Thomas W. Brown has been named the chief real estate officer of Yesway, which was founded by Brookwood Financial Partners LLC in 2015.
“Over the course of his long-standing tenure at Brookwood, Tom has made outstanding contributions to the firm as an esteemed member of our senior management team. He is extremely well respected by colleagues and clients in the private equity, commercial real estate, and convenience retailing realms for his astute knowledge and depth of experience,” said Tom Trkla, chairman and CEO of Brookwood and chairman, president and CEO of Yesway. “Having worked side by side with Tom for nearly 30 years, I am excited about this next chapter for the company and look forward to him providing even more guidance and support as Yesway continues to grow. I could not be more pleased to celebrate his achievements.”
In his capacity as chief real estate officer, Brown will be responsible for directing all real estate-related activities for the firm, including identifying potential site and convenience store acquisitions, and overseeing the firm’s store remodel, raze-and-rebuild, and new-to-market construction initiatives. Brown has served at the helm of Yesway’s aggressive campaign to grow Yesway’s portfolio through the completion of new stores and raze-and-rebuild projects across its geographic footprint. As previously announced, Yesway completed the construction of 17 new stores and 21 raze-and-rebuild projects in 2022 at an industry-leading annual return on invested capital. Given the success of these completed projects, Yesway plans to construct 28 additional new stores in 2023, the majority of which will be funded using the proceeds of the $190 million in new equity it has raised. Brown will remain president of Brookwood and continue to serve on Brookwood’s Executive and Investment Committees.
Prior to joining Brookwood in 1994, Brown was a vice president of Winthrop Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Winthrop Financial Associates, a Boston-based real estate investment and management firm. As director of national real estate operations, he was responsible for the management of 30 million square feet of office, industrial and retail properties representing over $3 billion of real estate. Brown also previously served as president of a publicly held national real estate firm where he was responsible for the real estate operations of 250 office buildings and shopping centers throughout the United States. Brown is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the National Association of Office and Industrial Parks and the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Brown is a graduate of the University of Texas and received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Dallas. In 2018, Brown completed the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School.
Brookwood is a private equity firm that acquires and manages commercial real estate and real estate-related operating businesses on behalf of its investors, which include Wall Street investment banks, sovereign wealth funds, college endowments, public and private pension funds, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. Since its founding in 1993, Brookwood has invested over $1.7 billion of equity to acquire a portfolio of over 202 commercial real estate properties, seven operating companies, and 460 gas stations and convenience stores. Its $4.3 billion historical portfolio has spanned multiple asset classes, geographical markets, and industries across the United States.
Established in 2015, Yesway is a multi-branded platform headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, which operates 435 stores located in Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Yesway operates its portfolio primarily under two successful brands, Yesway and Allsup’s, with sites that are differentiated through a foodservice offering, featuring Allsup’s famous deep-fried burrito, and a wide variety of high-quality grocery items and private-label products. Yesway’s geographic footprint consists of stores located in attractive rural and suburban markets across the Midwest and Southwest.