Team
Gary Tharaldson
Founder & CEO
Gary Tharaldson, founder of Tharaldson Commercial, began his hospitality career by purchasing his first hotel in Valley City, N.D., in 1982. Over the next few years, Tharaldson began to build additional hotels in smaller, regional markets. In 1987, he sold nine Super 8 motels for a combined net profit of over $5 million.
After the sale, he continued to acquire and build hotels, eventually exceeding 350 total properties and earning himself a spot on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America in 1997.
In 1999, Tharaldson Motels, Inc., became one of the largest Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) companies in America when Tharaldson and his family sold the holding company to the Tharaldson employees.
In 2006, Tharaldson sold a second portfolio of 140 hotels to Whitehall Global Real Estate (Goldman Sachs) for approximately $1.25 billion. Prior to the sale, Tharaldson’s company was the largest privately held hotel company in the United States. Tharaldson Commercial was born with the reinvestment of a part of the proceeds from this sale into a variety of real estate holdings and developments.
Tharaldson has appeared in a number of national publications, including the Wall Street Journal and Forbes Magazine. In 2010, he was given the first Hunter Conference Award for Excellence and Inspiration, an award created to celebrate an owner “who has exemplified high standards in leadership, citizenship and innovation and who has been an inspiration to the industry,” according to Hotel Business magazine.
Tharaldson resides in Fargo, North Dakota and Las Vegas, Nevada, and continues to operate and develop new hotels under his family of companies, in addition to managing land holdings and other investments.
Don Cape
Director of Development
702-440-8272
Don Cape serves as Director of Development for Tharaldson Commercial with direct responsibility over all facets of development. Cape has over 25 years of experience in the development industry since graduating from University of Northern Colorado in 1988 with a degree in Geology with post graduate coursework in Engineering from UNLV.
He provided project management on several billion dollars in residential/commercial projects in Las Vegas, Nevada, including the Bellagio, Rio, Luxor, and Harrah’s hotel casinos and the McCarran International Airport expansion. Additionally, he has managed turn-key acquisition, design and construction on over 2500 wireless telecommunications facilities in the Southwestern United States.
After 15 years in the development industry Cape joined Tharaldson in 2005. He served as Director of Real Estate and purchased and developed over $1B in privately-held real estate holdings including residential, commercial, renewable energy, special finance districts and transit oriented development.
Joe Blagg
Finance & Development Manager
702-440-8270
Joe Blagg has over sixteen years of experience in real estate development, finance and asset management. He has successfully managed all aspects of a wide variety of commercial and residential developments. His responsibilities with Tharaldson Commercial since 2007 have included finance, market analysis, entitlements, acquisition/disposition, asset management and legal oversight.
Joe began his professional career in Malibu, California, after graduating with honors and a degree in Economics from Pepperdine University, and now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and two children.
Curtis A. Bunce
Broker/Project Manager
702-296-7300
Curtis Bunce has over 25 years of diversified commercial real estate experience in a combination of entrepreneurial ventures and large-scale real estate enterprises including acquisition, leasing, tenant representation and development.
Curtis joined Tharaldson in May of 2006. He has been responsible for managing consultants and documentation during acquisition, entitlements, development and disposition on multiple projects. He also oversees leasing and property management for over 600,000 square feet of industrial warehouse and office space.
Curtis brings with him the unique business acumen and leadership experience provided by a rich and diverse career, which has included owning and operating several of his own companies. He is a licensed real estate Broker in Arizona and Nevada.
Curtis grew up and began his professional career in Denver, Colorado and currently resides in Las Vegas with his wife and two children.
Jonathan Boyd
Construction Manager
480-250-4244
As Construction Manager, Jonathan Boyd is responsible for managing all aspects of construction activities from conception to completion. He has been instrumental in numerous high-end projects including luxury single-family residences, commercial office buildings and multi-family projects. His problem solving capabilities and attention to detail along with his management, development and construction skills give him the experience to manage a complete project within all types of delivery systems.
During the past nineteen years, Jonathan has been responsible for the estimating and completion of over $200 million in new construction while working for both nationally honored contractors and Tharaldson. He holds a B.A. in Business Management and has completed extensive post-graduate work in construction management at the Del Webb School at Arizona State University.