 acres in Legacy Park, Plano, Texas was identified and purchased by Ericsson. Subsequently, an award winning 500,000 square foot building was constructed and occupied by Ericsson.

King Laughlin Company, Inc., in association with Barclay Commercial Group, was responsible for the sale of the former Ericsson Headquarters site in Richardson encompassing an 180,000 S.F. office building and 12 acres of land.

In early 2002, Mr. Laughlin participated in the $16 million dollar sale of Woodall Rogers Tower in downtown Dallas.

King Laughlin Company, Inc. acted as a consultant and agent for the sale of 54 acres of land at Bethany Road and US75 (NCE), Allen, Texas. The land will shortly be used for a shopping center.

King Laughlin Company, Inc., in association with Barclay Commercial Group, was responsible for the sale of The Western Place office complex in Ft. Worth, Texas. The Seller, Texas Health Resources received over $20 million for the property.

The foregoing is a partial list of the type of brokerage and consulting type transactions that King Laughlin Company, Inc. continually undertakes for clients. Often the company is asked to pursue the purchase of a property on a confidential basis in hopes of preventing a seller from raising the price based on the identity of the buyer.

Development Experience

In the 1980's, in partnership with a Dallas bank, Mr. Laughlin conceived and managed the design and construction of the $10 million dollar Cathedral Parking Garage at Pearl and Flora/Ross St. in Dallas. The underground garage has 450 spaces and is approximately 90 feet deep. It adjoins and has access to the City of Dallas garage that now serves the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center at Pearl/Flora Street. The garage was built on a 99-year ground lease with the Catholic Diocese of Dallas.

In the mid 1990's, Mr. Laughlin was retained by the owner of a land site in Austin, Texas to design, construction manager, and property manage a $4.0 million dollar, 86,000 S.F. self-storage facility, Wells Branch Self Storage. The facility was built on time, in budget and has enjoyed very high occupancy.

During the Cityplace land assembly, it was necessary to acquire sites; design and construction manage new facilities for the Dallas School for the Blind and the Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in order to secure their property. The value of these properties exceeded $10.0 million dollars.

In summary, Mr. Laughlin and King Laughlin Company, Inc. have participated in wide variety of real estate transaction during the past 37 years. The firm continues to pursue brokerage and consulting assignments for both users and investors.